FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Even wisest man sometimes mistake bumblebee for blackberry.”
Monday greetings! Continuing along on our CHARLIE CHAN FILM TOUR 2016, we will be viewing “The Black Camel,” starring Warner Oland. This, the second entry in the Charlie Chan film series, is the oldest surviving movie in the Fox Film series, and is also the only one that was filmed on location in Hawaii. Specifically, the location shots include Honolulu and environs as well as Kailua Beach, which can be seen in the opening minutes of the picture. This movie offers a very early glimpse of how Warner Oland handled the Charlie Chan character. We are also treated to a fun scene with Chan and his whole family at breakfast, and, we must not forget Charlie’s Japanese assistant, Kashimo, who jumps directly from the pages of Earl Derr Biggers’ story of the same title!
We will also be sharing, before our featured presentation, a vintage Mystery Playhouse Charlie Chan radio show: “Charlie Chan’s Daughter is Kidnapped” which can be found on the Internet at: http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/crime/charlie-chan/charlie-chan-charlies-daughter-is-kidnapped-mystery-playhouse
OUR PRESENTATIONS: “The Black Camel” (1931). Runtime: 71 minutes…AND The Mystery Playhouse: “Charlie Chan’s Daughter is Missing” (radio program early 1940s; Runtime: 31 minutes)
SUMMARIES:
“Charlie Chan’s Daughter is Missing” - Charlie Chan an ardent stamp collector, a proud and loving father and master detective is entitled “Charlie’s Daughter is Kidnapped” and is hosted by Mystery Playhouse.
“The Black Camel” - Hollywood star Shelah Fane, who is in Hawaii shooting a film on location, is murdered in her beach house in Waikiki. Detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department is called on to investigate. "Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here," Chan tells the assembled suspects.
NEW TIME: We begin with arrivals and greetings at 7:30 EASTERN TIME. Then, we share our radio program which will be followed at exactly 8:15 when we roll our feature, “The Black Camel.”
LOCATION: Our Charlie Chan Family Chat Room, which is accessed at http://www.charliechan.info/id17.html.
IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FILM: Often our features can be found available online, happily, tonight’s feature is presently available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkTewuR_HM
THIS WEEK’S IMAGE FROM OUR FILM: (Please see attachment). Charlie Chan with Kashimo as both stand near the Chans’ Punchbowl Hill home, in a shot not to be seen in the film!
OF NOTE: 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.
SO, please have a pleasant, safe Monday, and, stay warm, our eastern friends! I hope to see you tonight as we share our feature together!
