Charlie Chan
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu. Many stories feature Chan traveling the world beyond Hawaii as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes.
Chan first appeared in Biggers' novels and then was featured in a number of media. Over four dozen films featuring Charlie Chan were made, beginning in 1926. The character, featured only as a supporting character, was first portrayed by East Asian actors, and the films met with little success. In 1931, for the first film centering on Chan, Charlie Chan Carries On, the Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish actor Warner Oland; the film became popular, and Fox went on to produce 15 more Chan films with Oland in the title role. After Oland's death, American actor Sidney Toler was cast as Chan; Toler made 22 Chan films, first for Fox and then for Monogram Studios. After Toler's death, six films were made, starring Roland Winters.
Readers and moviegoers of America greeted Chan warmly, seeing him as an attractive character who is portrayed as intelligent, heroic, benevolent, and honorable in contrast to the racist depictions of evil or conniving Asians which often dominated Hollywood and national media in the early 20th century. However, in later decades critics increasingly took a more ambivalent view of the character, finding that despite his good qualities, Chan also reinforces condescending Asian stereotypes such as an alleged incapacity to speak idiomatic English and a tradition-bound and subservient nature. Many also now find it objectionable that the role was played on screen by Caucasian actors in yellowface. No Charlie Chan film has been produced since 1981.
The character has also been featured in several radio programs, two television shows, and comics.
