Charlie Chan being released

I already own every (non-lost) Chan film but will gladly rebuy them from Fox.

Can't wait for Mr. Moto.

This is going to be great. I've only seen a couple of the Chan films, so they'll all be a new experience for me.

I just went to Creepy Classics and noticed that the retail price is $59.95. Um, there had better be a lot of extras or I'll take back what I said earlier. And by extras I don't mean "warnings" about the non-PC stuff.

I've been advised (on background) of one of the extras that will be included on this set and if that is any indication, Fox will have a very nice package for fans. I'm assuming they'll use original poster art as they have been doing recently and perhaps even include some lobby card reproductions (my speculation, nothing I've heard officially).

MSRP may be $60 but one should be able to pick this up for $40 with pre-order discounts.

The original plan was to release all 22 films over an 18 month period so we shouldn't have to wait too long for Volume 2.

Ditto on the Motos. In some respects those are even more eagerly anticipated because all but one of the restorations Fox did to these titles have never been seen by the general public. The copies circulating among collectors are quite ragged.

Thanks to Fox for finally releasing these.

Steve

Even with the discounted pricing, it is still a little pricey by $10.00 or so for only four films that run less than 80 minutes each. I'll still buy the box set, but I'm afraid the purchase price might hurt sales, particularly impulse sales by consumers just browsing store shelves, thus affecting future releases from that series of films.





Crawdaddy

I'm also disappointed in the high price tag for this set but I'll wait and see what the extras are before making a decision on buying it.

Assuming the Creepy Classics website has the right price listed, it is a bit higher than what Fox is charging for other upcoming titles on a per unit basis...for example

Laurel & Hardy Giftset $34.99 for 3 films ($11.66 each)
Mel Brooks collection $99.99 for 8 films ($12.50 each)
Robert Altman $39.99 for 4 films ($10 each)

Pre-order discounts on the above knock the price down 30% or so.

The difference between the Altman set and the Chan set is enough to make me wonder if Creepy Classics got the price wrong (or was given bad information). I am willing to pay this price because I want these films, but I can very easily see where more casual fans would be put off by the pricing.

Steve

The casual fan/blind buyers are the ones I'm worried about. I believe the first four films in the series are all under 65 minutes so they could have easily put two titles on a disc to keep the price down for them. They also left out the first film in the series, which doesn't have Oland but it does feature Boris Karloff. Someone said Fox doesn't have a print to that film, which doesn't make sense since I've got one.

Sure, it's too bad that the price tag is higher than we'd prefer, but we should be grateful these films are finally coming to DVD at all, after the long delay and so much concern over the "Non-PC" content. I'm glad Fox decided to go ahead with the series. We used to pay, what, like $20 or more for only ONE film on a VHS way back when?

These films run from 70 to 80 minutes each (they were still somewhat "A" pictures), but your point is well taken. I don't mind separate packaging if it gets me individual poster art plus lobby cards.

The first film is BEHIND THAT CURTAIN. It was restored and a really good print ran on FMC. Unfortunately the film is, in my opinion, not very good. I can see Fox throwing this on as an extra, but I doubt very many fans would buy this as a standalone title. Karloff's role is small; it is really a Warner Baxter picture.

Steve

YOUR point is well taken Steve about the classification of these early entries. I have a picture of one of them (Shanghai? Egypt?) opening at the 5,000 plus seat ROXY (the Fox flagship) in 1935. Beautiful marquee. Definitely important enough in the middle of the decade to get a class A opening.

Will Whoopi Goldberg be doing an intro as she did on Tom & Jerry?

Since you've let the cat out of the bag Sylvia , that was the "extra" I was referring to above. I have a copy of this film and it is quite entertaining. It helps that my copy has English captions on it which makes following the action much easier. I hope Fox has arranged for English subtitles on their version.

This will be of interest to Chan fans because some of the same sets for the missing Oland film were used for this film and it pretty much follows the original in terms of script. Additionally, some common footage was used in both films.

