Enjoyable featurette included on the Charlie Chan in London DVD. It basically covers the history of the character Charlie Chan and his popularity. It features lots of clips from the films and interviews with a number of experts as well as Layne Tom, Jr. who acted in some of the films. They cover the racism existing in America at the time Chan was created. They discuss how Earl Derr Biggers created Chan to combat negative stereotypes of the Chinese with characters like Fu Manchu. So here he creates a character that is arguably the greatest American detective. A character who is always good and always the smartest person in the room. Most of the people they speak with seem to have a balanced view of the issue of a white actor playing Chan. Only one person seems to really have a gripe, though she tries to be diplomatic about it. There's a very amusing part where they show a message Warner Oland filmed for Pennsylvania moviegoers to try and get them to vote against the law banning movies on Sundays. Chan buffs will love that. It's a brief short so don't expect too much but it's informative and pleasant.
3 Reviews
Thank You So Much
zsenorsock13 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Good intentioned little documentary that shows it has its heart in the right place right at the beginning: the opening titles are made to look just like those of a mid-1930's Charlie Chan film, with music to match. A very nice touch.
The documentary then tries to put the Chan phenomena in perspective, and showed how unique the character was in those times. It also pointed out something I had not quite grasped: Chan is the most famous American detective in films and novels. Sam Spade, Ellery Queen, Phillip Marlowe, none of them made as many films or was quite as popular as Mr. Chan.
They interview a number of people who lived through the 1930's, including (to my knowledge) the only surviving cast member of the Chan films: Tom Layne Jr. who played Charlie Chan Jr. in "Charlie Chan at the Olympics" and also appeared in several other Chan films, playing other sons.
Not something Ken Burns would be proud of maybe, but a nice little addition to the DVD that includes a very clean copy of Warner Oland's message to Pennsylvania voters to try and get them to change the law so theaters could operate on Sundays.
The documentary then tries to put the Chan phenomena in perspective, and showed how unique the character was in those times. It also pointed out something I had not quite grasped: Chan is the most famous American detective in films and novels. Sam Spade, Ellery Queen, Phillip Marlowe, none of them made as many films or was quite as popular as Mr. Chan.
They interview a number of people who lived through the 1930's, including (to my knowledge) the only surviving cast member of the Chan films: Tom Layne Jr. who played Charlie Chan Jr. in "Charlie Chan at the Olympics" and also appeared in several other Chan films, playing other sons.
Not something Ken Burns would be proud of maybe, but a nice little addition to the DVD that includes a very clean copy of Warner Oland's message to Pennsylvania voters to try and get them to change the law so theaters could operate on Sundays.
The History of Chan
Michael_Elliott7 April 2015
The Charlie Chan Legacy (2006)
*** (out of 4)
This 14-minute featurette can be found on the Fox release of CHARLIE CHAN IN London. What we basically get here are a group of historians who discuss the Chan character thru writings and of course the movies. We hear about the various racial issues that were going on in America at the time of these stories and we learn how Chan was the first real Asian role model for kids. We learn that the original author meant the character to be someone good unlike the Dr. FuManchu character that was also popular at the time. Overall this here is a mildly entertaining featurette that at least gives one a good idea of the political climate at the time in regards to the Chan character as well as how Asians were looked at. The most interesting aspect deals with the American culture and how Chan was able to put his mark on it. Fans of the series will certainly enjoy this piece even though one could argue that the subject needed something longer.
*** (out of 4)
This 14-minute featurette can be found on the Fox release of CHARLIE CHAN IN London. What we basically get here are a group of historians who discuss the Chan character thru writings and of course the movies. We hear about the various racial issues that were going on in America at the time of these stories and we learn how Chan was the first real Asian role model for kids. We learn that the original author meant the character to be someone good unlike the Dr. FuManchu character that was also popular at the time. Overall this here is a mildly entertaining featurette that at least gives one a good idea of the political climate at the time in regards to the Chan character as well as how Asians were looked at. The most interesting aspect deals with the American culture and how Chan was able to put his mark on it. Fans of the series will certainly enjoy this piece even though one could argue that the subject needed something longer.
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