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"Castle in the Desert," our Chat film for this Monday night!

“Man without enemies like dog without fleas." (Charlie Chan: “Castle in the Desert”)

With this stop in our tour of the entire Charlie Chan film series, we have reached a bittersweet point, the spot where the Charlie Chan series came to an end at Twentieth Century-Fox with “Castle in the Desert.” It took changing world events to bring this about. The war was now a truly world encompassing conflict, and, thus, the international market was basically out of the question. So, sadly, the plug was pulled after the completion of this film.

Our adventure features Charlie Chan and Number Two son, Jimmy (on leave from his Army Signal Corps duty). Mr. Chan is mysteriously called to a strange castle located in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert. Upon arrival, he finds that his invitation, from an unknown individual, becomes an appointment with murder within a quirky castle populated by an even quirkier host and guests!

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: Although an August 15, 1941 ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item stated that John Larkin would write the screenplay for this film based on an original story by producer Ralph Dietrich, no other contemporary source confirms Dietrich's contributions to the picture as a writer. According to a studio press release and another ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, Janis Carter was originally cast as Brenda Hartford. The ‘Variety’ review erroneously lists the film's running time as 51 minutes. “Castle in the Desert” was the last Charlie Chan film produced by Twentieth Century-Fox. After Sidney Toler obtained the film rights to the character from the widow of Earl Derr Biggers, he continued to make Chan films at Monogram 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, new comers 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.

HAPPY NEWS…this week’s film, “Castle in the Desert,” IS available at YouTube at this address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBtPu2qF2so

NEXT WEEK (July 27) we will be sharing “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service.”

Have a happy and safe Monday, and let’s all get together for another Chan-filled evening of fun and sharing as we view “Castle in the Desert,” shall we?

Sincerely,
Rush Glick