CHAT NUMBER: 1,227

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Spirits always have very long way to come.” (Black Magic/Meeting at Midnight)

THIS WEEK: The spirits have taken over! If you DARE to join us within the horrifically spooky confines of our Chat Room, your will be welcomed into out Annual Charlie Chan Family Virtual Halloween Party as has been the case fore more than two decades! Please come virtually “costumed” as any character…human, animal, wraith, or inanimate…good, or otherwise! Enter our Chat Room in the identity you chose. At the end of the evening, true Identities may…or may not…be revealed! (One or two may be obvious from the start!) Happy Hauntings…

OUR 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.” (You may also register at RumbleTalk, our Chat Room’s host, if you so choose, however this limits you to a specific name.)

OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION: “Charlie Chan at the Opera” (1936; 68 minutes) Good news, this film IS available online for those who lack a personal copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km3bVSDR5o4&t=3s

FEATURE SUMMARY: 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 his son Lee try to find out if the fugitive Gravelle is the one responsible.

FEATURE NOTES: The working title for this film was “Murder in the Opera.” The 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.” 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). Baritone Tudor Williams provided Boris Karloff’s operatic singing voice.

THIS WEEK’S EXTRA:

The first part of “The War of the Worlds” radio broadcast of 1938!

The War of the Worlds is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on Sunday, October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel “The War of the Worlds” (1898). It became famous for allegedly causing mass panic, although the scale of the panic is disputed as the program had relatively few listeners. [Wikipedia]

Orson Welles (b. May 6, 1915) was 23 years old at the time of this "live" broadcast.
In his 20s, Welles directed a number of high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project, including an adaptation of “Macbeth” with an entirely African American cast, and the political musical “The Cradle Will Rock.”

In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941. Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel “The War of the Worlds” performed for his radio anthology series “The Mercury Theatre on the Air.”

It reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring. Although some contemporary sources claim these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to notoriety. [Wikipedia]

Historical Notes from Steve

As we listen to this broadcast, please place yourself in the shoes of 'the average American' in 1938. Where were the American people in the fall of 1938? What was the condition of the country at that time?

In 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the US President. America was coming to the end of the Great Depression. For the average American, times were tough.

In 1938, the majority of this country was rural. There were big cities, such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. But agriculture (i.e. farming) was the big industry for this country. Many Americans lived and worked on a farm.

In 1938, there was no television. Network radio was about 24 years old. CBS and NBC were the prime radio networks. There was no ABC-Radio yet. The Public Broadcasting System was decades away from development.

In 1938, sound movies were ten years old. The majority of feature films ran between 70 to 90 minutes in length, and they were in black & white. Released in February of 1938 was Walt Disney's production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length animated color cartoon.

In 1938, US citizens had not seen Gone With the Wind or The Wizard of Oz. These films would be released the following year. The cost to go to the movies was 25 cents.

The biggest tragedy to touch the American public may have been the Hindenburg disaster (May 6, 1937).

In 1938, America was three years away from entering World War Two.

On a personal note ...

In 1938, my dad was 14 years old, and my mom was 6. Like most Americans, my grandparents had ice boxes, not refrigerators, in their Minnesota homes. I don't know if my family heard the War of the Worlds broadcast.

All telephones were landlines. In Hawaii, phone numbers consisted of four numbers.

THE MERCURY THEATRE ON THE AIR: "THE WAR OF THE WORLDS"

The Cast of Characters

1-Orson Welles (as the narrator; Professor Richard Pierson)

2-Frank Readick (as reporter Carl Phillips)

3-Kenny Delmar (as several voices, including Secretary of Interior [i.e. FDR])

4-Ray Collins (Mr. Wilmuth).

Original Air Date: Sunday, October 30, 1938 CBS-Radio Network (New York).
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The War Of The Worlds: The Original October 30, 1938 Broadcast - YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crPGFZiFjfs

Running Time: 58:00 Orson Welles / Mercury.

END CUE at 19:00 The Scene: Radio broadcast goes dead. Announcer throws it back to piano music. OUT.
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Happy Halloween. Enjoy the Magic of Old-Time Radio.

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OUR MESSAGE BOARD: Please consider visiting our Message Board. 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!

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! (please 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 remains 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! (PLEASE NOTE: If YOU would like to contribute to our upcoming 2023, it is never too early to develop your offering!)

OUR OCTOBER POLL is available on our Bulletin Board or our Home Page…or directly at this address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8CWXFPJ

This month’s poll question: How do you watch Charlie Chan movies?

HAVE YOU PURCHASED THIS, YET? IT’S A GOOD ONE!

Our own "HonoluLou," Lou Armagno, has recently published a fantastic, thoroughly researched, well-produced new book focusing on the aphorisms of Charlie Chan as found in the original Chan mysteries by Earl Derr Biggers! A MUST for any serious Charlie Chan fan! To learn more about this book, please visit our BULLETIN BOARD section: https://charliechan.org/bulletin-board/

Thank you so much, Lou, for creating the most unique of Charlie Chan studies!

NEXT WEEK: They’re at the starting gate as we join Charlie Chan for our annual Melbourne Cup Race Night for a viewing of “Charlie Chan at the Race Track,” starring Warner Oland. Also, we will continue sharing our “extras,” this week relating to the Melbourne Cup! Who will walk away with this year’s customary prize…a 1936 silver half dollar? (Was this the one Charlie Chan handed to his Number One Son to cover his reluctant wager?)

SO… take care, BEWARE, and let’s meet within the frighteningly haunted confines of our Charlie Chan Family Chat Room, located at charliechan.org, as we share “Charlie Chan at the Opera.”

Sincerely,
Rush Glick