CHAT NUMBER: 1,247

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Sometime jewel found in ashes.”

THIS WEEK: Please join us as we share “Charlie Chan at the Opera”…”Oland vs. Karloff”!

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: “Charlie Chan at the Opera” (1936; 68 minutes) Happily, this film IS available online for those who lack a personal copy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km3bVSDR5o4

FEATURE SUMMARY: Gravelle, a former baritone believed dead after an opera house fire seven years before, has been confined in a mental institution, suffering from amnesia. His memory, rekindled when sees a news story about his former wife’s current appearance in an opera in Los Angeles, escapes and seeks revenge for the failed attempt on his life years earlier. When those involved in the crime are found stabbed to death, Charlie Chan and his son Lee try to find out if the fugitive Gravelle is the one responsible.

FEATURE NOTES: The working title for this film was “Murder in the Opera.” The title card reads: “Twentieth Century-Fox presents Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff in Charlie Chan at the Opera.” Although contemporary reviews call Margaret Irving’s character “Lucretia Barelli,” she is called “Anita Barelli” in the film. A ‘Motion Picture Daily’ news item noted that the picture was banned in Germany for having “too many murders.” The ‘Hollywood Reporter’ noted that public response to the film’s preview was so positive that Twentieth Century-Fox planned to up the production and advertising budgets for the Charlie Chan series, and that future films would see “Warner Oland co-starred with a top name opposite.” The first star the studio was said to be approaching to star with Oland was Peter Lorre. According to another Hollywood Reporter news item, this film marked the first time that a DeBrie camera, which was lighter and quieter than other models, was used in the United States. According to modern sources, director H. Bruce Humberstone borrowed some of the sets from “Café Metropole” for this film. Oscar Levant, in his autobiographical writings, states that he was assigned to write an operatic sequence that would take advantage of a Mephistophelian costume that had been created for Lawrence Tibbett in a previous Twentieth Century-Fox film (presumably Under Your Spell). Levant also relates that the words for the opera were written originally in English by William Kernell and then translated into Italian by “studio linguists.” Benson Fong, who later portrayed Number Three Son, Tommy Chan, briefly appeared unbilled in this film as one of the opera extras (the third “soldier” from the left as they are first seen lined up). Baritone Tudor Williams provided Boris Karloff’s operatic singing voice.

THIS WEEK’S EXTRAS: Featuring Oscar Levant, who composed the music for the opera “Carnival” heard in “Charlie Chan at the Opera.”

EXTRA #1: Gershwin's Concerto in F by O. Levant

From the movie "An American in Paris" based on compositions by George Gershwin, pianist Oscar Levant in the role of a jobless concertmaster dreams about his performing 3rd Movement (Allegro Agitato) from Gershwin's "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in F Major.")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePBkW6WMM8

Running time: 4:51

EXTRA #2: Oscar Levant, at his comedic finest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_qdjKHGNE

Running time: 2:27

EXTRA #3: What's My Line - Oscar Levant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYlfKuK2J8A

Running time: 2:40

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 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 MARCH POLL is available on our Bulletin Board or directly at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7DLMVM6

NEXT WEEK: “Charlie Chan at the Olympics” with Olympic swimmer, Lee Chan!

SO… Please join us as we gentlemen don our soup and fish and the ladies their finest gowns (white fox fur is optional!) and share the murder and intrigue and mayhem of “Charlie Chan at the Opera.”

Sincerely,
Rush Glick