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.
Victor Sen Young was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the western series Bonanza. He was born in San Francisco, California to Gum Yung Sen and his first wife, both immigrants from China.
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 at Monte Carlo is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Warner Oland, Keye Luke and Virginia Field. The main character is Charlie Chan, a Chinese-Hawaiian detective. This was the sixteenth and final Charlie Chan film with Oland portraying Chan. The film features Keye Luke as Charlie's son Lee and character actor Harold Huber as a French police inspector. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century-Fox.
Mr. Moto's Gamble is the third film in the Mr. Moto series starring Peter Lorre as the title character. It is best remembered for originating as a movie in the Charlie Chan series and being changed to a Mr. Moto entry at the last minute.
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 unaccredited 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 Red Dragon is a 1946 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, who has to sift through a host of suspects for three murders.
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.
The Scarlet Clue is a 1945 American mystery film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter.
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.
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 second-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.
Black Magic, later retitled Meeting at Midnight for television, is a 1944 mystery film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.
The Chinese Cat is a 1944 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service is a 1944 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. It is the first film made by Monogram Pictures after the series was dropped by 20th Century Fox, and it marks the introduction of Number Three Son and taxi driver, Birmingham Brown.
Edwin Sylvester Luke was a Chinese American character actor who had a career in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. He played Charlie Chan's Number Four Son, Eddie Chan, in the 1945 feature "The Jade Mask", starring Sydney Toler. He was the son of first generation Chinese American Lee Luke and the younger brother of actor Keye Luke. He was one of three Chinese Americans - the first cohort - to receive Bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Washington in 1936. While a student there, he played on the championship team in the Northwest Chinese Basketball Tournament. Subsequently, he was the first Chinese American member of the International Typographical Union in 1941. In addition to acting, he also worked for The Hollywood Reporter as a typographer, writer, editor and later forged a successful career as a social worker for Los Angeles County. In the 2012 award winning short film "Keye Luke", by Taiwanese-American Director Timothy Tau, Edwin Luke was portrayed by actor Archie Kao.
