June is here as we continue our trip through the entire Charlie Chan series. Our film for this week’s Monday Evening Chat and Film Viewing will be “Charlie Chan in Panama,” starring Sidney Toler. Charlie Chan is working for the U.S. government in Panama, seeking to assist in uncovering the master spy, Reiner before he can carry out the destruction of the Panama Canal, thus trapping the U.S. Pacific fleet as it steams through.

NOTES: “Charlie Chan in Panama” follows “Charlie Chan in City in Darkness” as a war-themed film. The posture of this picture is a reflection of the world condition at the time. War was declared against Germany by European allies of the United States. At this time, the U.S. was still “neutral,” and we see this in the vague references used. We can note the Japanese-style mood music heard as the military police watch the “fisherman” on the pier in the opening scenes of “Charlie Chan in Panama.” There is also a nice collection of stock footage showing American warships, including, it appears, the ill-fated U.S.S. ‘Arizona.’ We are also given a brief, but accurate, description of the geography of the Panama Canal.

So, please join us in our Chat Room which is located at our Charlie Chan Family Home: www.charliechan.info, and use any of the “Chat Room” links to join us. We begin with arrivals and greetings at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and we roll our personal copies of our film exactly 15 minutes later (8:15).

Even if you cannot access a copy of the above-noted film, please do join us anyway, as you will NOT be left out of our ongoing chat and festivities. Also, as is our custom, newcomers are offered the seat of honor at our humble table. (Many of our films, such as this week’s entry, may be found available for viewing online through such outlets as YouTube, etc. Again this week we have HAPPY NEWS! A check at YouTube reveals that “Charlie Chan in Panama” IS available online at YouTube for viewing.)

NEXT WEEK we will be viewing two episodes from “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan” starring J. Carrol Naish as Charlie Chan with James Hong as Number One Son, BARRY. Featured will be: “The Secret of the Sea” and “The Death of a Don.” There may still be time to order and receive a DVD collection of all 39 half-hour episodes of this 1957 crime drama series which we will share from time to time during our Monday evening gatherings.

Thank you so much, and let’s meet for yet another fun Monday evening as we gather to watch “Charlie Chan in City in Panama.”

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Rush, to add to the conversation -

Some time ago I noticed the ship that the planes catapult off of is the equally ill-fated USS Indianapolis. You have to be quick to see it, but the name is there. She was modified a great deal during the war, and when the ship was sunk she did look decidedly different.

Of course they may also have used Navy shots of several ships, and mixed them together. I am not an expert on ships, nor putting films together.

Hope everyone has a great June, Diana