Charlie Chan - The Sidney Toler Collection

Description

Product Description Digitally remastered by 20th Century Fox. The first film featuring Charlie Chan, The House Without a Key, appeared in 1925. Forty-seven films and 'six Charlies' later, the series still delights audiences. Charlie Chan connoisseurs cite a variety of reasons for the honourable detectives longevity and appeal, ranging from his wit and personality to the films fascinating casts that often included future celebrities. INCLUDED IN THIS PACK ARE: In Rio, In Panama, In Reno, Murder Cruise, Dead Men Tell, City in Darkness, In Honolulu, Castle in the Desert, At Treasure Island, At the Wax Museum and Murder Over New York. Extras include insightful featurettes - Reinventing Chan, Charlie Chans Killer actress, Charlie Chan and the Zodiac, The Making of City In Darkness, Sidney Toler: The Man Who Became Chan, The Era Of Chan as well as Stills Galleries, Theatrical Trailers & Audio Commentaries. About the Actor Born in Warrensburg, Missouri, Toler showed a very early interest in the theater, acting in an amateur production of Tom Sawyer at the age of seven. Following his graduation from college, he became a professional actor in Kansas City, and then worked for a touring company during the late 1890s. For three decades, he acted on the stage in New York City, working with such future stars as Edward G. Robinson, John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn, and Humphrey Bogart. In 1921, he co-wrote and directed Golden Days, a comedy starring Helen Hayes. Throughout the 1920s, Toler had an active role in co-writing or directing several other plays including The Exile (1923), Bye, Bye, Barbara (1924), and Ritzy (1930, co-written with Viva Tattersall). Charlie Chan is the most filmed detective in Hollywood history with nearly fifty appearances to his credit. Based upon the character created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1925, Charlie Chan s film appearances have been much-loved for their storylines, characterisations and those famous Oriental aphorisms. Sidney Toler was the second major actor to play Chan after the death of Warner Oland. Long before the phrase film franchise was ever invented; Charlie Chan transcended books, films, radio plays and comics to become a true franchise with the character becoming more important than the actors who played him. Sidney Toler gave Charlie Chan a more fractious edge than his predecessor and together for the first time in this luxurious collection are the eleven Charlie Chan films Toler made for 20th Century Fox, along with a wealth of specially made extras. If man place himself in way of finger of suspicion, must not be surprised if he receive poke in eye. Sidney Toler, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944) P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Director H. Bruce Humberstone, Norman Foster, Herbert I. Leeds, Eugene Forde, Lynn Shores and Harry Lachman are the directors of the films in this box set. See more