OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT FOR January 22, 2024: “Charlie Chan’s Chance”
CHAT NUMBER: 1,239
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Some heads, like hard nuts, much better if well-cracked.”
THIS WEEK: We will be sharing something that is very special: a re-creation, using actors’ voices and vintage images, of the “lost” film, “Charlie Chan’s Chance.” This marks the very first time that we will be sharing this, and it should be interesting and…FUN!
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: “Charlie Chan’s Chance” (1932; 71-73 minutes [Re-creation version: 74 minutes]) The re-creation of “Charlie Chan’s Chance” is available online for those who lack a personal copy (found as a bonus feature on “The Black Camel” DVD from the 20th Century-Fox box set) at this address:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsTOA6CeG5c
FEATURE SUMMARY: Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police, and Inspector Fife of Scotland Yard tour the offices of the New York Police Department with Inspector Flannery, in order to study the methods used by that department. Sir Lionel Grey, former chief of Scotland Yard is found dead, apparently of natural causes, in the penthouse apartment office of Barry Kirk in Wall Street. Noting a dead cat in the same room, Chan surmises that Grey’s death was not natural, stating, “Cat is like rich man’s heir – never dies out of sympathy.”
FEATURE NOTES: This is one of the four “lost” Charlie Chan films, having been destroyed in the fire that consumed the 20th Century-Fox film storage facility at Little Ferry, New Jersey on July 9, 1937. An illustrated script-based reconstruction of “Charlie Chan’s Chance” can be viewed in our collection of “lost” Charlie Chan films. The novel, “Behind That Curtain,” upon which this film was based was originally published as a serial in ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ between March 31 and May 5, 1928. Fox also produced a film based on the same source entitled “Behind That Curtain,” in 1929, which was directed by Irving Cummings. The film starred Warner Baxter and featured E. L. Park as Charlie Chan, who appeared but briefly in the movie. The cat who saves Charlie Chan’s life in this film (“Charlie Chan’s Chance”) by accidentally redirecting the aim of a gun that instead kills the villainous Li Gung, was named Puzzams and was owned by Nadine Dennis, the sister of child actress Marjean Dennis.
THIS WEEK’S EXTRAS:
EXTRA #1: Nitrate Fires & Movie Vaults: Films LOST and FOUND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raEDtLNd3l4
Running time: 15:39
EXTRA #2: Film Restoration: Saving Our Cinema Heritage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixPBhkmBHKw
Running time: 8:17
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 in London”
SO… Please join us as we share “Charlie Chan’s Chance.”
