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OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR October 19: “The Chinese Ring”

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Man who ride on merry-go-round all the time, sooner or later must catch brass ring.”

A BIRMINGHAM BROWN MOMENT: (cheerfully answering the telephone) "Hello! Mr. Chan's residence. Commence with the conversation. Uh, no sir, Mr. Chan's in conference. He's in conference with the chief of police, the district attorney, the mayor, and the governor, and, I think, the secretary of state. (giggles, and as Charlie Chan walks over to him) Conference over!"

GREETINGS! We now move on to the Roland Winters phase of the Charlie Chan film series! In this week’s adventure, Charlie Chan seeks to find the answers behind the murder of a Chinese princess who was killed in his own San Francisco home!

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 PRESENTATION: “The Chinese Ring” (1947; 68 minutes) along with our “extra,” the THIRD episode of “The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack” with Keye Luke…and Sidney Toler! (1943; 21 minutes).

FEATURE SUMMARY: Mei Ling, a Chinese princess, arrives in San Francisco aboard the boat Shanghai Maid, and, several weeks
later, visits Charlie Chan at his home. She gives Chan's butler and assistant, Birmingham Brown, an ancient Chinese ring, and while she is momentarily alone, an assailant kills her by shooting a poison dart through the window. As she is dying, the princess is able to write "Capt. K" on a piece of paper, but is unable to finish the full name. Chan, with the help of Number Two Son, Tommy, and Birmingham, soon finds himself in the midst of international intrigue and danger as he seeks to discover the identity of the mysterious Captain K and the murderer of Princess Mei Ling.

FEATURE NOTES: The title card on this film reads: “Charlie Chan in ‘The Chinese Ring’." The film's working titles were “The Mandarin's Secret,” “The Red Hornet,” and “Charlie Chan and the Chinese Ring.” ‘Independent Film Journal’ reviewed the picture as “The Red Hornet.” Although ‘Call Bureau Cast Service’ lists Valerie Ardis as "Stenographer," the ‘Variety’ review and studio production files list Charmienne Harker in the role. This film marked the first Charlie Chan film to star Roland Winters, who was chosen to replace Sidney Toler who had died earlier in 1947.

CAST (as credited):

Roland Winters: Charlie Chan
Warren Douglas: Sergeant Bill Davidson
Mantan Moreland: Birmingham Brown
Louise Currie: Peggy Cartwright
Victor Sen Young: Tommy Chan
Phillip Ahn: Captain Kong
Byron Foulger: Armstrong
Thayer Roberts: Captain James J. Kelso
Jean Wong: Princess Mei Ling
Chabing: Lilly Mae Wong
George L. Spaulding: Dr. Hickey

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Leon Alton: Detective
Jimmy Base: Detective
Paul Bryar: Sergeant
Spencer Chan: Chinese Officer
Thayer Cheek: Chinese Boy
Kenneth Chuck: Chinese Boy
Thornton Edwards: Hotel Clerk
Lee Tung Foo: Butler (also the voice of the Apartment Manager)
Charmienne Harker: Stenographer
Jack Mower: Ballard
Joseph C. Naecisse: Dock Worker
Cap Somers: Dock Worker
Richard Wang: Hamishin

FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ON OUR FEATURE: Please go to http://www.charliechan.info/id59.html

TRIVIA: Lee Tung Foo, who plays Armstrong’s butler in our film, also supplies the voice of the apartment manager of Princess Mei Ling’s apartment building.

TERM OF THE WEEK: yakamein - A popular soup in several areas of the United States, sold mostly in small neighborhood bodegas of New Orleans in the past.
Birmingham Brown: "Watch them dogs! They'll chew you into a mess of yakamein!"

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: Upon her arrival at Charlie Chan's San Francisco home, Princess Mei Ling has Birmingham Brown take her ring to the detective prove her identity.



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”.)

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: October 26, don’t miss our annual Charlie Chan family Virtual Halloween Party as we share “Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum,” starring Sidney Toler! This has been our longest-running annual event and is always a highlight of our year-long film journey together! Everyone is hereby invited to come INCOGNITO in “virtual costume” of ANY character from a Charlie Chan movie: good or evil, human or animal, or even animate or inanimate (as we have had at least one visit from the “White Fox Fur”!). Masks are removed at the conclusion of our evening! So, be duly warned…THIS IS A NIGHT OF FRIGHT AND FUN!!! See you there!!!

AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: Continuing strongly in 2020, great 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: https://thepostmanonholiday.com/

SO, REMEMBER, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s feature, “The Chinese Ring.”

THANK YOU SO MUCH…
Rush Glick