It's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEYE LUKE as we share "Phantom of Chinatown"
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Confucius say, ‘No man is poor who have worthy son.’"
We pause along the road of our CHARLIE CHAN FILM TOUR 2016 allowing us to celebrate the birthday of Number One Son, Keye Luke, as we view him in his only starring role of James T. Wong, detective, in “Phantom of Chinatown.”
Also, per our newly inaugurated custom, we will be sharing, before our featured film presentation, an “extra.” Recently we have shared vintage Charlie Chan radio shows. This week we will be viewing two short presentations - Keye Luke’s first TV appearance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNoW7o_t4mE and “Keye Luke”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqUH0-CcvOI
OUR PRESENTATIONS: “Phantom of Chinatown” (1940). Runtime: 63 minutes…AND Keye Luke’s first TV appearance (March 22, 1949; Runtime 9:08)…PLUS: “Keye Luke” (2013; Runtime: 12:03).
FILM SUMMARY: In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton (Charles Miller) the famous explorer, drinks from the water bottle on his lecture table, collapses and dies. His last words "Eternal Fire" are the only clue Chinese detective Jimmy Wong (Keye Luke) and Captain Street (Grant Withers) of the police department have to work on. Win Len (Lotus Long), Benton's secretary, reveals the doctor's dying words refer to a scroll which tells the location of rich oil deposits. Wong and Street then begin the search for the killer among Benton's associates.
TIME: We begin with arrivals and greetings at 7:30 EASTERN TIME. Then, we share our special short “extras” which will be followed at exactly 8:15 when we roll our feature, “Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum.”
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, this week’s feature is presently available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm5t5UylSHc
OF NOTE: Directed by Phil Rosen, produced by Paul Malvern, written by Hugh Wiley and Gilbert Bettison, starring Keye Luke as James Lee Wong, Grant Withers as Police Captain Street, Lotus Long as Win Lee, Charles F. Miller as Dr. Benton, Huntley Gordon as Dr. Norman Wilkes, Virginia Carpenter as Louise Benton, John Dilson as Charles Fraser and Paul McVey as Detective Grady. This was the final film in the “Mr. Wong” film series from Monogram Pictures.
PLEASE have a happy and safe Monday, and I hope to see you in our Chat Room as we join together as we celebrate Keye Luke’s birthday!
