Charlie Chan: The Famous Chinese Movie Detective

Warner Oland (October 3, 1879 - August 6, 1938) was a Swedish actor most remembered for his role as Charlie Chan.

Sidney Hooper Toler (April 28, 1874 ? February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. Primarily Scottish ancestry, he was the second non-Asian actor to play the role of Charli...

Roland Winters (1904-1989) was an American actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in six films....

Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1923 for a novel published in 1925. Biggers conceived of the character as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes; unlike such villains as Fu Manchu, Chan is portrayed as non-threatening and benevolent. However, he is also portrayed as portly and asexual, and while Chan often encounters racism, he does not always speak openly against it.

Over four dozen films featuring Charlie Chan have been made, beginning in 1926. The character was at first portrayed by Asian actors, and the films were met with little success. In 1931, the Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish actor Warner Oland as Chan in Charlie Chan Carries On; the film was a success, and Fox went on to produce 15 more Chan films with Oland in the title role. Following Oland's death, Scottish American actor Sidney Toler was cast as Chan; Toler made 22 Chan films, first for Fox and then for his own Monogram Studios. After Toler's death, six more films were made, starring Roland Winters. In addition, a number of Spanish- and Chinese-language Chan films were made during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and American Chan films were shown in China, where the character was popular and respected. More recent film adaptations, in the 1990s, have been unsuccessful. The character has also been featured in several radio programs, two television shows, and a number of comics.

The character has, however, been controversial, with some critics and commentators arguing that Chan portrays Asians in a positive light and others arguing that the character is an offensive stereotype. Those who take the former view argue that Chan is portrayed as intelligent, benevolent, and honorable, in contrast to most depictions of Chinese at the time the character was created. Others argue that Chan, despite his good qualities, is one-dimensional, and that, further, Chan is portrayed as effeminate and subservient to whites while the film version of the character has only been successful when portrayed by white actors.