FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Sometime jewel found in ashes.”

GREETINGS! It’s time for us to dress our best – soup and tie for the gentlemen – as we join Charlie Chan and Number One Son, Lee at the opera! It promises to be aa evening of music, merriment, and…MURDER as we feature “Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff!

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: “Charlie Chan at the Opera” (1937; 68 minutes); along with our “extra,” a Charlie Chan radio mystery, “The Landini Murder Case: Jealousy”. (1936; 15 minutes).

FEATURE INTRODUCTION: Gravelle, a former baritone believed dead after an opera house fire seven years before, has been confined in a mental institution, suffering from amnesia. His memory, rekindled when sees a news story about his former wife's current appearance in an opera in Los Angeles, escapes and seeks revenge for the failed attempt on his life years earlier. When those involved in the crime are found stabbed to death, Charlie Chan and son Lee try to find out if the fugitive Gravelle is the one responsible.

FEATURE NOTES: The film's title card reads: "Twentieth Century-Fox presents Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff in Charlie Chan at the Opera." Although contemporary reviews call Margaret Irving's character "Lucretia Barelli," she is called "Anita Barelli" in the film. A ‘Motion Picture Daily’ news item noted that the picture was banned in Germany for having "too many murders." The ‘Hollywood Reporter’ noted that public response to the film's preview was so positive that Twentieth Century-Fox planned to up the production and advertising budgets for the Charlie Chan series, and that future films would see "Warner Oland co-starred with a top name opposite." The first star the studio was said to be approaching to star with Oland was Peter Lorre. According to another ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, this film marked the first time that a DeBrie camera, which was lighter and quieter than other models, was used in the United States. According to modern sources, director H. Bruce Humberstone borrowed some of the sets from “Café Metropole” for this film. Oscar Levant, in his autobiographical writings, states that he was assigned to write an operatic sequence that would take advantage of a Mephistophelian costume that had been created for Lawrence Tibbett in a previous Twentieth Century-Fox film (presumably Under Your Spell). Levant also relates that the words for the opera were written originally in English by William Kernell and then translated into Italian by "studio linguists." Baritone Tudor Williams provided Boris Karloff's operatic singing voice.

CAST (as credited):

Warner Oland: Charlie Chan
Boris Karloff: Gravelle
Keye Luke: Lee Chan
Charlotte Henry: Mademoiselle Kitty (also known as Kitty Gravelle)
Thomas Beck: Phil Childers
Margaret Irving: Madame Lilli Rochelle
Gregory Gaye: Enrico Barelli
Nedda Harrigan: Madame Anita Barelli
Frank Conroy: Mr. Whitley
Guy Usher: Inspector Regan
William Demarest: Sergeant Kelly
Maurice Cass: Mr. Arnold
Tom McGuire: Morris

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

William Bailey: Detective
Charles Bancroft: Opera Extra Soldier
John Bleifer: Orderly
Myrta Bonillas: Villager in Opera
Raymond Brown; Guard
Stanley Blystone: Police Officer with Rifle
Carita Crawford: Dancer in Opera
Patrick Cunning: Villager in Opera
Zari Elmassian: Madame Rochelle's Singing Voice
Frank Fanning: Police Officer
Jim Farley: Detective
Adolph Faylauer: Opera Spectator
Larry Fisher: Police Officer
Benson Fong: Opera Extra Soldier
J.C. Fowler: Opera Spectator
Otto Fries: Innkeeper in Opera
Bud Geary: Police Officer
Milton Gowman: Villager in Opera
Herschel Graham: Villager in Opera
Harrison Greene
Julia Griffith: Opera Spectator
Cliff Herd: Stagehand
Charles Anthony Hughes: Ambulance Doctor
Selmer Jackson: Hudson, ‘Los Angeles Bulletin’ Wire Photo Technician
Gladden James: Secretary
Jane Keckley: Second Wardrobe Mistress
Fred A. Kelsey: Dugan
Leonard Mellon: Villager in Opera
Tony Merlo: Villager in Opera
Dodo Newton: Barmaid in Opera
Eddie Parker: Police Officer
Richard Powell: Police Officer
Enrique de Rosas: Florist
Tony Roux: Villager in Opera
Dick Rush: Guard
Alexander Schoenberg: Prompter
Eddie Shubert: Guard
Lee Shumway: Sanitarium Guard
Mary Louise Smith: Villager in Opera
Harry Strang: Police Officer
Eddie Tamblyn: Call Boy
Marjorie Timm: Villager in Opera
Sam Tong: Opera Extra Soldier
Harland Tucker: Private Detective
Hilda Vaughn: Agnes
Emmett Vogan: Smitty, ‘Chicago Sun’ Wire Photo Technician
Billy Wayne: Electirician
Tudor Williams: Boris Karloff's Operatic Singing Voice
Joan Woodbury: Opera Dancer
FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ON OUR FEATURE: Please go to http://www.charliechan.info/id31.html

TRIVIA: Benson Fong, who later portrayed Number Three Son, Tommy Chan, briefly appeared unbilled in this film as one of the opera extras (the third "soldier" from the left as they are first seen lined up).

THIS WEEK’S TERM: hams - (Slang) Performers who overact or exaggerate.Sgt. Kelly: "None of you hams are leaving the theater until this thing is cleared up."

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: Charlie Chan meets with Anita Barelli.



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

IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FILM: Often our features can be found online. CONTINUED HAPPINESS! “Charlie Chan at the Opera” IS AVAILABLE online! You may access it above at “THIS WEEK’S PRESENTATION” and also at our Chat Room as a link.

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our MARCH 2021 POLL, right here: MARCH 2021 Poll This poll will close on March 24!

OUR FEBRUARY POLL RESULT:

QUESTION: Which of these police officials was the most antagonistic to Charlie Chan?

Lt. Macy (“Charlie Chan at the Circus”) 14%

Sgt. Kelly (“Charlie Chan at the Opera”) 43%

Sheriff “Tombstone” Fletcher (“Charlie Chan in Reno”) 43%

DO YOU HAVE A POLL QUESTION? You are invited 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/id830.html

NEXT WEEK: “Charlie Chan at the Olympics”

OUR CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER for this year!

This is our third annual Charlie Chan Family Newsletter! It contains the work of a number of Charlie Chan Family members and friends. Thank you so much to Lou Armagno, aka, HonoluLou, who has put together and published yet another masterpiece! Please use this link to access this year's newsletter which covers the year 2020. Please enjoy!

AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: A great blog site, The Postman on Holiday, is 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: www.thepostmanonholiday.com

SO, REMEMBER, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s feature, “Charlie Chan at the Opera.”

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,
Rush Glick