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OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR October 5: “The Black Camel”

Happy Birthday Warner Oland!

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Even wisest man sometimes mistake bumblebee for blackberry.”

FROM KASHIMO: “CLUE!”

GREETINGS! It’s Warner Oland’s birthday, and we are celebrating the occasion with a shared viewing of “The Black Camel,” the oldest surviving example of Mr. Oland as Charlie Chan!

OUR CHAT ROOM: Our Chat Room can be accessed the same way that we accessed by going to our “Chat Room” link at charliechan.info, or use this direct link: http://www.charliechan.info/id17.html

THIS WEEK’S PRESENTATIONS: “The Black Camel” (1931; 71 minutes) along with our “extra,” the FIRSTL episode of “The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack” with Keye Luke…and Sidney Toler! (1943; 26 minutes).

FEATURE SUMMARY: Hollywood star Shelah Fane, who is in Hawaii shooting a film on location, is murdered in her beach house in Waikiki. Detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department is called on to investigate. "Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here," Chan tells the assembled suspects.

FEATURE NOTES: The novel “The Black Camel,” by Earl Derr Biggers, was originally published serially in ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ between May 18 and June 22, 1929. Sources conflict concerning the release date of the

film. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, some scenes were shot in Honolulu, where some of the film's music was also recorded.

TRIVIA: “The Black Camel” was filmed in great part on location in and around Honolulu. The only other “location” Charlie Chan movie was “The Trap,” shot 16 years later at Malibu Beach, California.

TERM OF THE WEEK: applesauce - (Slang) Nonsense; foolishness.

Charlie Chan's Oldest Daughter: "Ah, that's a lot of applesauce!"

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: Warner Oland as Charlie Chan.


For a viewing of more than 500 images from ALL films in the Charlie Chan series, please visit our Gallery: http://www.charliechan.info/id448.html

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 online. Happily, OUR FEATURE IS AVAILABLE ONLINE! (SOMETIMES there are occasional 5-second commercial intrusions. If so, after the 5 seconds, click on “Skip Ad”.)

CAST (as credited):

Warner Oland: Charlie Chan
Sally Eilers: Julie O'Neill
Bela Lugosi: Tarneverro
Dorothy Revier: Shelah Fane
Victor Varconi: Robert Fyfe
Murray Kinnell: Smith
William Post, Jr.: Alan Jaynes
Robert Young: Jimmy Bradshaw
Violet Dunn: Anna
J.M. Kerrigan: Thomas MacMasters
Mary Gordon: Mrs. MacMasters
Rita Rozelle: Luana
Otto Yamaoka: Kashimo

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Dwight Frye: Jessop
C. Henry Gordon: Huntley Van Horn
Robert Homans: Chief of Police
Bo Ling: Number One Chan Daughter
Hamilton MacFadden: Movie Director Val Martino
Louise Mackintosh: Librarian
Melvin Paoa: Hawaiian Beach Boy
Richard Tucker: Wilkie Ballou
James Wang: Wong
Marjorie White: Rita Ballou
(Unknown): Miss [Diana] Dixon

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION on this week’s feature, please visit: http://www.charliechan.info/id20.html

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our September 2020 POLL, found as you scroll down our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)!

OUR AUGUST POLL RESULT:

QUESTION: Which Charlie Chan film offers the best "shipboard" murder(s)?

“Charlie Chan Carries On” (as seen through the Spanish language version, “Eran Trece”) 0%
“Charlie Chan at the Race Track” 11%
“Charlie Chan at the Olympics” 6%
“Charlie Chan in Honolulu” 6%
“Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise” 38%
“Dead Men Tell” 38%
“Dangerous Money” 6%

Please cast your vote in our OCTOBER Poll!!

DO YOU HAVE A POLL QUESTION? Please feel free to suggest a Monthly Poll question! Send your ideas to: charliechanfamily@lyahoo.com.

OUR CCF CHAT ARCHIVE: Please take a look at our growing collection of CCF Chat Texts from previous years and this year: http://www.charliechan.info/id630.html

NEXT WEEK: Please join us on Monday, October 12 for TWO EPISODES of “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan,” starring J. Carrol Naish as Charlie Chan with James Hong as Number One Son, BARRY!

AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: The most "MUST VISIT" blog site, The Postman on Holiday, offered by our own Charlie Chan and Earl Derr Biggers expert, Lou Armagno which is: "A place to explore all things surrounding Detective Charlie Chan, his creator Earl Derr Biggers, and their connection with Hawaii, Cleveland, and mystery fiction." Updated each month, it can be found at this address: thepostmanonholiday.com

SO, REMEMBER, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s feature and a nice slice of virtual birthday cake as we share “The Black Camel.”

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,

Rush Glick