OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT FOR (TUESDAY) January 2, 2024: “Behind That Curtain”
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
CHAT NUMBER: 1,236
DATE: TUESDAY, January 2
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Begin at best place – beginning.” (Charlie Chan in London)
THIS WEEK: Yes, with the arrival of the New Year, we begin our 2024 journey through the Charlie Chan film series…and a bit more! This year, we will have a couple of additions to our schedule that we have never shared before. The first will come later this month, a recreation of “Charlie Chan’s Chance”! This will afford us the opportunity to share another of the four “lost” Charlie Chan films (the other being “Charlie Chan carries On” in the form of “Eran Trece). To wrap up the year, we will add “Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen,” from 1981.
This week, we will be sharing our perennial yearly kick-off movie, “Behind That Curtain” (1929) This early “talkie” has good production qualities, an early film appearance of Boris Karloff, but very little Charlie Chan but for the final minutes of the picture. Still, it remains the first “Charlie Chan” picture made by Fox studios, though not officially a part of the Chan series.
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,” choosing the name you wish to use.
OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION: “Behind That Curtain” (1929; 91 minutes) Happily, this film IS available online for those who lack a personal copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAKiP9uVgs0
FEATURE SUMMARY: An international mystery from the pen of Earl Derr Biggers, author of the Charlie Chan mysteries. Chan is not really in this movie, except indirectly. Eve Mannering (Lois Moran) has married the wrong man, Durand (Philip Strange), who is a bounder and who has killed an agent, Hillary Galt, to prevent Eve's uncle from finding out. A watchman, blackmailing him, writes to Eve in India, and she confronts her husband, who hurts her and acts threatening, so she disappears into the desert with dashing, dependable Colonel Beetham (Warner Baxter) who has been longing for her all his life. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard detective Sir Frederick Bruce (Gilbert Emery), pursues the mystery with a clue provided by Chan, and the story winds up in San Francisco will all wrinkles ironed out. (Adapted from IMDb)
FEATURE NOTES: A very early sound movie, this one is marred not so much by the spotty sound recording as by the stagy acting style: thrilling and plummy tones ("ohhhhhhhhh Erik!") from Moran and Baxter. She's sometimes quite winsome, and Boris Karloff has a tiny part as Beetham's oriental servant. Later films focus on Chan, but not this one. Interesting use of title phrase, first to indicate why explorers explore, and then to preface Beetham's film-illustrated lecture at the denouement. E.L. Park is Charlie Chan in this film. (IMDb)
THIS WEEK’S EXTRA:
The Green Hornet – 1940 – “The Hornet’s Trapped”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh4T21BigAw
Running time: 19:45
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: Now available! THE CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY HOME 2023 NEWSLETTER is available for your enjoyment at our “Bulletin Board” and “Study” (under the “Charlie Chan” category) at our Charlie Chan Family Home!
OUR JANUARY POLL is available on our Bulletin Board or directly at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9K53R8X
NEXT WEEK: “Eran Trece” (“There Were Thirteen”)
SO… Please join us as we begin the New Year with “Behind That Curtain.” REMEMBER, please: This week's Chat is on TUESDAY, January 2!
