CHARLIE CHAN IN HONOLULU
US, 1938, 64 minutes, Black-and-white.
Sidney Toler, Phyllis Brooks, Victor Sen Yung, Eddie Collins, John King, Claire Dodd, George Zucco, Robert Barrett, Marc Lawrence.
Directed by H.Bruce Humberstone.
This was the first Charlie Chan film for American actor, Sidney Toler. He took over from Warner Oland who established the character on screen and was a memorable Charlie Chan with his presence, appearance, demeanour, manner of speaking. He died in 1939.
Sidney Toler assumes much of the presentation of Charlie Chan as established by Warner Oland. In his first film, the 13 children appear – except for Lee who is said to have gone to art school in New York. This enabled Send Yung to appear as the second son, Jimmy, and he was present in over 10 of the Charlie Chan films. And, in this film, the initial situation is the birth of the first grandchild.
There is a murder on the ship in Honolulu Harbour, Jimmy rushing off to solve the case, his younger brother Tommy secretly in pursuit. There is a complex situation on board and with plenty of suspects. A man has been shot when about to receive a large amount of money. It was being transferred by a young woman. And the dead man’s wife was on board. There is also a San Francisco detective with a criminal in tow (eventually unmasked as thieves). There is also a very eccentric doctor studying the human brain played in his customary fashion by George Zucco. There are also some animals being transferred, including a line (who is actually rather tame) and their drinking supervisor. There is the captain of the ship, Robert Barrett, and the senior officer, John King.
There are many mixed motives but the wife of the dead man is also killed. The captain is insistent that the boat leave Hawaii because of cargo commitments. And, in a rooster Charlie Chan sets up, there is a blackout, someone picks up the gun – and is photographed. It is the captain.
Quite an auspicious introduction to Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.
CHARLIE CHAN FILMS
Charlie Chan was the creation of novelist Earl Deer Biggers, creator of the popular novel Seven Keys to Baldpate (adapted for the stage in the early 20th century and the plot of many films of the same name and variations). Biggers saw the beginning of the popularity of the films of Charlie Chan in the silent era but died at the age of 48 in 1933, just as the series with Warner Land was becoming more popular.
20th Century Fox was responsible for the early Charlie Chan films with Warner Oland and gave them more prestigious production values than many of the short supporting features of the time. After Oland’s death, Fox sold the franchise to Monogram Pictures with Sidney Toler in the central role. They were less impactful than the early films. There were some films later in the 1940s with Roland Winters in the central role.
The films generally ran for about 71 minutes, and similarities in plots, often a warning to Charlie Chan to leave a location, his staying when murders are committed, displaying his expertise in thinking through situations and clues. He generally collaborates with the local police who, sometimes seem, characters, but ultimately are on side.
Warner Oland was a Swedish actor who came with his family to the United States when he was a child. Some have commented that for his Chinese appearance he merely had to adjust his eyebrows and moustache to pass for Chinese – even in China where he was spoken to in Chinese. And the name, Charlie Chan, became a common place for reference to a Chinese. In retrospect there may have been some racial stereotype in his presentation but he is always respectful, honouring Chinese ancestors and traditions. Charlie Chan came from Honolulu.
Quite a number of the film is Keye Luke appeared as his son, very American, brash in intervening, make mistakes, full of American slang (and in Charlie Chan in Paris mangling French). Luke had an extensive career in Hollywood, his last film was in 1990 been Woody Allen’s Alice and the second Gremlins film.
Quite a number of character actors in Hollywood had roles in the Charlie Chan films, and there was a range of directors.
Oland had a portly figure and the screenplay makes reference to this. His diction is precise and much of the screenplay is in wise sayings, aphorisms, which are especially enhanced by the omission of “the� and “a� in delivery which makes them sound more telling and exotic.
There was a Charlie Chan film the late 1970s, Charlie Chan and the Dragon Queen with Peter Ustinov in the central role.
