I've made it through a chunk of Vol 3 and some observations:

Rush, you were once again a prolific presence on these discs and your knowledge and enthusiasm have continued to elevate these bonus features. Great job and thanks to you, Mr. Cork and the others for putting so much effort into these!

The commentaries by John Cork and Ken Hanke are very well done and quite interesting. These gentlemen have a good rapport and have a way of complementing each other's comments without being repetitive or interrupting each other.

John Cork went to a fair amount of effort to recreate the lost film. It runs an hour long and is like a radio play accompanied by stills. Congrats on his efforts. He undoubtedly used the script that is part of this website.

The other special features are up to their usual high standards. My favorite documentary was the bio on Warner Oland. It is my understanding the Dave Lewis, who is interviewed extensively in this piece, is working two books, one an Oland biography and the other is a Toler biography. It was also a treat to see 93 year old Kay Linaker, perhaps the oldest confirmed surviving Chan actress, interviewed for this set. (Louise Henry, who appears in BROADWAY, would be older and no date of death is known for her, but picking up her trail after 1939 is difficult.)

The print of BLACK CAMEL is the one we've all been waiting for all these years. Very good for a 1931 Fox film and certainly miles better than the bad dupes that have circulated in the collector's market for years. My only disappointment with it is that it does not include the Exit Music that originally accompanied this film. It is unfortunate that Fox couldn't graft on the music from another source.

BROADWAY looks very sharp which is a treat since it is my favorite Chan film. SECRET looks the best that a Fox film from 1935 can probably look. I've not watched all of MONTE CARLO yet but it looks good from what I've seen.

There are a number of production stills included with each title including some that are behind the scenes shots. It's unfortunate that Fox didn't include these with prior volumes but I hope they continue these in the Toler boxes.

All in all, Fox should be very proud of their work on the Oland Chans. For this last box they lowered the price and increased the bonus content and this may be the best overall package yet. I'll write another letter to Steve Feldstein and Schawn Belston letting them know their efforts are much appreciated.

Steve

Steve,
Could you give us their addresses here so we can send them kudos for their efforts?
Virginia

Absolutely! Thank you for asking. For the record, Mr. Feldstein is the SVP at Fox Home Video who decides what gets released. Mr. Belston is the gentleman who oversaw all the restorations of the film. He and his team are the ones who made them look so nice.

Mr. Steve Feldstein
Senior Vice President
Corporate & Marketing Communications
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
PO Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900

Mr. Schawn Belston
Vice President of Film Preservation and Asset Management
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
PO Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900

Thanks,

Steve

Dear Steve,

Thank you for your analysis of Volume Three. Upon our return home from our short family trip I found my package from Amazon waiting for me. As soon as I have some time, I will take a look for myself. It sounds, though, that Fox came through with another good offering.

The inclusion of the recreation of the "lost" Chan film by John Cork makes sense of a couple of questions that he asked me during our interview session last spring. I don't know if these questions appeared on the final product, but, i understand his purpose behind them better now.

Thank you, again, Steve, for the information, very well presented as always.

Sincerely,
Rush

Here's a random thought. Tonight for the first time ever, I got to see Charlie Chan's Secret. I picked this movie because before the changeover, the old Charliechan.net gave this movie one of the very rare five panama hats. My only regret was that I did not write all of these ratings down before the website underwent it's overhaul yesterday, as it's no longer listed.

I can clearly see why this movie deserved such a rating. Holy crow was that one good! I have seen quite a few of these movies, and now with this box set, I will see all the Oland Chans that are known to exist. This is a great opportunity for me.

I'll chime in more later with stuff about the other movies. The only other one I saw was Black Camel and I quite liked it.