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The Charlie Chan Family Bulletin Board
Welcome to our Bulletin Board. In this section of our Charlie Chan family Home we post
current information on events, releases, etc. that relate to Charlie Chan. If you would like us to include some Chan-related
item of interest that we may have overlooked, please mail us the information.
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Kay Linaker (1913-2008):
From: The Keane Sentinel, April 22, 2008
Phillips, Keene's link to Old Hollywood, dead
at 94
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Anika Clark
Sentinel
Staff
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Kate Phillips, Keene's connection to Old Hollywood, died Friday
at the age of 94 after a short period of failing health.
Phillips died at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth Hitchcock
Keene of natural causes, according to her son Goodlin "Bill" Phillips.
As Kay Linaker - her name before marrying Howard Phillips in
1945 - she acted in more than 50 films, sharing the silver screen with Hollywood legends such as Ginger Rogers, Vincent Price
and Henry Fonda.
She also wrote for radio, television and film, earning her
way into cinema immortality when she penned the 1958 cult classic "The Blob." (Theodore Simonson is jointly listed on the
film's credits for the screenplay).
But according to Peter J. Condon, a former colleague
of Phillips' when she taught in Keene State College's film studies department, she never put on airs.
Despite her impressive credentials, Phillips "was always
on the same level of whoever it was she was talking to. ... She just treated everybody like they were all her friends," said
Condon, who had been Phillips' student.
Phillips quit acting during World War II and joined
the Red Cross. Stationed in New York City, she met Howard Phillips, who was serving in the Army Air Corps at the time.
The two eventually settled in Dublin after having two
children, Goodlin and Regina. Her daughter, Regina Paquette, works as a secretary at Keene Middle School.
Phillips "was as good as Joan Crawford. There's no reason
that she couldn't have had a similar career," said Keene State film department Chair Lawrence M. Benaquist. "She didn't care.
She was one of those people who just took what came along."
Condon added: "Of course, she was very glamorous in
the studio shots that I've seen of her, but she was more family-oriented. ... She was more interested in teaching."
Phillips scratched that itch by teaching drama and public
speaking at Dublin School, drama at the former Peterborough High School and by working at Rindge's Hampshire Country School
for children with emotional difficulties.
"She loved working with young people," said Benaquist.
In the early 1980s, she took a job at Keene State College,
where she taught screenwriting, screen acting and courses about classic Hollywood cinema.
"She had a can-do attitude that was very infectious,"
Benaquist said.
Describing how welcoming she was with prospective students,
he said, "People were enchanted with her."
Condon echoed him.
"She was one of those people that helped people to realize
their potential," he said. "By the time she was done talking to you, she made you feel like you could conquer the world."
Phillips' son said the family is planning a memorial
service for mid to late summer.
Anika Clark can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1432,
or aclark@keenesentinel.com |
Charlie Chan in El Segundo:
The Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo, California (just south of Los Angeles International Airport) will be showing Charlie Chan's Secret during
the first weekend in May. It is customary for the remaining members of Keye Luke's family to attend one of the showings,
often the Saturday or Sunday matinee. Admission is $8 and the showtimes are as follow:
Friday, May 2: 8:15 P.M.
Saturday, May 3: 2:30 P.M. and 8:15 P.M.
Sunday, May 4: 2:15 P.M.
TCM to show FOUR Charlie Chan films:
Turner Classic Movies has scheduled a mini-marathon of Charlie Chan movies on June 10; two Fox films and two Monograms. The schedule
is as follows; times are EASTERN:
5:00 A.M. - The Jade Mask
8:00 P.M. - Charlie Chan at the Circus
9:30 P.M. - Charlie Chan in Honolulu
10:45 P.M. - The Scarlet Clue
A press release from author Bill McGee who is featured on the "extra" material for
Charlie Chan in Reno in The Charlie Chan Collection, Volume 4:
New DVD of 1939 film "Charlie Chan
in Reno" includes bonus extras with former Nevada dude ranch wrangler and author Bill McGee
Coming February
12, 2008 from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, The Charlie Chan Collection, Volume 4, which includes
the 1939 film, "Charlie Chan in Reno," set at a swank Reno hotel for divorce seekers.
