Tonight's Monday Evening Chat/Film Viewing: "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service"
“Everything grow rapidly in Hawaii.” – Charlie Chan
Continuing along our journey through the Charlie Chan film series, we have now reached a milestone marking a turn in our road. With this week’s film, “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service,” we now enter the Monogram Pictures era of the venerable series. In tonight’s picture, starring Sidney Toler, we meet Number Three Son, Tommy (Benson Fong), Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), as well as Number Two Daughter, Iris (Marianne Quon). As we see, and as we noted in the final films from the Fox series, Charlie Chan now works for the U.S. government Secret Service. Our tale takes place in a strange old home in the Washington D.C. area which contains a slew of strange and often eccentric suspects in the murder of a noted scientist who had been working on a secret formula to aid the war effort.
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 through such outlets as YouTube, etc. HAPPY NEWS…this week’s film, “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service,” IS available at YouTube! Here is the address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpiyEiJEirs
FILM NOTES: “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service” was the first Charlie Chan film that Sidney Toler made at Monogram Pictures after leaving Twentieth Century-Fox following the cancellation of the Charlie Chan film series at that studio. Toler, who had starred as Chan in many of the Fox films, bought the screen rights to the character from the widow of writer Earl Derr Biggers and continued to star as Chan for Monogram until his death in 1947, after which time Roland Winters assumed the role. This film also marked the beginning of Charlie Chan's work with the U.S. Secret Service for the remainder of the war. Mantan Moreland also made his debut as Birmingham Brown, a character who would become a mainstay of the series for the remainder of its run. Benson Fong appeared for the first time as Number Three Son Tommy, while his sister Iris, portrayed by Marianne Quon, made her sole series appearance in “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service.”
NEXT WEEK: (August 4) we will be sharing “The Chinese Cat” with Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, Benson Fong as Tommy Chan, and Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown!
“THE RETURN OF CHARLIE CHAN” ON DVD: If you are interested in purchasing a clear, clean copy of “The Return of Charlie Chan” (Universal – 1971) a made-for-TV movie starring Ross Martin as Charlie Chan (which will be our final film stop on this year’s Chan Film Tour), I can recommend a version which you will find available at: http://www.ioffer.com/i/the-return-of-charlie-chan-ross-martin-dvd-504052734. It lists for $14.99 which includes postage/handling. However, you may make a lower offer!
As always, please take care, have a pleasant Monday, and let’s all get together for an evening of celebration and of fun and sharing as we watch “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service.”
