Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3 (Charlie Chan's Secret / Charlie Chan On Broadway / Charlie Chan At Monte Carlo / The Black Camel / Behind That Curtain (4DVD)

 

 

Create your own review

I'm not saying that I'm obsessed with Charlie Chan however I do have a copy that I got from eBay when Charlie Chan was not politically correct, a copy off of the television, a copy from England when they were not available in the United States, and now I am collecting the copies that are coming out available in the United States.

This box set contains:
"Charlie Chan's Secret" (1936) B/W 72 minutes
"Charlie Chan on Broadway" (1937) B/W 68 minutes
"Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo" (1937) B/W 72 minutes
"The Black Camel" (1931) B/W 71 Minutes

Some people nowadays are complacent and expect DVD features or extras. I personally just wanted a copy of Charlie Chan they would not fade away as it does on tape. I thought I was duplicating some of the individual movies that I already own. However it turns out I should have paid more attention to the features. It a delightful surprise to find that these have been digitally restored with HD in mind, and are a lot easier to watch. You notice details that you didn't notice before.

Of course restoration is not the only advantage of this box set. There are several featuretts, still photos, and other goodies. One feature that I was not too thrilled with was the commentary by film critic Ken Hanke and the film historian John Cork; they appear more to be trying to get "one up" on each other and don't appear to have a very in-depth history of film as they were describing the set of the Castle in Charlie Chan's secret and completely missed a lot of the points that you would've caught if you had watched old UFA films such as "The Cabinet of Caligari."

-------------------------------------------
What is Charlie Chan's Secret?

This film starts out with that familiar 30s mystery sounding music. Then we immediately cut into a diving scene where they used underwater type music. Here Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) is on a boat searching for the missing body of Allen Colby. Allen is the long missing heir to the family fortune and was on his way back to clean it when he met with an accident. Or was it an accident?

Even though the Ouija board said that Allen was dead, we make one last attempt to contact him through a séance. Will Allen show? If so can he point out his killer?

Only Charlie Chan with his unique perspective can make heads or tails of what the secret is all about. Even Charlie has to learn throughout the movie and we learn with him.

This is one of Warner Oland's best. We get a lesson in radio, and quinine that evidently was used at one time for colds.

So let's sit back and enjoy a spooky spirit house, a handful of spooky people, and a shot in the dark.
----------------------------------------------------
One cabin too small for two detectives

Billie Bronson "Little Billie" (Louise Henry) returns from abroad. She brings with her a secret or two. Soon she ends up dead.

This is one of the better Chan's. You will notice the standard Charlie Chan crew which includes Harold Huber this time as Chief Inspector James Nelson NYPD. Hey what is Lon Chaney Jr. doing in a Chan film? Charlie is Warner Oland and his son is Keye Luke.

See Keye again in "The Cat Creature" (1973 TV movie) if you can find it. My copy nearly wore out before transferring to DVD.

Back to the movie they did a good job of remastering it and cleaning up all the squiggles and giggles.

After watching these movies,you will be coming up with alot of Chan aphorisms like that one...but probably much,much better!
This box set includes:
Charlie Chan's Secret,Charlie Chan on Broadway,Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo,Behind That Curtain(1929,the first appearance of the Chan character at Fox),The Black Camel and Charlie Chan's Chance(a recreation of what this lost film might have looked like).
I haven't seen any of these films in at least 50 years but they have lost none of their charm and heart and that is in BIG part to Warner Oland himself.I have seen Oland,Toler and Winters each playing the famous detective.In my oppinion the latter two just tried hard to imitate Oland but fell far short of the mark.They didn't have the dignity,heart,warmth nor comportment the way Oland did.In fact I have seen very few actors immerse themselves in their characters as much as he did.I would even dare say that after a time the two almost became inseperable.I know relatively little of Warner Oland's career except that I know he had played Oriental parts in previous years and that there was at one stage a walk off of a film set by the actor and then his eventual return to Sweden.He was having personal problems,alot of it brought on by alcohol.By today's standards one might say he was burned out.In the end he never returned and died in his homeland.Tragic,for his family and the public,as we lost a very talented man that day in 1938.
I recall reading but never finishing a Derr Biggers Charlie Chan novel.The reason? I had watched a couple of Oland Chan's before hand.Big mistake.I found the character in the books to be different than the on screen character fleshed out with such panache by Oland.It is one of the few times I have committed the literary sin of preferring the movie over the book.That is the impact Oland had on me and that impact has only been heightened considerably with the release of this and the other Oland Chan
films by Fox.
Each film has been transferred over to DVD using the best available source material on hand at Fox.There is a definite difference in the quality from one film to the next but the age of one particular film compared to another matters little.As I said it's the quality of the material on hand which makes it or breaks it.Some are very clean and crisp while others are quite grainy.However ALL are visually quite clear.
Fox seems to have done the best they can with what they have.When one considers that four versions are seemingly lost we should be thankful to at least have these films.
Finally all these sets come with many featurettes that are sure to delight even the most casual Chan fan.As is my practice I have not seen them yet but I am looking forward to viewing them all at a later time.
In conclusion I highly recommmend these Warner Oland Charlie Chan box sets to one and all.It is a must have for all Charlie Chan fans and for those who have never seen them I will tell you that you are in for a special treat.And for those curious enough to want to see the later Chan actors to compare I would advise you to rent if you can.If not possible just buy one or two and see how you like them.But I think it will become apparent very quickly that THESE Chans with the magnificent and talented Warner Oland will become,like me,your favourites too!

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See both customer reviews...

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!