OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT FOR January 15, 2024: “The Black Camel”
Happy Martin Luther King Day
CHAT NUMBER: 1,238
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “All foxes come at last to fur store.”
THIS WEEK: We will be sharing “The Black Camel,” the second film in the Charlie Chan film series proper, and the oldest existing movie in that series today. This picture is very special in that much of it was shot on location in Honolulu and in Kailua, located on the other side of the island of Oahu.
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,” choosing the name you wish to use.
OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION: “The Black Camel” (1931; 71 minutes. Happily, this film IS available online for those who lack a personal copy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eU6vXcPIgA
FEATURE SUMMARY: Hollywood star Shelah Fane, who is in Hawaii shooting a film on location, is murdered in her beach house in Waikiki. Detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department is called on to investigate. “Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here,” Chan tells the assembled suspects.
FEATURE NOTES: The novel “The Black Camel,” by Earl Derr Biggers, was originally published serially in ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ between May 18 and June 22, 1929. Sources conflict concerning the release date of the film. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, some scenes were shot in Honolulu, where some of the film’s music was also recorded.
THIS WEEK’S EXTRAS (TYSM, Hawaii Steve!):
EXTRA #1: 10 Things You Should Know About Warner Oland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX0F0nLBnt0
Running Time: 1:52
EXTRA #2: Scene from THE LIGHTNING RAIDER (1919) Pearl White and Warner Oland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xeQoT_YM-U
Cast: Pearl White (as Lightning Raider, the heroine), Warner Oland (the villain, Wu Fang). This film belongs to the sensationalistic "Yellow Menace" genre of its time, with Warner Oland playing the insidious Oriental Wu Fang. During his early film career, Oland portrayed a variety of Asian characters in several movies before being offered the leading role in the 1929 film “The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu.” The 1919 film is a fine example of Oland's early film work.
Running Time: 10:26[R1]
EXTRA #3: Bobby Jones consoles W.C. Fields on his poor golf swing
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6zJUuuAc24M
Cast: Golf Master Bobby Jones, comedian W. C. Fields, and actor Warner Oland.
This film presents Oland in a non-speaking role. He is wearing white pants, sitting next to Fields.
Running Time: 0:48
EXTRA #4: 1936 Shanghai - Actor Warner Oland (Charlie Chan) in China
A vacation to the Orient with Warner and Edith Oland.
Location: Shanghai.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U-MtQ6MIaY
Running Time: 0:22
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: Now available! THE CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY HOME 2023 NEWSLETTER is available for your enjoyment at our “Bulletin Board” and “Study” (under the “Charlie Chan” category) at our Charlie Chan Family Home!
OUR JANUARY POLL is available on our Bulletin Board or directly at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9K53R8X
NEXT WEEK: “Charlie Chan’s Chance” (Through an audio and visually enhanced reconstruction of this “lost” film!)
