Dear Rush: Thank you so much. Only four issues of Charlie Chan magazine? And to think I actually bought them. Of course they are long gone. I should've remembered. That seems to have been the time for new versions. Thats about when Roger Moore took over as James Bond and Monte Markham tried to be the new Perry mason. I wonder how many recall that one. In fact even though it was some years later that the Charlie Chan/Ross Martin TV movie aired it was actually filmed in the early 1970s I believe.
You are correct. "The Return of Charlie Chan" (aka: "Happiness is a Warm Clue"), starring Ross Martin was shot in 1971, but did not air until 1979. Also, the Chan stories contained in the magazines did, indeed, feature an "updated" Charlie Chan. By that time, he would have been over 90 years old!
The return of Nancy Drew. Will Charlie Chan be next?
Not only is Nancy Drew returning today on the big screen, the Bonita Granville films are being shown tonight on TCM starting at 8:00pm. Earlier in the week they had a mini Sherlock Holmes marathon along with a couple of Philo Vance films. Whenever I see little spurts of interest in these type of films I can't help but have a flight of fancey and wonder if it could lead to a revival of Charlie Chan, him being one of their contemporaries, or at least a reshowing of the original movies. We can but hope.