Tonight's Monday Evening Chat/Film Viewing: "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service"
As we move along on our trip together through the entire Charlie Chan film series, we now move into the Monogram Pictures era. Tonight’s Monday Evening Chat and Film Viewing will feature "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service," starring Sidney Toler. As the first entry in the Monogram series, we note some immediate changes to what we became accustomed to with the Fox films. First, there was an obvious drop in production values due to the constraints dictated by a much lower budget. Next, we now see Number Three Son, Tommy (along with his sister, Iris) shadowing his famous Pop in place of Jimmy. Finally, we have Birmingham Brown, played by Mantan Moreland, who would become a mainstay in the Monogram Chan series. “Secret Service” takes place within the confines of the very strange mansion of an eccentric scientist who labors on a secret U.S. government project. Chan is now working for the Secret Service in Washington, D.C., serving his country during World War II, which we see him doing “for the duration.”
Tonight’s Monday Evening Chat begins, as always, at our Charlie Chan Family Home, located at CHARLIECHAN.INFO, with arrivals and greetings. Using any of the "Chat Room" links to join us, we start our festivities at 8:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time. Thirty minutes later, we begin rolling our personal copies of "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service." (If you lack your own copy of this film, it MAY be available online, but of late, most Chan films have been removed from that source due to copyright issues.) This allows us to enjoy and share the film together. So, have a happy Monday, and let's gather together for yet another Chan-filled Monday night, shall we?