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Watch Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3 Online

Dimanche, septembre 5th, 2010

Watch Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3 Online.

Movie Title: Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3
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Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3 is available for streaming or downloading.

Click Here to Stream or Download Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3

Four more films:

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Behind that Curtain (1929) - No Oland, very little Chan but Warner Baxter who would later play Doctor Ordway in the Crime Doctor film series, and Boris Karloff in the role of a servant.

The Black Camel (1931) - Features Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye

Buy,Download, Or Stream Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3! Click Here

Charlie Chan’s Secret (1936) - A great old-dark house whodunnit

Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)- Charlie and #1 son on the great white way

Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937) - The last of the Oland Chan films

EXTRAS:

Black Camel commentary by film critic Ken Hanke

Charlie Chan’s Secret commentary by film critic Ken Hanke

Chan Is Missing: The Last Days Of Warner Oland featurette,

The World Of Charlie Chan featurette

Chanograms: The Aphorisms Of Charlie Chan featurette

Charlie Chan and The Rise of The Modern Detective featurette

Dr. Henry Lee: The Modern Day Charlie Chan featurette

Charlie Chan’s Chance: A Recreation, a dramatized recreation of the lost film, Charlie Chan’s Chance with an optional introduction by film historian John Cork

Restoration comparisons

Theatrical Trailers

Still Galleries

The Warner Oland cycle is now complete. The special interest groups that scared the Fox Movie Channel into not showing re-mastered editions of the Charlie Chan films back in 2003 have ultimately failed. With the release of Vol 3, ALL the Warner Oland Chan films (not counting the lost ones) are available on DVD for all who want to see them. (Hopefully, the rest of the Toler Chans will follow) Long live the great detective. And to the P.C. forces that don’t like it I can only say is…Thank you…so much…

Charlie Chan was originally created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933), who very loosely based the character on Hawaii’s legendary police officer Chang Apana (1887-1933.) Biggers wrote six novels in all, and after several false starts 20th Century Fox (then simply known as Fox) hit on the right combination of actors, mystery, and comedy. The result was perhaps the single most popular film series Hollywood ever created.

Contemporary audiences tend to view the films as politically incorrect, but the fact remains that Chan and his family–most often personified by Keye Luke as son Lee–were among the very few positive Asian characters on American movie screens at the time; as such they were particularly popular with Asian-American audiences of the day. Volume 3 of the 20th Century Fox collection rounds out the surviving films starring Warner Oland, who was the original series Chan.

Several Chan films have been lost; the earliest still in existence is THE BLACK CAMEL, the second in the series. Based directly on the Biggers novel of the same name, this 1931 release finds Chan investigating the murder of a Hollywood star in Hawaii. Loosely suggested by the William Taylor Desmond murder and filmed partly on location, THE BLACK CAMEL is atypical of most Chan films–and all the more interesting for that. It also has the fortune of Bela Lugosi as Warner Oland’s co-star, and Lugosi and Oland have unexpected chemistry. Released in 1936, CHARLIE CHAN’S SECRET is a story of a missing heir, a woman who is under the influence of “spirtualists,” and features seances, a creepy mansion, and lots of foolish-but-fun plot turns. Although not one of the best Chan films, it is among my own favorites.

Released in 1938, CHARLIE CHAN ON BROADWAY and CHARLIE CHAN AT MONTE CARLO were the last two Chan films made starring Oland, who died not long after. Both films feature Keye Luke as son Lee Chan. ON BROADWAY finds Chan doing battle with a murderous blackmailer in New York; it is among the better films in the series, slick and well executed. AT MONTE CARLO finds Chan seeking stolen bonds–and plunging into a mixture of blackmail and murder as a result. While it tends to be a bit slower than most Chans, it too is enjoyable.

Fox has done very well by the Chan films in the past, but on this occasion the studio has really knocked itself in terms of bonuses. There are the usual, expertly made “featurettes” on various aspects of the series, but on this occasion two films (BLACK CAMEL and SECRET) have very erudite, entertaining commentaries. The set also includes items of interest: a print of BEHIND THAT CURTAIN, a very early Chan film that is not properly part of the series, and a re-creation via stills and dialogue of the lost film CHARLIE CHAN’S CHANCE. Regretfully, BEHIND THAT CURTAIN is a dire film and best left to hardcore fans, and the recreation of CHANCE is more akin to an Ed Wood film than a Chan film–but Fox gets points for effort. The restorations are not flawless, but they are much better than other prints; recommended for Chan fans everywhere!

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Archive for the ‘Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3’ Category

Watch Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3 Online

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