“Begin at best place – beginning.” (Charlie Chan)

The New Year is here, and that means that we are now at the starting line for our Charlie Chan Film Tour for 2015! Our film to kick-off this year's journey will be “Behind That Curtain,” which gives us an early glimpse of Charlie Chan as portrayed by E.L. Park, himself something of a mystery to Chan fans as he appears in the waning minutes of the picture. The story, based on the story of the same name by Earl Derr Biggers, focuses on the relentless round-the-world search for a killer by Sir Frederick Bruce of Scotland Yard. It is Sir Frederick who enlists the aid of Charlie Chan when the case takes him to San Francisco!

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).

FILM NOTES:
The novel “Behind That Curtain,” by Earl Derr Biggers, was originally published serially in The Saturday Evening Post between March 31 and May 5, 1928.  Behind That Curtain, a film in which Charlie Chan appears only at the climactic moments at the close of the picture, was later remade as Charlie Chan's Chance (1932). It is of interest to note that E.L. “Ed” Park was married to actress Oie Chan. Oie Chan appeared in “Daughter of the Dragon” with Warner Oland and Anna May Wong. E.L. Park's and Oie Chan's daughter, Ivy Bo Ling can be seen as the Chan's Number One daughter in “The Black Camel,” as well as Lee Chan's telephone girlfriend in “Charlie Chan in Shanghai.” (By “coincidence”, the Chan's Number One Daughter in “Charlie Chan in Honolulu” is named “Ling”!)

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. GOOD NEWS…this week’s film, “Behind That Curtain,” IS available at YouTube at this address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_zCEqUy6to

NEXT WEEK (January 12) we will continue our journey together with “Eran Trece” (“There Were Thirteen,” the Spanish language version of the first Chan film in the Fox series!

Please take care, have a pleasant Monday, and let’s all get together for another Chan-filled evening of fun and sharing as we watch “Behind That Curtain.”

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Here's an interesting U-Tube Clip (only 2:32) of "Behind That Curtain" (B.T.C.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGcf1ECiFuU#t=27

I only bring it to your attention as it is crystal clear and the sound is really good as compared to the full length movie--B.T.C.--on (U-tube). Appears to be entered by a gal named one Jean Lukitsh, who started a blog "Soft Film: Vintage Chinese Pop Cinema". Apparently, she originally concentrated on Chinese actress "Connie Chan" and over 200 movies the actress made.

Anyway, here's the link I happened across to her website:
http://softfilm.blogspot.com/2013/04/edward-l-park-original-chinese-charlie.html

Happy New Year
Lou

Forgive me. I didn't even realize that I have a copy of the movie "Behind that Curtain" in the 20th Century Fox Volume 3, film set. It's the flip side of "C.C. in Monte Carlo" and it's pretty clear. I guess I'm like an ostrich with my head buried in the sand. Or to quote Charlie:

"The man who sits in well, sees little of the sky" (The Black Camel, Chapter 11, pg 505)