Our Monday Evening Chat/Film viewing: "The Black Camel"
“There is old saying: 'Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate.'” (Charlie Chan)
As we continue our journey through the Charlie Chan film series, our film for this week is “The Black Camel,” starring Warner Oland as Charlie Chan and featuring Bela Lugosi and including Dwight Frye, from the then recently concluded film, “Dracula.” “Who killed Shelah Fane?” That is the question that rocks the tropical paradise of Charlie Chan as the detective seeks to solve a mystery that may have considerably deep roots!
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 “The Black Camel,” by Earl Derr Biggers, was originally published serially in The Saturday Evening Post between May 18 and June 22, 1929. Sources conflict concerning the release date of the film. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, some scenes were shot in Honolulu, where some of the of the film's music was also recorded. “The Black Camel,” the second movie in the Charlie Chan series at Fox, is the oldest example of Warner Oland's Charlie Chan that we currently have available, as the first film, “:Charlie Chan Carries On” is one of the four currently “lost” Chan pictures.
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, “The Black Camel,” IS available at YouTube at this address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-niaqKHuno
NEXT WEEK (February 2) we will be sharing “Charlie Chan in London.”
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 “The Black Camel.”
