My wife and humble self will be visiting Honolulu soon, and would like to pay our respects to Mr. Chan. Is there a museum or other place of interest for Mr. Chan fans to visit?
First, welcome! Next, while there is not a Charlie Chan Museum in Honolulu (but, would that not be nice?), there are things to see that relate to the great detective. It mainly depends on how deeply you would like to delve into Chan lore.
First, if I may, you might like to view "The Black Camel," which is the only Charlie Chan film that was shot, at least in part, in and around Honolulu. There are some locations seen in this movie that can be visited today. As the Royal Hawaiian Hotel figures prominantly in that picture, and, in fact, is mentioned in "Charlie Chan at the Olympics" as well, you may wish to pay a visit there. Again, a viewing of "Camel" will give you a couple of possibilities for "location" visits within the hotel and/or its venerable grounds.
Another spot, which is a favorite of mine, is Kailua Beach, which is on the other side of the island of Oahu. You can either drive there or you can take a bust there. By car, the trip over the Pali to Kailua takes perhaps a half an hour or less. Again, a viewing of the movie will be helpful, but it is fun to see landmarks that are clearly visible in the film for oneself, in my humble opinion. Near this beach, if you drive just a bit further, you can see the roadside "Lani Kai" monument that can be seen as Alan Jaynes drives Shelah Fane to the Royal Hawaiian. Kailua Beach is a very nice spot to have a relaxing picnic, or, if you are so inclined, you may want to take a dip in the water as you watch the many wind surfers there. This is a popular wind surfing beach, and the prevailing winds can even be detected in the movie!
Take a tour of the Honolulu Police Department Museum while you are there, too. It is very interesting, and Officer Eddie Croom, the museum curator, may actually give you a guided tour. One exhibit at the museum that is of particular interest to Chan fans is that which is devoted to Detective Chang Apana, who was Earl Derr Biggers' inspiration in great part for Charlie Chan. When Warner Oland was in Honolulu for the filming of "The Black Camel," the two met.
In the driving scene in "Camel" where Chan and Tarneverro are together in the former's 1919 Ford Model T, we catch a brief glimpse as they travel past the War Memorial, which was built to honor those killed in the First World War. This can be viewed as one heads toward Diamond Head on Kalakaua Avenue.
There is another driving scene where Charlie Chan and Kashimo are driving from the Chan home on Punchbowl Hill. The street along which they are seen to be "driving" is Prospect Street. It would also be along this street that the Chan family home was located.
I hope that this information has been of some small service to you, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