"'Charlie Chan in Reno' paints
a picture of the Reno I knew in the 1940s," says Bill McGee, a former dude wrangler on Nevada's famous Flying M E ranch and
co-author of "The Divorce Seekers - A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler." "Although the film is set at a hotel,
the Mary Whitman character arriving in Reno for a divorce could have been any number of guests at the Flying M E."
Bonus
extras include "Reno Memories," a featurette on McGee and his cowboyin' years on the Flying M E, and "Welcome to Reno: America's
Divorce Resort," a documentary that recaptures Reno's glamorous era with photographs from "The Divorce Seekers" and interviews
with McGee and others.
"The producers were looking for someone who could give a firsthand account of life in Reno
during the 1930s and '40s, the heyday of the six week divorce when Reno was the Divorce Capital of the World. Let's face it,
I'm probably the only dude wrangler - 'still above ground' - who lived through this era!" says McGee.
Sidney Toler's Gravesite:
Recently, Mark Bernard searched out Sidney
Toler's grave marker at Highland Cemetary in Wichita, Kansas. Here are three of the pictures that he has graciously
shared with us that document his visit.
A Charlie Chan exhibit:
Attached is a photo of my Charlie Chan display
at the Norristown Preservation Society sponsored "History Day", April 14. I am not sure how it went over. The
other displays were pretty impressive with post cards, bottles, collectors plates, books and newspapers, my little thing might’ve
been overshadowed. I did have a DVD player set up playing one of the films, but the noise in the hall prevented it from
being heard.
Next time I will do better. I will add some of my antique
telephones, the kind Charlie would’ve used. Since the DVD player did not work out I will bring my CD player with
recordings of some of Charlie’s sayings. I might add another display about telephones featuring photos of Charlie
Chan speaking on various period instruments. Yes, I will try even harder to get “the word” out about America’s
greatest detective.
Think about it. Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot.
They’re all foreign. Nero Wolf is good, but a bit of a jerk really. Perry mason is great, but not really
a detective. Ellery Queen comes close, but has no definitive
representative on the screen. Yes, when it comes to Americas greatest Charlie Chan is Number One.
Sincerely yours,
Russell Rubert
"Thank you - so much..."
A profound debt of gratitude to those who have contributed items of interest to this humble museum...
OUR RECENT ADDITIONS:
Please take a look at all of the new material that is currently being added to our Study. If you have not visited this room recently, you will find new additions on Earl Derr Biggers, Charlie Chan, Warner
Oland, and MORE...
Please look for the many new images, among more than 900, that are continually
added to our Gallery.
Please visit our Charlie Chan Glossary. This source offers definitions to slang, both of obscure and well-known meaning, notable places, people, and
things that are mentioned or seen in Charlie Chan movies.
"The Charlie Chan Chanthology" continues to sell...
Since its release in the summer of 2004, the sales
of MGM Home Entertainment's Charlie Chan Chanthology, a six-DVD box set, have remained
phenomenal. All starring Sidney Toler, the titles in the set represent the first six Chan films that were produced
by Monogram Pictures after the company took over the series in 1943. Titles in the set are: CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET
SERVICE (1944), THE CHINESE CAT (1944), MEETING AT MIDNIGHT (aka BLACK MAGIC) (1945), THE
JADE MASK (1945), THE SCARLET CLUE (1945) and THE SHANGHAI COBRA (1945). This marks the first commercial release of Charlie Chan movies on DVD.
You may still order The Charlie Chan Chanthology at amazon.com (with FREE postage available!) as well as through other outlets including eBay, where it can be found with great regularity (often at a very low price!).
Please request Charlie Chan movies at TCM:
Since the unfortunate fiasco revolving around Fox Movie Channel's (FMC) scuttled showing
of Charlie Chan movies during the summer of 2003, the general consensus among fans of the venerable detective is
that our best hope for any showings in the near future rests with Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Our hopes have been rewarded
of late with showings, although sporadic. So, please take a moment to suggest a Charlie Chan movie be shown on TCM, and, in fact, please do so with regularity! (You may suggest a specific
film, or you may also suggest "Any Charlie Chan movie.") Together we have begun to make a difference...
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