Usher Video:

		List Price: $49.98		Label: 20th Century Fox Salesrank: 5728 Released: June 20, 2006
		Our Price: $29.75
		Used Price: $26.98
		MPAA Rating: Unrated Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Disk 1: CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON (1934) *Full Screen Feature *The Legacy of Charlie Chan Featurette (15:00) *Theatrical Trailer

Disk 2: CHARLIE CHAN IN PARIS (1935) *Full Screen Feature *In Search of Charlie Chan Featurette (20:00) *Charlie Chan In London Trailer

Disk 3: CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT (1935) *Full Screen Feature *The Real Charlie Chan Featurette (20:00) *Charlie Chan In London Trailer

Disk 4: CHARLIE CHAN IN SHANGHAI (1935) *Full Screen Feature *ERAN TRECE Fullscreen Feature (79:00) *Eran Trece Theatrical Trailer *Charlie Chan In London Trailer

Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 1 (Charlie Chan in London / Charlie Chan in Paris / Charlie Chan in Egypt / Charlie Chan in Shanghai / Eran Trece) Reviews:
CHARLIE CHAN SPEAKS CANTONESE!
2008-12-04 - Sidney Toler and Warner Oland, the best portrayers of Charlie Chan, were both, of course, European, but both put a lot of effort into accuracy.
Charlie, in CC in Shanghai, gives a little speech at a dinner party there and, according to my sources, actually speaks in Cantonese! Vol. 3 contains CC at Monte Carlo. Charlie and his son, in that movie, are walking along a road when they find a dead man in a parked automobile.
Policemen then appear and Charlie's son tries to explain, in his high school French, what has happened. He inadvertently says that he and his father have "toue" (pronounced too-ay) the man, when he means to say they
have "trouve" (troo -vay) him. The first word means "shot" and the second means "found." The police promptly arrest them! No subtitles - you either had the French back then (now most high schools only teach Spanish) or missed the joke.

Charlie Chan Vol 1.
2008-10-18 - I never saw Charlie Chan before. They are dated being prior to WW2, but pleasant to watch. Presumably the later volunes are less dated.

Dave

Chan Starter
2008-08-30 - In my youth when local TV used to show these pictures on "Charlie Chan Theater" they would jump around in the series' timeline. Watching these now in order, it's suprising to see how sturdy the early productions were as some of the later are pretty threadbare. The London entry here is especially lavish for the series. (By the time we get to Shanghai though, there's little effort expended to suggest local color and it's the least atmospheric.) The London picture also highlights Chan's race more than the others. By giving that film a non-American setting the filmmakers are able to lampoon racist treatment of the detective without ever suggesting these attitudes might be abroad among the audience itself. (Also, the silly drunk character in London is actually pretty funny.)

I prefer the straightforward whodunits more than the stories where Charlie is a kind of secret agent at large. The main drawback to the series is that Warner Orland is such a benign, nonthreatening figure that he's almost a cipher. It's always startling to see the large line of his kids as he's such a tame asexual presence.

In some ways the best picture here is the crazy Spanish language feature that doesn't introduce Chan 'til the final third and where all the clues introduced are red herrings that in no way relate to how the crime is solved. Instead, we get a riotous party atmosphere with the suspects on a world tour played by a very energetic cast that is highly entertaining.

Given the number of academics and critics who were interviewed, I can't see why the documentaries on the set are so short, agreeable and informative as they are.


The real deal
2008-05-28 - I cannot add anymore to the praise that others have heaped on this series.

On a personal note, I was brought up thinking that Sidney Toler was the definitive Charlie Chan, because that's what I see on Saturday afternoon TV. I wasn't sure that I would like Warner Oland. No problem. Each actor brings something slightly different to the role, and despite my first preferring Sidney Toler, I think that I now prefer Warner Oland.

The movies each come in their own pack: this isn't one of those turn-it-over-for-the-next-movie deals.

I'm not a big one for special features, but for those that like that sort of thing this has plenty of extras.

In fact, one of the pleasures of this set is that when I select "play movie" the next thing that happens is the original black-and-white FOX logo from the original movie and off we go. No annoying messages, disclaimers, and additional logos that so distract me with most of the recently released videos. These are done by someone who obviously loves Charlie Chan and wants nothing to interfere with the audiences' pleasure.

Love Charlie Chan
2008-04-05 - Good quality DVD's. If you like Charlie Chan you must have the entire set. Would recommend to a friend.