FROM CHARLIE CHAN: Honorable father once say, "Politeness golden key that open many doors."
Good morning! This week our CHARLIE CHAN FILM TOUR 2016 takes us, along with Charlie Chan, back to the mainland and Los Angeles, the site of the detective’s recent “Race Track” case! This time, Mr. Chan, again accompanied by his Number One Son, Lee, is asked to help out the LAPD find who is threatening an opera prima donna. Could it be an escaped madman who has focused his attention on this world-renowned performer? It’s “Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff” as we share as we join “Charlie Chan at the Opera.”
As is our new custom, arriving at 7:30 Eastern Time, we will be sharing, before our featured presentation, a vintage Charlie Chan radio show. Today it will be “The Landini Murder Case” (Episode 31) which can be found on the Internet at this address: http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/crime/charlie-chan/charlie-chan-31-landini
OUR PRESENTATIONS:
1. “The Landini Murder Case” (1936; Runtime: 14:22)
2. “Charlie Chan at the Opera” (1936; Runtime: 68 minutes)
SUMMARIES:
“The Landini Murder Case” - Inspector Chan continues his investigation of the Landini murder with several interrogations. The bullet was fired from above, Ireland, the pilot comes under suspicion.
“Charlie Chan at the Opera” – Gravelle, a former baritone believed dead after an opera house fire seven years before, has been confined in a mental institution, suffering from amnesia. His memory, rekindled when sees a news story about his former wife's current appearance in an opera in Los Angeles, escapes and seeks revenge for the failed attempt on his life years earlier. When those involved in the crime are found stabbed to death, Charlie Chan and son Lee try to find out if the fugitive Gravelle is the one responsible.
NOTES: The film's title card reads: "Twentieth Century-Fox presents Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff in Charlie Chan at the Opera." Although contemporary reviews call Margaret Irving's character "Lucretia Barelli," she is called "Anita Barelli" in the film. A ‘Motion Picture Daily’ news item noted that the picture was banned in Germany for having "too many murders." The ‘Hollywood Reporter’ noted that public response to the film's preview was so positive that Twentieth Century-Fox planned to up the production and advertising budgets for the Charlie Chan series, and that future films would see "Warner Oland co-starred with a top name opposite." The first star the studio was said to be approaching to star with Oland was Peter Lorre. According to another ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, this film marked the first time that a DeBrie camera, which was lighter and more quiet than other models, was used in the United States. According to modern sources, director H. Bruce Humberstone borrowed some of the sets from “Café Metropole” for this film. Oscar Levant, in his autobiographical writings, states that he was assigned to write an operatic sequence that would take advantage of a Mephistophelian costume that had been created for Lawrence Tibbett in a previous Twentieth Century-Fox film (presumably “Under Your Spell”). Levant also relates that the words for the opera were written originally in English by William Kernell and then translated into Italian by "studio linguists." Benson Fong, who later portrayed Number Three Son, Tommy Chan, appeared unbilled in this film as one of the opera extras (the third "soldier" from the left as they are first seen lined up). Baritone Tudor Williams provided Boris Karloff's operatic singing voice.
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 featured movie: “Charlie Chan at the Opera.”
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 online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeV5YBDs2tc
PLEASE have a happy Monday, and let’s plan to meet together once again at our Chat Room as we share this week’s film: “Charlie Chan at the Opera,” shall we? Formal attire, please!
