Our Monday Evening CCF Chat/Film Viewing: "Charlie Chan in Egypt"
“Waiting for tomorrow waste of today.” (Charlie Chan)
Our film for this week is “Charlie Chan in Egypt,” starring Warner Oland as Charlie Chan. Number One Son, Lee has gone back to work for his present employer, so, we have a surprise assistant: Stepin Fetchit as Snowshoes. The unauthorized sale of ancient Egyptian artifacts brings Charlie Chan from Paris to Egypt on a mission which leads to murder and possible supernatural happenings!
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 American Film Institute Catalog correctly lists the running time for Charlie Chan in Egypt as 72 minutes. However, recent sources have stated that it is actually 65 minutes in length. The larger figure certainly relates to the original running time, while the smaller running time may indicate that some surviving prints of this film have been shortened. The music and the appearance of the opening title and credits lend further credence to this probability, as the music and accompanying sound of water splashing can be traced to a scene that occurs 51 minutes into the film. It is likely that the original opening title sequence has been lost and the current version was a reconstruction, possibly owing the film having been shortened in length at some point in its existence.
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, “Charlie Chan in Egypt,” IS available at YouTube at this address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNr45vEXh_o
Our own Virigina, whose contributions to our knowledge of Chan actors and actresses has been nearly as voluminous as her knowledge of all things Hollywood, has kindly offered two interesting glimpses of Rita hayworth, who appears as Nayda in “Charlie Chan in Egypt” and is billed as Rita Cansino. Via the two links below, one can see her in two dancing roles filmed a number of years apart. The first comes from her first movie, “Dante's Inferno,” while the second is from “The Dance of the Seven Veils.” (Please pardon some of the "added" material...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXp2UwmEwOo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjI8G6gA65w
Next, while speaking with Virginia, she brought up the fact that she heard of the passing of Layne Tom, Jr. who played three different Chan sons in three films: “Charlie Chan at the Olympics,” “Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise,” and “Charlie Chan in Honolulu.” Sadly, a check at IMDB informed us that Mr. Tom did, indeed, pass away in January 14 at the age of 87. May he rest in peace...
NEXT WEEK (March 2) we will be sharing “Charlie Chan in Shanghai.”
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 “Charlie Chan in Egypt.”
