Re: Has Turner Classic Movies ever shown Charlie Chan Films?
Dear Sam,
Yes, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has shown Charlie Chan films in the past. They had access to five of the six movies that we can now purchase from MGM Home Entertainment in the Charlie Chan Chanthology: "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service," "The Chinese Cat," "The Jade Mask," "Meeting at Midnight" ("Black Magic"), "The Shanghai Cobra," and "The Scarlet Clue." Of these, they didn't show "Meeting at Midnight."
The last time that TCM showed a Charlie Chan movie was around the same time (2003) that Fox Movie Channel stopped showing them. Did they, too, quietly bow to pressure from special interest groups? The timing seemis to indicate that they did, unfortunately. On our Bulletin Board we have a link that you can use to request Charlie Chan showings on TCM...
Re: Has Turner Classic Movies ever shown Charlie Chan Films?
Turner shows a lot of movies that some might call un-PC so I'd be surprised if they bowed to pressure. They showed Birth of a Nation, which presents the KKK as heroic, in prime time a couple of months ago. They also show the one public domain "Mr. Moto" film from time to time.
I think it's more the issue that they may not have complete access to all the films. The way their programmer explained it, Warner Home Video is a separate entity and just because Warner has home video rights doesn't necessarily give TCM "free" access to these films. There are licensing issues that have to be worked out. I can relate to this because the company I work for has many brother companies and even though we have common ownership we have to pay these brother companies for any services provided to us by them. It's all about the mighty dollar and how I can make my division look better than yours financially.
Another factor may be the quality of prints that are available. As those of us who have grey market copies know, some of these Monograms don't look so good. Until Warners finishes their restoration, the prints may not be "broadcast quality".
I, too, hope that these will ultimately be on TV someday. Perhaps if Warners does release a Chan set in the next year or two, TCM will be engaged to do some cross promotion.