There isn't a lot of Chan material in the vaults that I'm aware of other than trailers, a few outtakes, and a promotional short Warner Oland made in 1935 promoting a referendum in Pennsylvania to allow movie theaters to open on Sunday so it will be interesting to see what Fox comes up with. Kay Linaker, who appeared in at least 4 Chan films, is still alive and well and perhaps could contribute a commentary. Marc Lawrence, another prolific Chan actor, died late last year. That's one guy I would love to have heard some stories from.

Steve

Amazon already has it for pre-order and they confirm 59.99 price

They also show a different release date - June 20th.
They are selling it for $41.99 which is about $10.50 per title. Comparable to what most Fox singles sell for. Let's see what the Fox presser says.

At least they appear to be devoting a separate disc to each title, as opposed to cramming onto one disc as Universal did with the Bela Lugosi collection...

Link deleted by moderator. See HTF Rule 7.

I own the Spanish film as well so if that's it, more money for Warner.

Your post brings up a really good point, and one that may hurt Fox's sales more than anything.

Because Fox chose to sit on these films rather than release them when the iron was hot in 2002, numerous alternate sources for these films took advantage and have sold tons of high quality bootleg Chans.

With the upcoming legal releases one would think Fox would have asserted their ownership rights. Doesn't look like it. Just type in "Charlie Chan" on Amazon and the first thing that displays is a bootleg DVD collection. Given that Amazon is supposed to be a "legit" e-tailer, how many people will click on this thinking it's the real deal?

I probably can't even discuss what a Google search will turn up without violating forum rules.

In one sense, the strong underground sales probably helped get these out commercially quicker because it showed there was demand out there, but wouldn't it make sense for Fox to "eliminate the competition" and do a better job of letting buyers know that something better was coming?

I hope they sell well. I talked to a Fox person and the success of this set will determine if the Mr. Moto series gets out. I would think if they do near what the MPI Sherlock Holmes series has done, we will have the Moto's and the rest of the Chans.

How come when I look on Amazon, the only DVD's I see arethe bootleg and the MGM Chanthology set? Where is this on Amazon? Can anyone help?

Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...v=glance&n=130

Thanks-

I have viewed it and bought it!!

Jack

Of course I'm gonna buy it, even though I have all the films in fairly high quality. But the price tag is really way out there, and I too think it's gonna terribly hurt the overall sale of this great series. Geesh, I hope Fox isn't submarining this.

Gary "man, I can't get over how much that set is retailing for" O.

I've boycotted Fox releases the past year and it looks like that's going to continue with this set. If they're going to charge higher than what Warner prices then they need to deliver the goods. If they're going to go a Universal route then they need to charge Universal prices. Universal sold better than expected on their A&C sets. Just think what sales would have been like had 4 films been $60 instead of 8 films for $20.

If you look across various message boards, it appears many "newbies" are going an alternate route due to the price of this set, which is somewhat of a shame because this will lead to "less than good" sales, which might hurt future releases.

I really, really, really want to support Fox on these releases but they're going to have to earn my money and not just expect me to be a bleeding heart. They own so many great classics not on DVD that I kept asking for box sets but not at these prices. Oh well, there's always FMC.

I guess I'll be a bleeding heart because I want these films and if I have to spend a little more I'll just have to do it. It's better than not getting the entire series out at all due to "non interest", which is all Fox is going to conclude from lack of sales. Besides, there must be some stores that will have it cheaper. Think about how much cash we've saved on other film series', and then it all hurts less by purchasing the Chans.

The DavisDVD.com blurb about the new Fox titles referenced an "announcement". Has Fox issued a press release about the Chan Volume 1 that contains any info? It seems like all we know so far is by word of mouth and e-tailer listings.

The BITS cited the 6/6 release date that Creepy Classics originally reported. I assume this will be updated to reflect 6/20 which other e-tailers are showing.

DVDPlanet confirms a 06/20/06 release date.


Charlie Chan Collection