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BrianDesmond	Re: Charlie Chan	#21	[-]
Apr 17 05 1:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Michael: Please let me (us) know how these prints are. By the way, the set of MONOGRAMS on DVD by MGM/UA are fine and they grow on me. not as good as a Chan FOX film, but worth having and a great bargain. wish I could learn the sales figures. HAWAII (the movie) FANS: THE DVD is THE CUT VERSION. Just like they did with THE ALAMO (60). so much for DVD technology. but the VHS tape is the long roadshow version.
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Doc Savage	Re: Thanks	#22	[-]
Apr 21 05 1:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Charlie Chan in Egypt, in Panama and in Paris are all quite good. I think Oland is easily the best Chan, though Toler was perfectly acceptable in the Fox films. The late Chris Steinbrunner was a very dear friend of mine. He once cornered Roland Winters (who followed Toler) at the Players Club with a request to ask him about his career. The first question was, of course, about Charlie Chan. Winters cocked an eyebrow and said: "dear boy, I thought you were interested in serious drama!"
Michael Elliott	Prints	#23	[-]
Apr 22 05 4:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	For those interested in the quality.... BEHIND THAT CURTAIN was taken from the Fox Movie Channel showing and features their logo in the bottom right corner twice during the 90 minute running time. The print is a tad bit faded and soft throughout but I've seen a lot worse from this time period (better as well). There are a few very rough spots but nothing too bad. THE BLACK CAMEL doesn't look too hot and appears to be taken from a 16mm print, which I've heard is all that's available to the public. The contrast is a bit too high and the black tones are a bit faded but again, the print was watch able without any major issues. Beat up, yes but again, I've heard this is all that's out there. As for the films, I really enjoyed both of them. I was a bit disappointed when I learned BEHIND THAT CURTAIN wasn't a real Chan film but that didn't bother me as the film got started. It was fun seeing Karloff is an early performance and man was his voice a lot deeper than what I've heard before. :D THE BLACK CAMEL was certainly a lot of fun and the dialogue was great. I usually don't remember quotes but I've got at least ten from this movie on my brain. Lugosi was very good in his role but the film certainly belongs to Oland. Dwight Frye seemed to be playing a certain role from DRACULA however. :)
todmichel	Re: Prints	#24	[-]
May 25 05 7:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And what about this Spanish version of the "lost" "Charlie Chan Carries On" ? Several posts have mentioned this Spanish version, "Eran trece", directed by David K. Howard, but I don't remember to have seen a review or an opinion about this one. How was Manuel Arbo in the title role ? A second question, unrelated to Charlie Chan, but about Warner Oland's movie, "The Return of Doctor Fu Manchu", directed by Rowland Lee (1930). In a long interview with the director, many years ago, in the French magazine "Positif", I found a mention that a Spanish version was also made of this film, but neither the title, nor the director or actors were given. True or false ?
Bill Lydig	Re: Prints	#25	[-]
Jul 10 05 9:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* And what about this Spanish version of the "lost" "Charlie Chan Carries On" ? Good and entertaining film, but definitely for completists. A subtitled version exists thanks to the efforts a super Chan fan who runs one of the Chan websites. A year ago Fox Home Entertainment told some folks that the real reason these weren't out on DVD were due to "distribution rights issues". That struck me then as hogwash and it still does. It continually amazes me that they don't want to publically state that the reason they're not releasing them is because they're too afraid of PC backlash from a few folks. It's their continued lack of honesty in dealing with this issue that has caused me to buy very, very few of their products.
LesDaniels	Re: Prints	#26	[-]
Jul 10 05 11:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	So Michael--I assume you've had a chance to see lots of these Chan films by now. How's the overall quality? Would you recommend the set? It's beckoning me... :)
Michael Elliott	Oops	#27	[-]
Jul 25 05 7:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Sorry for the long delay but I forgot all about this post. I watched the first six films and the quality is good. Most of them were taken from FMC so I'm guessing these were from the remastered prints. BEHIND THE CURTAIN was in rough shape but looked good overall. THE BLACK CAMEL seems to be 16mm with some splices but no dialogue is missing. The rest aren't DVD quality but they are good. I also took a brief look at CC OPERA and it looked better than the VHS I had years ago. I haven't watched any of the others but I did make copies of the final 11 in the series so I saw a few minutes of the prints. Again, not DVD quality but they are a bit higher quality than most of your Alpha releases. I'd say they're worth buying if you're a fan. Fox told me personally that they were going to release 2 of these back before the controversy hit. When I last asked about these (a few months after the controversy) they said these wouldn't sell well enough for release. They repeated these statements at a HTF chat. The real reason of course is PC so I doubt they release these anytime soon. Again, I've only watched 6 but that would have been $60 if bought from Fox. That's pretty much what I paid for the set and I've got 36 more movies to go. Of all the films I've got here these seems to be the most wanted because the four trades I've set up the past couple weeks have all been people wanting these!!!! If anyone wants to trade..... :)
LesDaniels	Re: Oops	#28	[-]
Jul 27 05 1:37 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, my mind snapped a few days ago and I ordered the set, so I'm glad to hear they look okay. :)
Bill Lydig	Re: Oops	#29	[-]
Jul 31 05 11:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well it came out this week that Fox has finally hired a scriptwriter for the long rumored Lucy Liu Chan remake. I can't say I'm optimistic that the final product will be faithful to the original character created by Biggers but if the resulting publicity from the film (assuming it ever gets made) puts sufficient pressure on Fox that they finally release the originals that's a victory. Staddon dug himself a huge hole when he publically stated that the films wouldn't sell; he'd "lose his shirt", etc. Many Chan fans took that as insulting comments (which they were) and haven't forgiven him or Fox since. In this age of Warner & Universal box sets, Fox had better be thinking of releasing these films in sets. They should release two sets of 6 DVDs each (putting 2 films per DVD) and be done with it. Releasing only 2 titles would almost be putting salt in the wound.
