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[[File:CharlieChan.jpg|frame|Excuse, please... When death enters window, no time for life to go by door.]]
'''Charlie Chan''' is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers. Biggers had been vacationing in Hawaii in 1919, when he read a newspaper account of a Chinese-American detective, Chang Apana, connected with the Honolulu Police Department. Fascinated by the idea of an Oriental hero as a contrast to the ubiquitous [[Yellow Peril]] villains of the period, Biggers included an Oriental detective named Chan as a peripheral character in his novel ''House Without a Key'' (1925). In the 1926 novel ''The Chinese Parrot'', Chan took center stage, and his successful adventures spanned four more Biggers novels: ''Behind the Curtain'' (1928), ''The Black Camel'' (1929), ''Charlie Chan Carries On'' (1930) and ''Keeper of the Keys'' (1932).
▲Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers. Biggers had been vacationing in Hawaii in 1919, when he read a newspaper account of a Chinese-American detective, Chang Apana, connected with the Honolulu Police Department. Fascinated by the idea of an Oriental hero as a contrast to the ubiquitous [[Yellow Peril]] villains of the period, Biggers included an Oriental detective named Chan as a peripheral character in his novel ''House Without a Key'' (1925). In the 1926 novel ''The Chinese Parrot'', Chan took center stage, and his successful adventures spanned four more Biggers novels: ''Behind the Curtain'' (1928), ''The Black Camel'' (1929), ''Charlie Chan Carries On'' (1930) and ''Keeper of the Keys'' (1932).
The character's most familiar portrayals, however, were in a series of nearly 50 films. By the time of Biggers' death in 1933, all but the last of the novels had been adapted for film (the last was adapted for the New York stage). Contrary to popular belief, Chan ''was'' portrayed by Asian actors in his earliest appearances -- but not Chinese: The Japanese actors George Kuwa and Sôjin played the detective in his first two films, and E.L. Park, probably a Korean, in his third. None of these portrayals was deemed particularly successful, either by Biggers or by the public.
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A pair of [[Affectionate Parody|Affectionate Parodies]] appeared as ''The Return of Charlie Chan'' (aka ''Happiness Is a Warm Clue'') (1973) and ''Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen'' (1981), in which Chan was played by Ross Martin and Peter Ustinov, respectively. (A [[Captain Ersatz|Chan-based character]] was also played by [[Peter Sellers]] in the 1979 omnibus mystery spoof, ''[[Murder By Death]]''.)
In the 1990s, a number of Charlie Chan films were produced in Hong Kong by Chinese production companies. An Italian Chan appeared in 1983. There was talk in the 2000s about a screen adaptation starring Lucy Liu as the granddaughter of the famous detective, but it never came to pass.
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{{franchisetropes}}
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: Generally speaking, the best regarded films are those produced between 1934 and 1939.
* [[Alliterative Name]]
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: Not only the 1972 [[Hanna
* [[Asian Speekee Engrish]]: [[Averted]] for Charlie. Any Chinese in the books more elderly, however...
* [[
* [[Catch Phrase]]: Warner Oland's Chan often said, "Thank you so much." Sidney Toler favored, "Excuse, please," and "Correction, please."
* [[Character Celebrity Endorsement]]: In 1935, Warner Oland appeared as Charlie Chan in a short subject to urge the voters of Pennsylvania to vote to allow Sunday showing of motion pictures: "Humble self very much puzzled why one man may play golf game on Sunday and other man cannot see Charlie Chan bring criminal to justice on same day."
* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: Several:
** First, as a [[Newspaper Comic]] that ran from 1938-42 (it was cancelled because the white readers didn't want an Asian in the funnies... even though during [[World War II]] [[Viewers
** Then, with now-defunct [[Comic Book]] publisher ''Prize Comics'', drawn by none other than [[Jack Kirby]] and Joe Simon, otherwise known as the creators of [[Captain America (comics)]]. When Prize lost the license, the series transferred to [[Charlton Comics]], continuing the same numbering.
** The numbering and the title changed when [[DC Comics]] got their hands on Chan and his Number One Son: ''The New Adventures of Charlie Chan'' lasted for six issues, the longest consecutive run for any publisher handling the license.
** [[Dell Comics]] managed two issues; [[Gold Key Comics]] did a 4-issue tie-in to [[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]].
* [[Cool Car]]/[[Transforming Mecha]]: The [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoon featured "the Chan Van", a vehicle which could transform itself into various modes of transportation from van to station wagon to sports car, ''etc.'', at the push of a button. (It makes one mildly uncomfortable to recall that it shared this trait with [[Hong Kong Phooey]]'s Phooeymobile, though the canine crime-fighter used a gong to trigger the change.)
** In the books, Charlie's car was always described as a "flivver", which was [[The Roaring Twenties]]' way of saying "[[What a Piece of Junk!]]".
* [[Drink Order]]: Charlie likes his sarsaparilla (a nonalcoholic root beer-like drink).
