Online availability of "Shadows Over Chinatown" and other Monogram Chan films
Greetings!
As we move along on our Monday evening chat journey through the Charlie Chan film series, we are now traveling deeper into the Monogram Chan movies. In recent times the availability of some is not always reliable. For example, our film for Monday, September 11, "Shadows Over Chinatown" is only available, as far as I could tell, on a subscription or even a fee basis. I am fairly certain that this will be the case with more films, and in the future, I believe this situation will worsen.
It is my suggestion that those who do not yet have all available Charlie Chan pictures in their personal collections search them out over the Internet (they are available through many outlets such as eBay and Amazon), find the best deals, and buy them. In the recent past, ALL existing Charlie Chan adventures were released to the public in the form of authorized, commercially produced products in the form of boxed sets, which are still readily available as noted.
Re: Online availability of "Shadows Over Chinatown" and other Monogram Chan films
Rush,
A very interesting and sadly true observation. I very much appreciate the fact that we can, or have been able to (for the most part) stream the Chan's and other "Old Time" movies for free on services like YouTube, etc. for free. However, as you point out there are many streaming services that are making these and many older films that were once free to view as part of their subscription service (Amazon Prime, etc.) now part of a pay service or "free to view with advertisements". Sadly this is the result of the constant need for these providers to monetize their offerings.
One other thought regarding having "hard copies" (DVD's etc.) of these films is the Politically Correct Angle. As you and many of us long time Chan lovers know, years ago, Fox decided to pull its Chan films from broadcast on its Fox Movie Channel after the complaints of activists in the Asian community. To that end what is to prevent the streaming services from doing the same.
Not to sound like an alarmist but I sometimes feel that while my DVD collection is a bit of an anachronism, the day may come when it (and everyone else's) will be the last repository of serious film history (outside of the Library of Congress). So, long live the private collectors' efforts to preserve unadulterated film history.
