CHAT NUMBER: 1,211

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Caution sometimes mother of suspicion.”

THIS WEEK: In this final entry in the Fox era of the Charlie Chan film series, Chan and Number Two Son Jimmy find themselves in an isolated Mojave Desert castle with danger around every corner! Will Charlie Chan be the next victim?

THE CHAT ROOM: Go to our “Chat Room” page, and, at the bottom of that page, click on the “Charlie Chan Family Chat Room ENTRANCE” link. You may then enter as a “Guest.”

OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION: “Castle in the Desert” (1942; 63 minutes)

FEATURE SUMMARY: A guest is murdered at Manderley Castle, a medieval reconstruction located in the middle of the Mojave Desert, which is owned by wealthy historian Paul Manderley and his wife, Lucy, who is a descendant of the notorious Borgia family. Charlie Chan, who was summoned to the castle earlier, and Number Two Son, Jimmy, away on leave from the U.S. Army, quickly get to work trying to unravel the mystery.

FEATURE NOTES: Although an August 15, 1941, ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item stated that John Larkin would write the screenplay for this film based on an original story by producer Ralph Dietrich, no other contemporary source confirms Dietrich’s contributions to the picture as a writer. According to a studio press release and another ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, Janis Carter was originally cast as Brenda Hartford. The ‘Variety’ review erroneously lists the film’s running time as 51 minutes. “Castle in the Desert” was the last Charlie Chan film produced by Twentieth Century-Fox. Although the official copyright date for “Castle in the Desert” is February 27, 1942, the on-screen date reads “MCMXLI” (1941). After Sidney Toler obtained the film rights to the character from the widow of Earl Derr Biggers, he continued to make Chan films at Monogram Pictures. It is interesting to note that Victor Sen Yung’s life would soon share a parallel with that of Charlie Chan’s Number Two Son, Jimmy, as he would soon be joining the U.S. Army Air Forces for the duration of World War II.

THIS WEEK’S EXTRAS:

army signal corps world war 2 carrier pigeons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruOQS7iozB4

Running time: 5:11

Scotty's Castle Interior Tour - Long Version - Death Valley Ranch, California

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji3kuiCxF2g

Running time: 14:35

OUR MESSAGE BOARD: Please consider visiting our Message Board, and feel free to add a message to a post or begin a conversation…or state a thought! Our Message Board has been there for YOU since 2004! Take a trip back in time and take a look at what was happening with your Charlie Chan Family “way back when,” two decades ago!

AS ALWAYS, WE BEGIN OUR EVENING at 7:30 Eastern Time with a 45-minute block of time for arrivals and greetings, and the sharing of an extra…or two...or even three! (see above). Then, at precisely 8:15 ET, we begin running our feature film simultaneously starting our personal or online copies of this week’s feature!

AT OUR BULLETIN BOARD: THE CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY HOME 2022 NEWSLETTER is now available at our “Bulletin Board” at our Charlie Chan Family Home! Also, at our Bulletin Board you will find a lot more in the form of links to other Chan-related items of possible interest!

AND, please take a minute to cast your vote on our JULY POLL, also available on our Bulletin Board or our Home Page…or directly at this address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBMPP5C

NEXT WEEK: We will be sharing “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service,” the first entry in the Monogram Pictures Charlie Chan film series. Also, we will begin sharing the 13-part serial, “Secret Agent X-9,” featuring Keye Luke with Benson Fong!

Take care, and let’s join together again for another Chan-filled evening within the friendly confines of our Charlie Chan Family Chat Room at charliechan.org as we share “Castle in the Desert.”

Sincerely,

Rush Glick

In order to take care of Ming Toy, Jimmy had to study THIS MANUAL very carefully!

:smiley:

Dear Mike and Rachel,

Thank you!

Our first "extra" for this film is silent footage from WW2 showing scenes on this very subject.

Sincerely,
Rush