* [[Enforced Method Acting]]: Warner Oland was an alcoholic; his director, "Lucky" Humberton, at times encouraged his drinking, because he found the actor's slightly slurry speech better conveyed the sense of one struggling with a foreign language.
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* [[Fake Nationality]]: While remaining Chinese, the character has only once in the Western media been portrayed by a Chinese actor. The animated version was voiced by Keye Luke. Live action versions have been played by Japanese, Korean, and (for the most notable versions) white actors.
* [[Flanderization]]: Probably the best-remembered characteristic of the detective is his use of pithy "Oriental" aphorisms -- a trait which comes directly from the Warner Oland [[Film of the Book|Filmic Adaptations]], and which were the only aspect of those adaptations that ''Biggers himself disliked''.
* [[Good Hair, Evil Hair]]: Averted. Charlie's Genghis Khan moustache and (optional) beard, usually reserved for villains, are here merely signs of ethnicity.
* [[Lawyer
** In two episodes of ''[[
** In 1970 [[Filmation]]'s ''Will the Real [[Jerry Lewis]] Please Sit Down?'' featured a [[Jerry Lewis|Jerry]]-ized version of Chan, Flewis Lewis (and his One-Ton Son), both ''ghastly'' [[Ethnic Scrappy|Ethnic Scrappies]].
** In the 1979 film ''[[Murder By Death]]'', Peter Sellers plays a Chan-type sleuth named Sydney Wang.
* [[The Lestrade]]: Charlie usually has to deal with one of these, especially when he's [[Jurisdiction Friction|working on a case outside of Honolulu]]. However, as a fellow lawman, he understands what they're going through, and always defers to their judgment, such as in ''Keeper of the Keys''. On the other, he's not too unwilling to point out that the [[Noble Bigot
* [[Man in White]]: Charlie often, though by no means always, dresses in a white linen suit with his iconic [[Nice Hat|Panama hat]].
* [[Missing Episode]]: Four of the Chan movies from the 1930s, ''Charlie Chan Carries On, Charlie Chan's Chance, Charlie Chan's Greatest Case'', and'' Charlie Chan's Courage'', are lost (though ''Charlie Chan Carries On'' survives in a Spanish-language version, ''Eran Trece'').
* [[Nephewism]]: Averted. When sidekicks were added to the movies, they were his sons.
* [[Nepotism]]: Charlie's sons work with him.
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* [[No Swastikas]]: An early example of this appeared in 1936's ''[[Charlie Chan]] at the Olympics'', which were, of course, held in [[Nazi Germany|Berlin]] that year; all the numerous swastikas that appear (including on the ''Hindenburg'') are carefully [[Pixellation|blotted out]].
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Charlie Chan is a master of this trope, often playing up his "foreignness" so people underestimate him.
* [[The Other Darrin]]: After three films in which Chan was played by George Kuwa, Sôjin, and E.L. Park, Chan was played in a series of 15 films by Warner Oland until his death in 1938. The series continued with Sidney Toler playing Chan in 22 films, and when he died in 1947, Roland Winters took over the role for 6 films.
* [[Public Domain]]: All six books, the comics, the radio plays and most of the movies; check [[The Other Wiki]] for more details.
* [[Shout
** A [[Captain Ersatz]] version of Chan twice appeared in the form of "Harry Hoo" (Joey Forman) on ''[[
* [[Start to Corpse]]: Generally pretty short.
* [[The Teetotaler]]: Charlie Chan is a teetotaler, but in a bit of double irony he is no fan of a [[Spot of Tea]]; he prefers sarsaparilla (a nonalcoholic root beer-like drink).
* [[Title Drop]]: Happened in most of the books:
{{quote|
Chan gravely regarded the man from Scotland Yard. "It is not to be amazed at," he said, "that you have felt such deep interest. Speaking humbly for myself, I desire with unlimited yearning to look '''behind that curtain''' of which you speak."
Charlie shrugged. "Time to be philosophical," he suggested. "You have perhaps heard old Eastern saying. 'Death is '''the black camel''' that kneels unbid at every gate.' Sooner or later--does it matter which?"
"He was your loyal servant. You knew that he would protect you as he had protected you from your childhood. He was your '''keeper of the keys'''." }}
* [[The Watson]]: Several of these have popped up; his sons took up the role in [[The Movies]], and there was one in almost all of the books.
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* [[You No Take Candle]]: Excuse, please...humble Chan rarely observe strict English syntax.
** He's more careful with English in the books. Biggers describes him as drawing his English from poetry.
** Interestingly, in both the books and the movies his ''children'' are far more adept with the English language... which Charlie sees [[The Generation Gap|a rejection of the]] [[Good Old Ways]]. This is touched on very strongly in chapter 13 of ''The Black Camel'' titled, appropriately enough, ''[[Exactly What It Says
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Mystery Literature]]
[[Category:Charlie Chan]]
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[[Category:Pages with working Wikipedia tabs]]
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