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
V**N
Good quality-mixed story quality
I enjoyed these old movies. Higher production values than the later ones I saw on Netflix. The extra features were informative and added interest.Now plan on getting the Oland set also.Unrelated to the actual movies I had some trouble getting a couple of discs to play on my Mac set for region 2. They played fine on my region 2 DVD player.I buy a lot of things from U.K. Amazon because they are often much less expensive than the region 1 discs in the U.S.
T**Y
the supporting actors are usually better than him
Warner Oland was the only true Charlie Chan. Sidney Toler sadly dosen't cut it...the supporting actors are usually better than him. That said, the films themselves are good on atmosphere and have good scripts.
W**F
I already have the Warner Oland-Collection and now I'm happy to follow Toler's screen incarnation of Charlie Chan
I already have the Warner Oland-Collection and now I'm happy to follow Toler's screen incarnation of Charlie Chan. The single adventures might be dated and politically incorrect... but, who cares? The movies show a time long gone and sometimes sadly missed. Great entertainment and a recommendation for fans of crime-thrillers-comedies of the "good ol' times".
I**Y
Amazon service great,but discs faulty
Ordered both Sydney Toler & Warner Oland collections after reading good reviews.Amazon delivered within 2 days,great service as usual. But both sets (first 2 discs of each) would not load onto either of my two Toshiba players. Never had such problems before. Both sets being returned
N**W
Five Stars
Arrived on time excellent quality DVDs
J**S
Five Stars
tops
R**L
Five Stars
excellent value
P**Y
Five Stars
Great
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
5 days ago
