Sorry--been one of those days.

The internet was down at work, so I couldn't post anything. And now I'm home, but have no time for anything original.

So here--enjoy a blast from the past: Vaudeville stars Mantan Moreland (playing Birmingham Brown) and Ben Carter, famous in their day for their "interrupted sentences" act, which they performed on live on stage countless times. We get a few demonstrations of their routine in these old clips from a couple of Charlie Chan movies, The Scarlet Clue and Dark Alibi. And as a bonus, in the end, Charlie Chan himself has a say.

Oh--and the puzzled-looking young Chinese fellow is Tommy, Charlie Chan's "Number Three son". Well-intentioned, but not the brightest bulb in the marquee, if you know what I mean.


True Hollywood gold, of the sort that we'll likely never see again.