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.
Earl Derr Biggers was an American novelist and playwright. His novels featuring the fictional Chinese American detective Charlie Chan were adapted into popular films made in the United States and China.
Charlie Chan Carries On (1930) is the fifth novel in the Charlie Chan series by Earl Derr Biggers.
Victor Sen Yung was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the western series Bonanza.
Sidney Toler was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the Chinese-American detective in 22 films made between 1938 and 1946. Before becoming Chan, Toler played supporting roles in 50 motion pictures, and was a highly regarded comic actor on the Broadway stage.
Charlie Chan in Rio is a 1941 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and featuring the Asian detective Charlie Chan. It was the tenth film to feature Sidney Toler as the title character, who is called upon to investigate the death of a suspected murderer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum is a 1940 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as detective Charlie Chan. Revisiting an old case results in fresh deaths.
Charlie Chan in Panama is a 1940 mystery film starring Sidney Toler. It is an uncredited remake of Jacques Deval's novel Marie Galante, produced by 20th Century Fox in 1934, directed by Henry King.
Charlie Chan in Honolulu is a 1939 American mystery film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Sidney Toler as the fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan. The film is the first appearance of both Toler as Chan and Victor Sen Yung as "number two son" Jimmy.
The Trap is a 1946 American mystery crime film directed by Howard Bretherton and starring Sidney Toler and Victor Sen Yung. The main premise is that two members of a show troupe are murdered, and detective Charlie Chan is called in to solve the case.
The Black Camel is a 1931 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Hamilton MacFadden and starring Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, and Dorothy Revier. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the second film to star Oland as detective Charlie Chan, and the sole surviving title of the first five Chan films starring Oland. The Black Camel marked the film debut of Robert Young.
The Feathered Serpent is a 1948 mystery film, the fifth of six in which Roland Winters portrayed Charlie Chan. It is the only Chan film which featured both Keye Luke and Victor Sen Yung together. Luke had been cast in the later Warner Oland Chan films while Yung appeared primarily in the Sidney Toler Chan movies. This was Yung's last Chan movie. Luke appeared in one more with Roland Winters, the last of the Chan films, Sky Dragon (1949).
Dangerous Money, also known as Hot Money, is a 1946 American film directed by Terry O. Morse, featuring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. This is the second and last appearance of Willie Best as Chattanooga Brown, the cousin of Charlie Chan's usual chauffeur, Birmingham Brown.
Charlie Chan in Reno is a 1939 American mystery film directed by Norman Foster, starring Sidney Toler as the fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan, based on an original story "Death Makes a Decree" by Philip Wylie.
Murder Over New York is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. The cast also features Marjorie Weaver, Robert Lowery and Ricardo Cortez. Chan must solve a murder mystery while attending a police convention. Shemp Howard plays "Shorty McCoy" in an uncredited appearance.
Dead Men Tell is a 1941 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Sidney Toler, Sheila Ryan and Victor Sen Yung. Toler played Charlie Chan in 22 feature films, beginning with Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938), and ending with The Trap (1946). The first 11 Charlie Chan films with Toler were produced by 20th Century Fox Studios, thereafter sold to Monogram Pictures.
Shadows Over Chinatown is a 1946 American mystery film directed by Terry O. Morse and starring Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung and Tanis Chandler. It is the third-to-last film starring Toler as Charlie Chan.
Castle in the Desert is a 1942 film featuring the Chinese detective Charlie Chan. It was the eleventh film to feature Sidney Toler as the title character, and the last made by 20th Century Fox. The series continued with Toler, though under much reduced circumstances, at Monogram Pictures.
Charlie Chan Carries On is a 1931 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Hamilton MacFadden and starring Warner Oland, John Garrick and Marguerite Churchill. It is the first appearance of Warner Oland as Charlie Chan. Part of the long-running Charlie Chan series, it was based on the 1930 novel of the same title by Earl Derr Biggers. It is now considered a lost film; however, Fox simultaneously filmed a Spanish-language version which was released under the title Eran Trece—There Were Thirteen—and this version survives.
City in Darkness, also known as Charlie Chan in City in Darkness is a 1939 American drama film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and starring Sidney Toler, Lynn Bari, and Richard Clark. It is one of the films in the Charlie Chan film series, the fourth starring Toler, and was released on December 1, 1939.
