Behind That Curtain (1929) w/ subtitles

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Warner Baxter and Lois Moran star in this pre-code mystery/thriller from Fox Film Corp., adapted from the 1928 novel by Earl Derr Biggers, which is available for purchase here
www.amazon.com/gp/product/1774641275 (77,000 words)
or can be read online here (free, for readers in Australia):
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200691h.html

This is the first of 29 films produced by Fox Films (later 20th Century Fox) to feature the famed Chinese-American detective character Charlie Chan, followed by 16 more from Monogram Studios. Unlike the subsequent movies, however, the character's part in this storyline is minor.

Plot (Google):
Eve (Moran) realizes too late that her husband is an abusive scoundrel and seeks the protection of an old flame (Baxter).

Review (IMDb):
"...probably a better movie than any of the Monogram Chans, and some of the [other] Fox ones as well! ... [with] plenty of exotic outdoors footage... creative use of sound and foreign music, and a palpable sense of illicit passion...." – gridoon2024
www.imdb.com/title/tt0019684/reviews?ref_=tttr_ql_op_3

The character of Charlie Chan was created by author Earl Derr Biggers for his 1925 mystery novel "The House Without a Key," written partly to counter the "yellow peril" stereotype made popular by such villains as Dr. Fu Manchu. Readers reacted positively to the experiment, and Biggers continued to write more Chan adventures. Hollywood took notice, and soon began adapting the stories to the silver screen. However, the movie world at the time wasn't quite as enlightened as the literary one with regards to race, and when the stories were first being adapted to film, the involvement of Chan as a character in his own mysteries was drastically reduced, lest movie audiences be faced with the horror of seeing a non-Caucasian actor in a hero role. "Behind That Curtain" was the third Chan movie adaptation which took this approach, and well as being the first with synchronized sound, and the first one from Fox studios.

Later movies featuring Chan would adopt an entirely different strategy. There, the detective's participation in the stories was increased to appropriate levels, but the part would simply be given to a white actor to play as Chinese. This would be the case in all 44 Fox/Monogram Chan films following "Behind That Curtain."

Although it's a Fox production, "Behind the Curtain" is not usually counted as part of their Chan series, and for good reason. None of the actors here reprise their parts in any of the later films (though a couple of them would turn up in different roles). The tone is different (not surprisingly, since Chan is just a small part here). Chan looks a lot different than he would in later films (he's bald and clean-shaven here, as opposed to sporting the classic Chan look of mini-moustache and goatee). And finally, Fox would remake the story in 1932 with their next Chan actor, Warner Oland, under the title "Charlie Chan's Chance," at once signaling that this early film must be from a separate continuity.

For those who've already seen later Chan movies, the differences in this early production might actually be refreshing. As a whodunnit, the mystery is just rudimentary, but with the puzzle element downplayed, the filmmakers were forced to make the drama behind the murder the main point of interest, rather than something for the detective to reconstruct after the fact (as would become the norm in later films). Furthermore, keeping Chan off the center stage might have been a wise move from an acting perspective this time as well. Playing the part of Chan here is Korean-American actor E. L. Park, and it seems unlikely that Park could have commanded the screen in anything much bigger than the bit part he gets here. Other than genuine east Asian ancestry, Park brings nothing to the role. This was his only film.

Universal Studios horror fans should note the presence of Boris Karloff (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbVIgqv36Mo524oTS_FxuiMtTb7rwcveK) as a servant here, still two years away from his star-making role in the 1931 "Frankenstein." He would have a much more substantial part in the later Chan mystery, "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936).

The English-language subtitles which accompany this video were created especially for this channel.

Thanks for watching, and please check out the Charlie Chan with Subtitles playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbVIgqv36Mo5xhRL3w2AoSe3AWmCl-pNp

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Видео Behind That Curtain (1929) w/ subtitles канала Castle Karnstein