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The Charlie Chan Family Message Board

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The Charlie Chan Family Message Board
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Re: New To This Board

Hi Sam:

Wow! Your first exposure to Charlie Chan somewhat parallels my experience. I was also around 13 when I first caught our favorite detective on late night TV. I saw a Charlie Chan film featured in my local Boston TV listings for early Saturday morning at 1:00 AM. I had enjoyed Sherlock Holmes films that were aired on a local independent station, and thought that I would catch another detective at work. I used to have an old 13" B&W Panansonic TV set of which I made sure to keep the volume down low so my parents wouldn't hear that I was watching TV so late at night (or early morning as the case actually was). The first film I saw was "Charlie Chan's Secret" featuring Warner Oland, and I was hooked from the start. I anxiously awaited the following week's feature on the weekly Charlie Chan Film Festival on WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston. Now it's like visiting an old friend each time I watch our favorite detective from Punchbowl Hill (whether it's Mr. Oland, or Mr. Toler, or Mr. Winters, it matters not).

Now that Fox has released their 1st volume of the first 4 Oland Chan's that they own (and are not considered lost), a new generation of folks can enjoy watching these old gems as we originally viewed them. In fact my 12 year old son has been watching the films with me of late, perhaps because I picqued his curiousity by bearing witness to Dad's excitement at the pending release of the Fox Chan set on DVD.

I read where you were considering purchasing the complete set of Chan films offered by the Vintage Theater. I had purchased their *Platinum edition* of Chan films last year before I was aware that Fox would *finally* release their films on DVD, and I must share with you that the audio and sound quality varies from film to film on the Vintage Theater set, taking away somewhat from the viewing experience. This is because the films were recorded from cable TV airings. However, the Fox Volume 1 edition as well at the Chanthology series (the first 6 Monograms tht MGM owns) are far superior in quality to the Vintage Theater set because these films were digitally re-mastered from original prints that the studios own.

Whatever you decide, it's always fun to read about how someone first got hooked on Charlie Chan, and all the more pleasureable when it's similar to your own experience.

Welcome aboard, and happy viewing!

Sincerly,

Roy Webber

Re: New To This Board

Hi,

I'm also a Toler fan. Warner Oland just seems too polite for me. I've never even seen a Roland Winters as Chan. Toler's more interesting than Oland because he's more caustic. I especially enjoy the byplay between him and Jimmy.

"This is favorite offspring Jimmy, without whose assistance many cases would have been solved much sooner."

Re: New To This Board

Hi Sam,

What a wonderful story you posted; thanks for sharing!

I have recollections of watching Chan movies in the mid 70s but it wasn't until my local PBS station ran a "Charlie Chan Theater" on weekend nights in the late 70s that I got hooked. This would generally start about 10:30 or 11:00 at night and the series alternated with the Rathbone Holmes films. The PBS station even hired an on air host to give background on the films.

The Fox films were the ones shown except for Black Camel and Paris (which was still lost at the time). I never saw Paris until the VHS came out in the late 80s and I never saw Black Camel until good old Doug Palmer provided me a copy in the late 90s. I had the first six Monogram Chans from their commercial release and another Chan board member provided me with copies of the remaining Monograms several years ago. For some reason, the Monograms were never aired regularly in my viewing area although I remember WGN in Chicago airing some of them at one time.

When I found the other Chan board in 1997 I was pleased to see that there were so many other fans of Chan plus they provided information/sources for other series that I had never seen or even heard of in some cases. When AMC did their first Chan marathon in 1998 or so it was the first time I'd been able to see a Chan in several years so it was like falling in love with the character all over again.

Steve

Re: Re: New To This Board

Thanks everyone for welcoming me to this nice board.Thanks for letting me know about Vintage Theatre. Does anyone else know a reputable dealer selling decent DVD copies of the Roland Winters Chans?Personally I'd rather wait until WB releaes them but who knows when that will be? I am looking foward to Monday Night.

Re: Re: Re: New To This Board

DEar Sam,

Our Monday Evening Chat/Film Viewings begin at 8:00 P.M., Eastern Time (5:00, Pacific - as you mentioned being from California). We start off with arrivals, greetings, and preparation for the evening's simultaneous viewing of out film, which, this week, will be "Charlie Chan in London." At exactly 8:30 (5:30), we begin rolling our personal copies of the movie, which allows us to watch the picture together. During the movie, we speak on what we like, either regarding the on-screen goings-on, or otherwise!

You, or anyone else who might be interested, will be very much welcomed to our group which, I can guarantee, you will find to be very friendly - and fun!

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Re: New To This Board

Hi Sam and welcome to the Chan family. I "discovered" Chan at the age of 13 also. I'm the family night owl and my parents had finally given up hope that I would go to sleep at a decent hour. I turned out all the lights for The Late Late Show and on came "Murder Cruise." I was delighted. As the weeks progressed I discovered Chan wasn't an isolated film - there were more! As I started talking about them I found out they had always a favorite of my Dad also. He got to see the originals as they were released in the theater. He always wanted to stay up and watch them with me, but he would get tired waiting and go to bed. Toler is my favorite also, but there are some Olands in my Top Ten. Oops, time for Chan Chat - need to change rooms for that.