TEN MORE STORIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1937, Page 5 (Supplement)

TEN MORE STORIES.

CHARLIE CHAN SERIES. WARNER O LAND'S CONTRACT. TO TAKE THREE YEARS. I Another chapter in one of the miracle stories of Hollywood was written w r hen Warner Oland signed a contract guaranteeing his appearance in 10 more Charlie Chan screen adventures. The first of the new group of 10 pictures, which will extend through the coining three years, will be "Charlie Chan at the Olympic Gaines." The first picture featuring the fictional Chinese detective invented by the late Earl Derr Biggers, in which Oland appeared, was "Charlie Chan Carries Oil," made in 1931. The last one completed, the thirteenth, is "Charlie Chan at the Opera," with Boris Karloff co-starred. Longest Series. \ The Charlie Chan-Warner Oland com- • bination has produced the longest and | most successful series of feature-length I productions in the history of the screen.

The Chan pictures already have brought the Swedish-born, Boston-reared actor a comfortable fortune. He has become so closely and so popularly linked with the Chan character that he seldom plays in other pictures. He was mobbed by admiring fans wherever he went in China and Japan early in 1936. Warner Oland was one of 20 actore tested for the Chan role at the time "Charlie Chan Carries On" was being prepared. Nearly all of the Chan pictures have been made under the supervision 'of associate-producer John Stone. Great care is taken in the preparation of the Chan stories, sometimes as nianv as six months being devoted to devising each one. Stone takes pride in a fair play code for audiences and makes it a point not to trick them. Each clue is made available to the audience as soon as it is sighted by Chan.