Charlie Chan Novels

Charlie Chan was created by writer Earl Derr Biggers and appeared in six novels by that author, though the character is probably better known from the more than 40 films made between 1931 and 1949. Biggers was born in Warren, Ohio in 1844. He graduated from Harvard in 1907. His first job was as a journalist writing for the Boston Traveler. He turned for a time to playwriting, but his first effort, You're Only Human, was unsuccessful. That was in 1912, the same year he married Eleanor Ladd. In 1913, Biggers published his first novel--Seven Keys to Baldpate--which was an immediate success (Steinbrunner 27).

In 1919, Biggers had two plays on Broadway in rehearsal at the same time. This created a good deal of stress, so his doctors recommended that he take a vacation. Biggers went to Hawaii, and while there he developed the idea for the novel that would become The House Without a Key, which would be set in Hawaii, but he tabled it at that time. He would go back to it four years later, but by then his memory of Hawaii needed to be renewed. He went to the library and looked through several articles from Honolulu. In one article from the Honolulu Star Bulletin he found an article about a Honolulu detective named Chang Apana. This would become the basis for the character of Charlie Chan (O'Donnell 18).

Critics have tried to relate the two more closely, but i fact, Biggers only used the article as a beginning point and created a character in Charlie Chan who was nothin

Related Essays

Asian Talent in Hollywood .... stereotypes of Asians that persisted well into the 1960s and even 1970s in American cinema: 1) "Yellow Peril;" 2) "Dragon Lady;" 3) "Charlie Chan;" and 4 .... (1219 5 )

Political Identities & The Media .... In Who Am I? we see the stereotypes of Asian Americans as the arch-villain like Fu Manchu or the specialist or scientific-minded Asian like Charlie Chan. .... (1068 4 )

Stereotypical Representations of Asians & Hispanics .... films offered one of four stereotypical representations of Asians to American audiences; the "Yellow Peril," the "Dragon Lady," "Charlie Chan," and "Lotus .... (2094 8 )

Asians and Hispanics in the US Media .... films offered one of four stereotypical representations of Asians to American audiences; the "Yellow Peril," the "Dragon Lady," "Charlie Chan," and "Lotus .... (2147 9 )

Orientalism (Edward Said) .... As Captain Willard, the narrator of the film; tells us, "Charlie didn't get .... the country bumpkin, who is crude, unsophisticated and parochial," (Chan, p. 307). .... (1405 6 )

Category: Literature - C