Dear Djeff,

First, a heartfelt welcome to you!

The question that you pose is a fairly complex one that we have discussed in much detail at different times. Perhaps we can reopen this discussion. Please allow me to very briefly suggest that, after two silent versions of Charlie Chan movies were made featuring Asian actors in the role of Charlie Chan, with the advent of sound in movies, the whole picture changed drastically.

There were, as many of us may remember, a goodly number of well-established actors and actresses who simply could not make that transistion. We must, I believe, try to put ourselves in the shoes of those making the executive dicions at Fox Films circa 1930 when the thought of making a worthy and profitable Charlie Chan picture required choosing the best available actor for the lead role. I should emphasize the term LEAD ROLE here, because, prior to this time, Charlie Chan was anything but the lead role in the early "Charlie Chan" silents.

Eventually, Warner Oland, a very established and recognised actor who had portrayed Asians on the screen at times in his career, was chosen for the role. The rest, as they say, is history. A very successful history, as the series ran a totla of 44 movies spanning nearly two decades, two studios and three lead actors!

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

One thing I might add is that in that era of movies, most of your elder Asians were probably not as educated and spoke with broken english. Diction is a must when it comes to talkie films. This would also explain why Peter Lorre portrayed Mr. Moto and Boris Karloff, Mr. Wong. Of course having Box Office names in these roles didn't hurt much either.

Chris

His poor English was one reason why Sojin only did the one Chan entry of The Chinese Parrot and quit making English-language movies altogether in 1930.

Virginia

I think it should be mentioned that although the actors on the big and little screen, Oland, Toler, Winters Nash and Young, just kidding about that last one, who portrayed Charlie Chan may have done so using a pronounced accent their command of the English language was by no means inferior. They spoke it very well. I don't think it could be accurately described as "broken". With the possible exception of Ross Martin I thought they sounded authentic and tried not to be overbearing. The radio version of Chan was a different story. I ones I've heard were very stereotyped and "unreal sounding'. It is this over-the-top perception of Charlie Chan that many of his critics believe is the norm, while the opposite is true.