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.
A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction. By 2022, mystery films are generally referred to as detective fiction.
Arthur Benjamin Reeve was an American mystery writer. He is known best for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes", and Kennedy's Dr. Watson-like sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter, for 18 detective novels. Reeve is famous mostly for the 82 Craig Kennedy stories, published in Cosmopolitan magazine between 1910 and 1918. These were collected in book form; with the third collection, the short stories were published grouped together as episodic novels. The 12-volume publication Craig Kennedy Stories was released during 1918; it reissued Reeve's books-to-date as a matched set.
The House Without a Key is a 1925 novel by Earl Derr Biggers, the first of the Charlie Chan mysteries. Set in 1920s Hawaiʻi, the novel acquaints the reader with the look and feel of the islands from the standpoint of both white and non-white inhabitants, describing social class structures and customs of the era.
Warner Oland was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American characters: Dr. Fu Manchu, Henry Chang in Shanghai Express, and, most notably, Honolulu Police detective Lieutenant Charlie Chan in 16 films.
Philip MacDonald was a British-born writer of fiction and screenplays, best known for thrillers.
Allene Ray was an American film actress.
Charlie Chan in London is a 1934 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde. The film stars Warner Oland as Charlie Chan. This is the sixth film produced by Fox with Warner Oland as the detective, and the second not to be lost, after The Black Camel (1931).
Walter Miller was an American actor of the silent era and the early sound era. He appeared in nearly 250 films between 1911 and 1940.
Robert Donald Walker was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1913 and 1953. He was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and died in Los Angeles.
Charlie Chan's Secret is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Gordon Wiles and starring Warner Oland, Henrietta Crosman and Rosina Lawrence. It is the tenth film in Fox's Charlie Chan series featuring Oland as the detective.
The Green Archer is a ten part 1925 American mystery film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. It is based on Edgar Wallace's bestselling 1923 novel of the same name. The filmmakers moved the setting of the novel from England to the United States. The story was remade in the sound era as another serial The Green Archer by Columbia Pictures.
Sunken Silver is a 1925 American film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and George B. Seitz. The serial is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Play Ball is a 1925 American drama film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring Walter Miller and Allene Ray. The film is now considered to be lost. Another 1925 film, a comedy short starring Chester Conklin and Milburn Morante, also used the title Play Ball.
Snowed In is a 1926 American silent drama film serial in 10 episodes/chapters. Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet, the film stars Allene Ray and Walter Miller. Aviation film historian James H. Farmer considered Snowed In as an "above average serial of the period."
Hawk of the Hills is a 1927 American silent Western film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. The serial was edited into a sound feature in 1929. While the sound version has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.
Melting Millions is a 1927 American adventure film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. It is considered to be lost.
The Man Without a Face is a 1928 American adventure film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. The film is now considered to be lost.
The Black Book is a 1929 American silent film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Storey, starring Allene Ray and Walter Miller.
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933) is an American pre-Code murder mystery film starring Warner Oland as the Oriental detective Charlie Chan. It was based on the Earl Derr Biggers novel The House Without a Key (1925).
