I’ve always had an interest in Charlie Chan and I’ve been told by Guest Offender/playwright David Henry Hwang and a couple of other friends that Yunte Huang’s new book Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History is a fascinating read so I’m looking forward to picking it up later this week to check out for myself.
From the description, it sounds like the book not only covers the history of the fictional Chinese detective best known for spouting bits of chinky fortune cookie wisdom, but also the lives of the men who gave him life: Caucasian creator Earl Derr Biggers, real-life Hawaii detective Chang Apana who was the inspiration for the character and yellow face actor Warner Oland who may arguably be the best known cinematic Chan (as well as telling the story of Huang himself and his own obsession with this subject).
Although Asian actors have portrayed Charlie Chan in a few Hollywood incarnations—the now lost early attempts by Sojin and George Kuwa, and Keye Luke in the 1970s TV cartoon series The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan—the role is most identified by the numerous white actors (including Oland) who donned yellow face to play the part. The last big screen incarnation was 1981’s god awful Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen starring the very white Peter Ustinov as the titular detective.
So why would I want to see a new film version of a character that most in our community might consider the epitome of Asian stereotyping?
