OUR CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY MONDAY EVENING CHAT FOR October 2 2023: “The Black Camel”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WARNER OLAND!
CHAT NUMBER: 1,223
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Sometimes very difficult to pick up pumpkin with one finger.”
THIS WEEK: This week we are sharing “The Black Camel,” staring Warner Oland in his second appearance on screen as Charlie Chan, and whose birthday we will be celebrating!
OUR CHAT ROOM: Go to our “Chat Room” page, and, at the bottom of that page, click on the “Charlie Chan Family Chat Room ENTRANCE” link. You may then enter as a “Guest.” (You may also register at RumbleTalk, our Chat Room’s host, if you so choose, however this limits you to a specific name.)
OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION: “The Black Camel” (1931; 71 minutes) YES, our film IS available online this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eU6vXcPIgA
FEATURE SUMMARY: Hollywood star Shelah Fane, who is in Hawaii shooting a film on location, is murdered in her beach house in Waikiki. Detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department is called on to investigate. “Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here,” Chan tells the assembled suspects.
FEATURE NOTES: The novel “The Black Camel,” by Earl Derr Biggers, was originally published serially in ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ between May 18 and June 22, 1929. Sources conflict concerning the release date of the film. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, some scenes were shot in Honolulu, where some of the film’s music was also recorded.
LOOK FOR: locals in an early scene on the beach and more later who actually participate as extras in a scene!
CLUE SEARCH: What is the significance of “1313” in this week’s case?
OUR MESSAGE BOARD: Please consider visiting our Message Board. Feel free to add a message to a post or begin a conversation…or state a thought! Our Message Board has been there for YOU since 2004!
AS ALWAYS, WE BEGIN OUR EVENING at 7:30 Eastern Time with a 45-minute block of time for arrivals and greetings, and the sharing of an extra…or two...or even three! (please see above). Then, at precisely 8:15 ET, we begin running our feature film simultaneously starting our personal or online copies of this week’s feature!
AT OUR BULLETIN BOARD: THE CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY HOME 2022 NEWSLETTER is now available at our “Bulletin Board” at our Charlie Chan Family Home! Also, at our Bulletin Board you will find a lot more in the form of links to other Chan-related items of possible interest! (PLEASE NOTE: If YOU would like to contribute to our upcoming 2023, it is never too early to develop your offering!)
OUR OCTOBER POLL is available on our Bulletin Board or our Home Page…or directly at this address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8CWXFPJ
This month’s poll question: How do you watch Charlie Chan movies?
HAVE YOU PURCHASED THIS, YET?
Our own "HonoluLou," Lou Armagno, has recently published a fantastic, thoroughly researched, well-produced new book focusing on the aphorisms of Charlie Chan as found in the original Chan mysteries by Earl Derr Biggers! A MUST for any serious Charlie Chan fan! To learn more about this book, please visit our BULLETIN BOARD section: https://charliechan.org/bulletin-board/
Thank you so much, Lou, for creating the most unique of Charlie Chan studies!
NEXT WEEK: We will be sharing two episodes of “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan” TV crime drama from 1957. Also, we will continue the 13-part serial, Chapter 12 of “Secret Agent X-9,” featuring Keye Luke with Benson Fong as the week’s “extra”!
SO… take care, and let’s meet again within the humble yet welcoming confines of our Charlie Chan Family Chat Room, located at charliechan.org, as we share “The Black Camel.”
