CHAT NUMBER: 1,253

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Unlike postman who takes walk on vacation, I am retired policeman eager for inactivity.” (“The Patient in Room 21”)

THIS WEEK: We share “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan,” starring J. Carroll Naish as Charlie Chan with James Hong as Number One Son…BARRY!

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 PRESENTATIONS: “Charlie Chan’s Highland Fling” and The Patient in Room 21” (both 1957; 25 minutes) Yes, these adventures ARE available online for those who lack personal copies:

“Charlie’s Highland Fling”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOnTCU3j-bw

“The Patient in Room 21”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt5mJQpGDuk

FEATURE SUMMARIES:
“Charlie’s Highland Fling”: While on holiday in Scotland, Charlie Chan and his son Barry become involved in a murder investigation when the wife of the estate owner is found shot to death on a country road.

“The Patient in Room 21”: Charlie Chan seeks to uncover the mystery of a doctor at a London hospital who may have been a doctor in Canada who was convicted of committing a mercy killing a decade earlier.

TV SERIES NOTES: Following an eight-year hiatus, after the Charlie Chan film series came to its end in 1949, the world-famous, globetrotting detective made his return, this time to the small screen, in the form of the 39-episode New Adventures of Charlie Chan. This series, produced in 1957, starred J. Carrol Naish as Chan and featured a new “Number One Son,” Barry, who was played by James Hong in his first big role.

Now retired, slimmer, and more advanced in years, yet quite fit, Charlie Chan melded well into the modern, atomic-age world of the late-1950s. This series of adventures comprise what was certainly Charlie Chan’s busiest year! In the course of the year 1957, Charlie Chan and Barry, while on an extended “vacation,” traveled together through the mainland United States, Great Britain, the European continent, and beyond. Along the way, sometimes working alone, but more often accompanied by his son, the detective was drawn into a series of murder cases and other crimes that needed to be solved. These new adventures were fast-paced, quickly concluded crime dramas as was dictated by the half-hour format best suited to the still-new entertainment medium of television.

THIS WEEK’S EXTRAS: Our weekly “extras” are offered to provide enhanced background information for our featured film, hopefully enriching our viewers’ appreciation of each film’s place in actual history, culture, and context.

EXTRA #1: James Hong on Working with Groucho Marx, Everything Everywhere All at Once & Getting His Star

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGVol5EEK0s

Running time: 9:41

EXTRA #2: James Hong on an episode of "Peter Gunn" (1959)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7bBancQnFw

Running time: 1:39

EXTRA #3: James Hong on an episode of "Bat Masterson" (1959)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF9XYIbFAXo

Running time: 1:03

EXTRA #4: Nov. 7th, 1955 - James Hong's first TV role (non-speaking) with Vincent Price

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsuH0xfQXqM

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…or more! (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 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 APRIL POLL is available on our Bulletin Board or directly at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/72WF3VN

PAST POLL RESULTS: https://charliechan.org/past-monthly-poll-results/

NEXT WEEK: “Charlie Chan in Reno”

SO… Please join us as we join together this week to share two episodes of “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan.”

Sincerely,
Rush Glick