Thank you so much for the undeserved vote of confidence. I will do my humble best to piece this little puzzle together with something of a timeline, first. Warner Oland passed away in his native Sweden on August 6, 1938. Sidney Toler was officially announced by 20th Century-Fox as his replacement as Charlie Chan, following a lengthy search for the right actor, on October 18. On October 31, filming began on "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" with Toler and Sen Yung (Victor Sen Yung) as Number Two Son, Jimmy, replacing Keye Luke as Lee Chan. On December 16, 1938, "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" was previewed at Grauman's Chinese Theater (very appropriate, yes?) to excellent reviews. On January 20, 1939, "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" was released.
So, it seems fairly obvious, even though I don't have the filming dates for the Moto film, that it was shot sometime following the untimely death of Warner Oland. At the time I was collecting the scripts for the four "lost" Chan films which are today presented here at our Charlie Chan Family Home, I had the good fortune of taking a peek at the production materials for "Charlie Chan in Honolulu." I can tell you with certainty that that film was to originally have starred Oland as Chan with Keye Luke as Lee Chan. I believe that that was to have been the next film in the Chan series following Mr. Oland's return from Europe. The poster that we catch a glimpse of on "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" must, therefore, indeed, be something of a tribute to the late actor who famously portrayed Charlie Chan.
I hope that this helps a little to at least show a bit of what was undoubtedly behind the appearance of the mysterious poster. Something that was to have been, but, tragically was not...
Please allow me to present you with my theory about the placement of the movie poster "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" in the film "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" (1939).
The placement of the Chan poster in the Moto film is NOT a tribute to the late actor Warner Oland. Mr. Oland was alive and well, sort of, during the entire filming of "Mr. Moto's Last Warning."
"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" was in production from June 6, 1938 to June 29, 1938. Mr. Oland died on August 6, 1938. Production ended five (5) weeks prior to Mr. Oland's passing in Sweden.
The Chan poster placed within the Moto film was a franchise plug (a promotion) for the Chan series. Both detective series were produced by the 20th Century-Fox film studio.
The Chan movie poster was a subtle reminder to the movie-going public that the Charlie Chan franchise was still alive. At the time of the release of the Moto film (1/29/39), the movie-going public had not seen a Chan film on the silver screen since December of 1937. "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" was released on December 16, 1938.
A question to ask ourselves: Why would 20th Century-Fox pay a tribute to an actor who was difficult to work with? At the time of his death, the studio was considering suing Mr. Oland for the expense of shooting footage for "CC at the Ringside." Except for a few short scenes, the "Ringside" footage was thrown away due to Mr. Oland's walk-out.
Another note. 20th Century-Fox never placed a tribute to any of its late contract actors in any of their films. This my theory and I'm sticking to it.
Thank you! I think you nailed it. It is interesting that Fox took six months to release the Moto film. All you say makes perfect sense, though. Yes, "Honolulu" would have been a Warner Oland Chan film, and, from all indications it would have been the next in the series had he not passed away.
