Dalvin

I love the "Chanthology", but what about somne of the other classic films, but Orland and Toller? I really would love Fox to release some more of these. I know they had some issues regarding the depiction of Asians and Black people(i.e. the Stephen Fetchit character), but was a classic series with a huge following. Has nayone heard any news regarding any future releases for Charlie Chan?

Cameron

no news yet...i think fox wanted to see how the sales went for the mgm releases...hope to see these as well

Doctor Who

They are releasing CHARLIE CHAN AND THE CURSE OF THE DRAGON QUEEN...

bboisvert

I don't think that's exactly what we had in mind...

Paul Drake

I've been told by multiple sources that the Chanthology did well for MGM. Unfortunately that is a moot point because Fox does not have any intention of releasing their films. I don't know if it is cowardice or stupidity preventing their release, but Dalvin is quite correct regarding the large following of these films. Grey marketers have sold thousands of Chan films.

I honestly think it is going to take a regime change at Fox to change the corporate mindset about these films.

Cameron

i just want to know what would happen if they put dalvin in charge at Fox...

Would be nice to have them....any other regions have them?

seymouru

I found these two PAL releases from the Oland era at Amazon.uk...

• Charlie Chan In London (1934)
• Charlie Chan In Paris (1935)

They're also available at www.streetsonline.co.uk and www.bensonsworld.co.uk. Probably other places as well.

I've heard that the transfers are from 16mm prints, so quality may be an issue.

darkside

Hopefully Fox will change their mind. I have a bunch of them recorded off of AMC, but it would be nice to get them on DVD. Charlie Chan at the Opera is a classic mystery film and deserves a DVD release, but heck all of the Fox films should be on DVD.

Studios need to learn and live with their pasts instead of trying to hide them in the vaults. After money was spent by AMC to restore many of those films it is sad they won't release them now. Several of the Chan films are already lost forever. Funny how these films were in heavy rotation all throughout the 90's on AMC, but suddenly in the past few years became politically incorrect.

seymouru

Here are a couple of sites that reflect the political climate that helped lead to Fox's decision...

http://www.modelminority.com/article454.html

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/18/18_yellow.html

darkside

I find it hard to believe that Asian Americans want films from the 30's hidden away because they don't stand up to the standards of today. When those films were shown on AMC the film historians discussed the use of Warner Oland and the climate of 30's Hollywood. They talked about why it was wrong and why it was done. If anything discussion about the climate of 30's Hollywood could be included on the DVDs and you could have some very informative documentaries on the subject of racism in Hollywood. If anything the Chan films (at least the Fox ones) are minor offenders compared to other films of the times that are widely available on DVD. Oland may have played the lead, but many other Asian actors were involved in the production including Key Luke who did not speak in broken English in the films and had a very successful career as an actor, even playing Chan in the animated series.

Turn a negative into a positive, don't put your head in the sand and try to pretend the 1930's and racism never happened. Bring it out into the open and deal with it in a positive way.

Paul Drake

I don't have these UK DVDs but I have been advised by someone I respect that they're poor quality (think bad Alpha discs). Misframing, poor PAL conversion, bad prints, etc. The best source of Fox Chan films are from collectors who used a DVD recorder to record the FMC airings (which used restored prints). I've seen a couple and they're quite good.

Speaking of articles and political correctness gone mad, Jerry Della Femina wrote a great article in "Jewish World Review" called "Charlie Chan and the Politically Correct Mafia". The article has been reproduced here.

Chris Taylor

I don't know if this has been mentioned, if so apologies, thought this might interest. Would also like to know if it is legit and if so any good.

Mod note: Please see post below

seymouru

From their "About us" page...

Mod note: Please see my post below

That should give you a pretty good hint about their origins.

Cameron

nemein

Mod note: To err on the side of caution I went ahead and removed the links to possible bootlegs since we don't support that type of activity here. In this case though isn't Charlie Chan old enough that these are potentially public domain copies? The links are archived so if there is enough interest and someone can provide proof it is in the PD I can restore them.

djtoell

Those films aren't old enough to be guaranteed to be in the public domain. They may still be PD, but not due to their age. Indeed, a number of them are Fox films that were part of potential the Fox Movie Channel marathon, and odds are that Fox has maintained the copyright on those films over the years.

DJ

darkside

I've read that most of the Fox era Chan films are public domain, but I can't find any proof of it. If anything it is doubtful the public domain disc makers would have access to the restored prints that were shown on AMC/FMC so the quality of their discs is probably pretty awful anyway. They may actually be copied off of AMC in the first place for that matter.

Paul Drake

I can assure everyone that the Chan films are NOT in the public domain. This goes for both the Fox and the Monogram series. At one time there was one film ("Meeting at Midnight" that was thought to be PD, but MGM has asserted their ownership rights and released this commercially).

Having said that, grey marketers are having a field day with the Chan films due to Fox's refusal to release them. Fox seems to be doing little to stop them.

Hopefully HTF will schedule another chat with Fox so that this issue can be addressed. I would like to know why Warners can release 48 Bowery Boys movies with the intention of making a profit yet Fox doesn't think their 2 dozen Chan movies will sell?

darkside

The thing I don't get is MGM released their Monogram Chan films which are much more racial sterotyped filled with no complaints that I read. You would think the Fox films would be released without people protesting.

Paul Drake

Agreed. It's been going on 2 years since the uproar over the FMC showings and there's still no sign of Fox showing any backbone by releasing these films which were supposedly already in the DVD pipeline when the plug was pulled.

I never thought "Song of the South" would be out on DVD before the Fox Chan films. (No offense to SotS fans; I'm happy it's being released so that those of us who haven't seen it can make up our own minds about it.)

Paul Drake

There is a lot of buzz on various classic film websites currently about recently reported rumors that Fox has changed their minds and decided to begin releasing not only the Chans, but the Moto films, starting in 2006. This rumor states that half the Chans and all the Motos will be out by the end of 2006.

It's too bad that Fox doesn't do chats with HTF anymore otherwise they could be asked about it directly.

rw2516

20th Century Fox aside, will MGM/UA/Sony put out another Chanthology with the rest of the Monogram Chans?

Paul Drake

MGM released all the ones they had the rights to. Warners owns the remaining Monogram Chans.

I've heard some rumors about these, but nothing I'd want to hang my hat on. Restoration of these titles appears to be an issue.

However the fact that Warners is releasing the Monogram Bowery Boys films next year is a good sign. It shows WB sees big bucks in Poverty Row.

Cameron

i just saw an article stating the same thing a few days back...hope they show up

Paul Drake

The Bits mentions an early 2006 release for Volume 1 of the Charlie Chan collection. Now that word is starting to circulate, hopefully Fox will offer up an official announcement before too long.