Have not taken the time to read all messages so this may be redundant, but is there any information on the earliest "Chan" films, namely "Behind That Curtain" ( 1929 ) / Fox Film Corp.( Pictures/Stills/Lobby Cards, etc. )? Also would like any information available on the two " Pathe' " silent serials - " The House Without a Key " and " The Chinese Parrot ". Thanks.
I certainly echo your comments about this website!
The only thing I can tell is you is that "Behind That Curtain" is not the most exciting movie ever made. However it does have Karloff in a small role and Warner Baxter is fine.
You can see some pictures from "Curtain" and the two silents over at Rush's yahoo group "CharlieChanFamily" (please refer to link above). I would imagine that actual poster art/lobbies are quite rare for this film (assuming that any copies still even exist).
From what I understand, the two silents have been lost for some time and "Curtain" only had one surviving print. "Curtain" was recently restored by Fox and aired as part of their ill fated Chan marathon. The print is in surprisingly good shape for a movie of its vintage.
There is some debate as to whether Behind That Curtain should be considered an actual Chan movie for collectors.
Technically, it is but Chan comes in so late with such a small part (and part of that is off-screen) that a lot of people who love Chan movies don't even bother with it.
I enjoy it because I like Warner Baxter (who was the reason the studio reworked the story instead of leaving it a Chan story).
Behind That Curtain is also interesting to watch because it's part of the acting transition from silents to talkies.
You have to keep a sense of humor with you because even Warner Baxter still has a tendency in this movie to "chew the scenery." On the other hand, Boris Karloff shows his acting ability (even in a small part) that would later make his Frankinstein Monster famous.
Virginia
