Charlie Chan

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Number One Son with the seat of his pants on fire in Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo

Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers, reportedly in part under inspiration from the career of Chang Apana. Chan is the hero of a number of books and dozens of movies. At first a sergeant (but later promoted) in the Honolulu Police Department, he and his wife have eleven children (the oldest of which is colloquially known as "Number One Son") and live in a house on Punchbowl Hill. He is a large man but moves gracefully.

1 Novels and films
2 Radio
3 Comics, games and spinoffs
4 Controversy and criticism
5 Cultural references
6 Bibliography
- 6.1 By Earl Derr Biggers
- 6.2 By others
7 Filmography
8 Further reading
9 External Links

[edit] Novels and films

Charlie Chan appeared in six novels by Earl Derr Biggers published from 1925 to 1932. The first three novels were each adapted to film during the 1920s, by different studios, but the best-known Charlie Chan movies are those of the long-running series that began in 1931 with Charlie Chan Carries On, starring Warner Oland for Fox Film Corp. Oland starred in a further fifteen Chan movies, up to the time of his death, after which the mantle passed to Sidney Toler. By this time, Fox had merged and been succeeded by 20th Century Fox, which produced eleven more Charlie Chan films through 1942, but sold the rights to the series to Monogram Pictures in 1944. Monogram made another eleven Chan films starring Toler and then six starring Roland Winters after Toler's death. The progression of Chan films from Oland to Toler (under the two incarnations of Fox), and especially to Monogram's films (whether with Toler or Winters), involved poorer scripts and lower budgets, and generally less modern respect.

[edit] Radio

On radio, Charlie Chan was heard in different series on four networks (Blue, NBC. ABC, Mutual) between the years 1932 and 1948. Walter Connally initially portrayed Chan as part of Esso Oil's Five Star Theater, which serialized adaptations of Biggers novels.

Ed Begley had the title role in NBC's The Adventures of Charlie Chan with Leon Janney as Number One Son. Radio Life magazine described Begley's Chan as "a good radio match for Sidney Toler's beloved film enactment.

[edit] Comics, games and spinoffs

A Charlie Chan comic strip drawn by Alfred Andriola was syndicated from 1938 to 1942. There was also The Great Charlie Chan Detective Mystery Game (1937) - a board game, and the Charlie Chan Card Game (1939).

Over the years several Charlie Chan comic books have also been published first by Prize Comics (5 issues, 1948), which later moved to Charlton Comics (4 issues, 1955). DC Comics published a title ("The New Adventures of Charlie Chan") that tied in with the new TV show and lasted 6 issues in 1958. Later, Dell Comics did the title for 2 issues in 1965.

In 1957-1958, "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan", starring J. Carroll Naish in the title role, were made independently for TV syndication in a series of 39 episodes, by Television Programs of America.

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, an animated series made in the 1970s by Hanna-Barbera Productions and starring Keye Luke, was noteworthy because it was the only occasion on which Charlie Chan has been played by an actor of Chinese descent. (Two Charlie Chan films made in the 1920s had starred Japanese actors; and several of the Chan sons had been played by Chinese American actors in the 1930s movies, including Keye Luke himself as the eldest son and Benson Fong as son #3.)

Two offbeat Chan films appeared to little fanfare years after the main canon. The Return of Charlie Chan in 1973 was a made-for-TV film starring Ross Martin. It had a challenging plot, but was otherwise unengaging. Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen in 1981, was a theatrical feature starring Peter Ustinov, Angie Dickinson, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Apparently intended as a satire, it was not seen as a comic success, although critics noted its visual appeal.

The character of Chan was parodied in the 1976 comedy film Murder by Death, featuring Peter Sellers made-up as "Sidney Wang" in elaborate Chinese costume and using heavily affected speech.

A new Charlie Chan movie is being planned, with Lucy Liu handling the title part, the plot being described as "The granddaughter of a renowned detective makes a name for herself in the world of crime-busting."

