I love mysteries, and some of my favorites are by Earl Deer Biggers and his creation Charlie Chan. Biggers created the character of the Chinese detective in 1925. At the time most Chinese characters in movies and books were sinister villains who constantly smoked opium. Charlie Chan was a departure from the stereotype and was an honest, hard-working family man who could solve the most complex of mysteries.
I believe my first introduction to the famous Chinese detective was through reruns of his movies on TV back when I was a kid. It was much later when I bought the books. The books and movies are quite different but both were good in their own way.
Movies featuring the Chinese detective began in 1929 with George Kuwa starring in a serial, and those movies were made during a time when parts for Asian actors were few and far between. The choice of actors for the lead role in the Charlie Chan series that I was familiar with reflects that trend. The first actor to play Chan was Warner Oland, who was not even remotely Chinese. He was born in Sweden. His first film as Charlie Chan was in 1931 in “Charlie Chan Carries On” for Fox Films. Oland made 16 Chan films for Fox studios (later 20th Century Fox) until his death in 1938.
Sidney Toler, another obvious Caucasian, took over the reins as the Chinese detective through 11 more adventures at 20th Century Fox and an additional 11 films at Monogram Pictures until his death in 1947. I think I like Toler best as Chan.
The idea of using makeup to change actors to appear as something they’re not has not been limited to the Charlie Chan movies. There was a series of movies featuring a detective named Mr. Wong played by the almost 6-foot-tall Boris Karloff. Makeup in his case didn’t help much. Another similar detective series titled Mr. Moto starred Peter Lorre as another Chinese detective. Peter Lorre playing a Chinese detective I can somewhat understand, but Boris Karloff?
Maybe someday a clever writer or producer will remake some of those great detective stories or create a new Chinese detective. And maybe this time it will be played by a Chinese actor.
