I was awed by the work done in recreating this "lost" Charlie Chan movie. Using the original script and still photos of the cast, a team recreated the movie. Of course, the voices were not original, the essential background noise likewise. However, both were necessary in bringing to life this (sadly) lost work. Remember, there is no "action," just the photos of the actors in each scene and the created audio, but it's enough to understand the plot and follow it through to the solving of the case. I am impressed by the dedication shown here in what must have been a laborious job. I am so grateful to artists, naturalists, etc. who are willing to take on such challenges in order to bring to us viewers glimpses of art, nature, science, etc. that we would never otherwise experience.
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One of Four Lost Chan Films
Michael_Elliott24 March 2015
Charlie Chan's Chance: A Re-Creation of a Lost Charlie Chan Movie (2007)
Sadly, there are four Warner Oland-Charlie Chan movies that are considered lost and that includes 1932's CHARLIE CHAN'S CHANCE. The opening of this re-creation explains why many movies are now missing. This film, as well as countless others, fell victim to vault fires and apparently this one is now lost because of two separate fires nearly twenty-years apart. We learn that the only thing that remains are the screenplay and some production photos.
As with London AFTER MIDNIGHT, the filmmakers of this re-creation have taken the remaining photos and tried their best to show fans what the movie might have been like. The big difference with CHARLIE CHAN'S CHANCE is that it was a sound movie so dialogue was obviously used and that too is re-created here. The plot deals with a murder attempt on Chan who must then investigate who might have wanted him deal. Through the production stills and the audio we get a pretty good idea of what the story was and we're able to follow it.
For the most part I thought this re-creation was extremely well-done and with the added audio it really reminded me of an old time radio broadcast. I thought the vocal work was good and it at least added some charm as there really aren't too many photos. It's impossible to judge the original film with this photo re-creation but fans of Chan will still want to check this out.
Sadly, there are four Warner Oland-Charlie Chan movies that are considered lost and that includes 1932's CHARLIE CHAN'S CHANCE. The opening of this re-creation explains why many movies are now missing. This film, as well as countless others, fell victim to vault fires and apparently this one is now lost because of two separate fires nearly twenty-years apart. We learn that the only thing that remains are the screenplay and some production photos.
As with London AFTER MIDNIGHT, the filmmakers of this re-creation have taken the remaining photos and tried their best to show fans what the movie might have been like. The big difference with CHARLIE CHAN'S CHANCE is that it was a sound movie so dialogue was obviously used and that too is re-created here. The plot deals with a murder attempt on Chan who must then investigate who might have wanted him deal. Through the production stills and the audio we get a pretty good idea of what the story was and we're able to follow it.
For the most part I thought this re-creation was extremely well-done and with the added audio it really reminded me of an old time radio broadcast. I thought the vocal work was good and it at least added some charm as there really aren't too many photos. It's impossible to judge the original film with this photo re-creation but fans of Chan will still want to check this out.
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