[edit] Controversy and criticism

The pre-1950 film character exhibited many positive traits: intelligent, stalwart, kind, responsible, and heroic in the pursuit of usually white villains who were able to outwit the police or government establishments which hired him. In the 21^st century, however, those films have come under criticism from at least one group concerned with Asian-Americans, on the grounds that Chan was played only by white actors in makeup rather than by any Chinese/Asian performer. Thus, the portrayal of Chan by Caucasian actors has been likened to "blackface" type films and has been referred to as "yellowface."

Many feel that the Chan films of the 1930s and 1940s both created and perpetuated Asian racial stereotypes. Defenders counter that Chan's portrayal was less negative than other Hollywood portrayals of other ethnic minorities or of other Asian characters at the time. They also point out that Chan, though quaint in his speech and manner, was both the moral and intellectual equal, if not superior, of white characters in the films. Critics make the objection that the negative caricature of Charlie Chan has at least as much of an effect on the audience as do his positive traits.

The portrayal of the black sidekicks and servants of the Chan family in some of the movies has also been controversial. These characters, however, were a popular and recurring fixture in the Chan films, particularly the character of Birmingham Brown, portrayed by Mantan Moreland.

In 2003, the Fox Movie Channel discontinued showing pre-1950 Chan films, soon after beginning restoration for special cablecasting. After a lengthy delay, Fox finally began releasing these restored versions on DVD in 2006, beginning with volume one (Charlie Chan in London, Charlie Chan in Paris, Charlie Chan in Egypt, and Charlie Chan in Shanghai) on June 30. (The first six Monogram productions were released by MGM in 2004, but these are generally considered inferior to the earlier Fox productions and were less desired by fans of the series.)

In 1993, author Jessica Hagedorn edited a compilation of Asian American literature, titled "Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction." The appellation was a contemporary response to pervasive Asian-American stereotypes.

[edit] Cultural references

"Searchin'," a song recorded in 1957 by the R&B group the Coasters, makes reference to Chan and other fictional detectives such as Sam Spade, Bulldog Drummond, Boston Blackie and Sherlock Holmes. The song "Bad Detective," recorded by the Coasters in 1964 and the New York Dolls in 1974, also refers to Charlie Chan as well as his assistant Birmingham.
In the Beastie Boys hit 1986 song "Brass Monkey" Adrock spits the lyric "Adrock gets nice with Charlie Chan".
Jazz Saxophonist Charlie Parker used "Charlie Chan" as his Pseudonym when recording in 1953.
Mr. White (played by Harvey Keitel) in the film Reservoir Dogs expresses his annoyance at Joe Cabot's reciting of names from his old address book: "Toby? Toby Wong. Toby Wong? Toby Wong. Toby Chung? Fucking Charlie Chan."
The 2001 USA Films movie entitled Gosford Park makes many references to the Charlie Chan films, with one of the supporting characters being a fictionalized producer (a Morris Weissman instead of the actual producer, John Stone) responsible for producing the films. The fictionalized producer in the film has come to this shooting party to research for his next film, Charlie Chan In London.
The Grateful Dead song "US Blues" contains the lyric, "Shake the hand that shook the hand of P.T. Barnum and Charlie

Chan."

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] By Earl Derr Biggers

[edit] By others

Charlie Chan Returns (1974) by Dennis Lynds, a novelization of the TV film
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981) by Michael Avallone, a novelization of the film.
Charlie Chan in the Pawns of Death by Bill Pronzini
Charlie Chan in The Temple of the Golden Horde by Michael Collins

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Early Chan films

The House Without a Key (1926) lost
The Chinese Parrot (1927) lost
Behind That Curtain (1929)

[edit] With Warner Oland

The Black Camel (1931)
Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) - this film is widely considered lost. However, the film was also filmed in Spanish with a Spanish-speaking cast under the title Eran Trece. This version is available. See the article for more information.
Charlie Chan's Chance (1932) lost
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933) lost
Charlie Chan's Courage (1934) lost
Charlie Chan in London (1934)
Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1938)