This week's Monday Evening Chat/Film Viewing: "Charlie Chan in City in Darkness"
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Truth is only path out of tangled web.”
As we continue together along the meandering path which is our CHARLIE CHAN FILM TOUR 2016, we visit Paris, the “City of Light,” which is now darkened by the growing conflicts on the continent of Europe. “Charlie Chan in City in Darkness” allows us to join Charlie Chan as he gathers with others in that city to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the end of what was then called “The Great War.” However, it is September 28, 1938, and rumblings of another great conflict cast a gloom over the festivities, and Mr. Chan soon finds himself involved in a murder case that involves international intrigue!
As is out new custom, arriving at 7:30 Eastern Time, we will be sharing, before our featured presentation, a vintage Charlie Chan radio show. This time it will be the final episode of “The Landini Murder Case” (Episode 39) which can be found on the Internet at this address: http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/crime/charlie-chan/charlie-chan-39-landini-final
OUR PRESENTATIONS:
1. “The Landini Murder Case” (Episode 39; 1936; Runtime: 15:02)
2. “Charlie Chan in City in Darkness” (1939; Runtime: 69 minutes)
SUMMARIES:
“The Landini Murder Case” – Based on the novel “Keeper of the Keys,” by Earl Derr Biggers, 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 in City in Darkness” – Charlie Chan is in Paris attending the twentieth anniversary gathering of members of the Intelligence Service, who have come together in that city to mark the occasion. There, as the City of Light is darkened by the gathering clouds of impending war, he investigates the murder of a munitions manufacturer who was supplying arms to the enemy.
NOTES: “Charlie Chan in City in Darkness” begins with newsreel-like footage featuring actual European leaders of the moment, including Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Edward Benes (then president of Czechoslovakia), and Neville Chamberlain (then prime Minister of Great Britain, who became famous for his "Peace for Our Time" statement based on the dubious outcome of the Munich Conference which figures at the end of the film via Charlie Chan’s ominous warning).
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 Treasure Island.”
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=k-MiQZdu_sI Please note that the quality of this online version is very odd in that the backgrounds of scenes tend to, at times, shift and tilt strangely as if the viewer is aboard a rocking vessel at sea!
PLEASE have an enjoyable, safe Monday, and let’s gather together once again at our Chat Room for yet another evening of fun and discussion as we share this week’s feature film, “Charlie Chan in City in Darkness.”
