Yeah haha, thats what I thought. For 1.99 to rent I am still slightly tempted but NOBODY had one good thing to say about it, it must be horrific.
However it does give one an idea. Not too long ago the grandson of Lon Chaney Jr. made a b/w indie film, House of the Wolfman. It was not a terrible film, but the film is 90 percent over before The Wolfman, The Frankenstein Monster and Dracula even turn up!
But these sort of movies do prove that if one had a competent script and really devoted fans with talent, it can be done. The Star Trek series The New Voyages which picks up where the old 60's series left off with brilliant scripts is hugely popular.
Warner was replaced, number one son was replaced. Why not again? If it were possible to find competent actors to play the roles on a shoestring budget(a housebound episode like The Jade Mask), a good script set in the 1940's, a competent director, a decent editor, and people willing to offer services for free, lightning could strike again.
I realize thats a lot of "ifs" and gathering devoted fans from around the country with some talent is not an easy task, but is being done with other series...
Anyone here competent in writing a good script that would make people go "hmmm this could be great"
Years ago, on Dr. Cream's "Charlie Chan Message Board" we tried writing a Chan story, with volunteers each writing one short chapter, trying to add an idea to the previous chapter, etc, and come up with finished Chan story in the end. I don't think we ever finished the project, but it may be a starting point for a new attempt to write a Chan story, which potentially could become a movie. Perhaps Rush or Kurt have access to the old chapters we already wrote. If a current new group of people reviewed them, we may have new ideas about how to continue.
Also, years ago someone on Dr. Cream's Board had access to old Monogram records that showed scripts or outlines for a couple more Chan movies that were never made. One story took place at a college, and one story was centered at a Chinese laundry (an idea that partially may have been used in "Shanghai Cobra"). If we can find this information again, it could be a starting point for a new Chan story.
Wow thats great stuff. Using one of the Monogram stories would be great and add some authenticity to it. One very popular way to get funding for it would be to start a Kickstarter project. Not sure how that works with non-profit films however. Unless of course the funding would help secure the rights as well.
You allude to a good point I did not consider. I don't know who currently owns the rights to the Charlie Chan character. We don't need permission to write our own story for our own use, but if we were to market or sell a product that would be a different situation, and may have legal issues to be worked out.
Hi John, I don't know if you remember me but this is a blast from the past, gosh it's years, but I still lurk.
I'm responding to your post about the Chan stories that were written by assorted members from the CCMB.
There were actually 3 to 5 complete stories written. I believe I have 3 complete stories, I'm not at home now so I'm not SURE how many. They're in rough shape as I copied them from the weekly (?) postingsat the CCMB and I never got around to putting them into manuscript form. I believe there was talk about a CC in Chicago when the concept petered out.