Michael Elliott	Fox and Chan	#30	[-]
Aug 1 05 9:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	When Peter told me they were going to release the first two titles, this was to see how well they sold and then they'd decide how to sell the rest of them. The controversy broke so there wasn't anything to decide. THE BLACK CAMEL is owned by Warner, isn't it? Fox has released some wonderful products but it's very clear they don't know how to package their older films. They've used the "won't sell" like several times and it has really made them look bad. Warner is releasing box after box each month and Universal has done the same thing. They own several Loretta Young, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, John Ford and so on films that have yet to be released.
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Joe Karlosi	Re: Fox and Chan	#31	[-]
Aug 3 05 4:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had a DVD-R copy of THE BLACK CAMEL and was watching it for the first time. I really was getting into it, but the damn thing froze up at the 50 minute mark and I never was able to see the rest of it.... ------------------------------------ "It's MORE ... than a hobby!"
LesDaniels	Re: Fox and Chan	#32	[-]
Aug 3 05 8:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I finally got the complete Charlie Chan on DVD-R. I've seen several and they are okay but not great on the picture quality. The Monogram Chans released by M-G-M look much better, but of course those are not the best films. At least one of the later Monograms in the DVD-R set looks pretty bad. Still the set is a bargain, and Fox will not allow you to see these movies in better shape, so this is a boon for the Chan fan. These movies have a horrror connection due to appearances by Karloff, Lugosi, Atwill Zucco, and Daniell, but I spotted somebody else last night while watching CHARLIE CHAN IN CITY IN DARKNESS (1939). Leo G. Carroll plays a forger and employs a big stooge who gets to tie up Chan but has only one line: "The police!" I never noticed before, but it's Lon Chaney Jr.
Bill Lydig	Re: Fox and Chan	#33	[-]
Aug 7 05 1:08 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* THE BLACK CAMEL is owned by Warner, isn't it That's what I've read although it was definitely produced by Fox. How Warners came to own it I don't know. It has never shown on TCM that I know of, but a really good, clear copy of it ran on AMC back in the day. Someone who no longer posts on the internet recorded the AMC showing and a couple of years ago produced some really good DVD-Rs of this film. Much, much better than what had been circulating for this title. Camel is my 2nd or 3rd favorite Chan. Lugosi is great in it, and there's a really good seance scene. As an aside, word on the street is that Warners, which owns the latter Monogram Chans, has recently getting bootleggers of the Monograms kicked off ebay and the like. Is this a precursor to them preparing to commercially release their Chan holdings? Only time will tell, but it was about this time last year that they were aggressively going after Bowery Boys bootleggers and now we know that the BB are being officially released in 2006. Just for the sake of argument...let's assume that WB DOES release their Chan holdings. We will then have the complete run of the lesser Monograms on DVD and Peter will still be saying that he'd lose his shirt on his films.
Michael Elliott	Re: Fox and Chan	#34	[-]
Aug 7 05 4:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rumors are strong that Warner is going to release their own Chan set. A few years ago someone asked about THE BLACK CAMEL and they said "not at this time" so I just assumed they owned it.
Bill Lydig	Re: Fox and Chan	#35	[-]
Aug 9 05 7:27 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A Warners release of Camel and their Monogram Chans would be most welcome as WB undoubtedly has the best prints on these. Fox would indeed look really, really bad if these came out. They've already lost thousands of sales to the grey market. I'll have to check my AMC version of Camel, but it may be preceded by a WB logo which would indeed indicate WB ownership.
Bill Warren	Re: Fox and Chan	#36	[-]
Oct 21 05 6:08 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Supposedly Fox Home Video has just announced they will be releasing all (which must mean all they own) Chans on DVD next year--as well as the Mr. Motos. My source is generally reliable, but maybe someone can scare up Official Word.
LesDaniels	Re: Fox and Chan	#37	[-]
Oct 22 05 2:04 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	If Fox does release their Chans, you can thank me. It was all but inevitable after I sprang for the bootlegs. :(
Bill Warren	Re: Fox and Chan	#38	[-]
Oct 22 05 2:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* If Fox does release their Chans, you can thank me. It was all but inevitable after I sprang for the bootlegs. :( More proof of the When You Wash Your Car It Will Rain theory.
Chesterbelloc	Re: Fox and Chan	#39	[-]
Oct 23 05 8:51 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Excellent news, if true!
Bill Lydig	Re: Fox and Chan	#40	[-]
Oct 23 05 7:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have heard the same reports about Fox releasing the Chans and Motos starting in 2006. Keep in mind, these reports are all unofficial and based on people leaking info. I have heard these reports from two different sources, both of which I consider extremely reliable, so I am most optimistic. There are not a lot of details yet, but it is my understanding that the Motos will be released in 2 waves of 4 films each, one wave in June and one in November. Only the Warner Oland Chans will come in 2006. Presumably the Tolers will follow in 2007. Again, these will come in waves of 4. Please note that the Black Camel is not owned by Fox anymore. Rumor has it that Warners, the current owner, will release that at some point. This is precisely why I trade for black market films wherever possible instead of buying them.
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