Hi there Lin.

I too prefer Jimmy played by the late Victor Sen Yung. To me, he is not so much goofy, but more eager to impress his pop than Lee was. Lee was like the "take charge" character, where Jimmy is a big support person type character. As far as the Chans go, I must admit I am a Oland fan. I grew up watching mostly Sidney, but when I bought all the Chan DVDs released by Fox, I saw a Chan I hadn't discovered before really. I may have seen Warner when I was a child and didn't realize I did, but I surely knew Sidney Toler. I have no recollection of even seeing anything with Roland Winters, but that will change will I get my new TCM DVD set soon (as it just shipped this week from back-order at Deep Discount dot com).

I wonder what it would have been like though if Warner Oland was still Chan, and at some point Keye Luke moved on and they still cast Sen Yung as Jimmy.


I like the sarcasm of Toler a great deal. It really cracked me up in the Fox movies and a couple of the Monogram films. Though I like Warner more for his wit, screen presence with a hint of nobility and elitism thrown in. LOL!

FWIW: I wonder what J. Edward Bromberg's "Charlie Chan" interpretation would have been, if Sidney Toler had not been selected to carry on the role of Charlie Chan?

I think Mr. Bromberg would have made a very interesting choice. He certainly had the "build." His voice was certainly more mellifluous than Mr. Toler's rather monotonic delivery. (No criticism--it worked just fine!!!)

I like Mr. Sen Yung's pairing with Mr. Toler. They complemented each other; whereas, Mr. Luke complemented Mr. Oland. I couldn't see their roles working if reversed.

I think Benson Fong performed well as Tommy. He meshed well with Mr. Toler and also worked well with Mantan Moreland. (But then, who couldn't work well with Mr. Moreland?!)

It is interesting to see "The Feathered Serpent" with both Mr. Sen Yung and Mr. Luke together (#2 and #1 son, respectively) with Roland Winters as Charlie Chan. Mr. Winters' interpretation is his own and holds up well, I think.

I haven't seen a film with Benson Fong or Roland Winters in it yet, but I am looking forward to it.