HONOLULU, June 20 (UPI) -- A new four-disc set, "The Charlie Chan Collection," explores the movies' famous Honolulu detective and includes several of the most famous Chan films.
Though Charlie Chan movies of the 1930s and 1940s were played by Caucasian actors, they represented a breakthrough because Chan was an admirable Chinese character, the Los Angeles Times said.
Before Charlie Chan, Asians had been depicted on screen as villains or servants. Chan, however, was clever, principled and a family man. The Chinese detective in Earl Derr Bigger's novels was created in contrast to the racist Yellow Peril images popularized at the beginning of the century.
"The Charlie Chan Collection," describes the real Honolulu detective Chang Apana on which the Chan character was based, as well as "The Legacy of Charlie Chan." Four films made by Fox Studios from 1931 to 1938 starring Warner Oland, a Swede, are included, as well.
"Charlie Chan in Shanghai," "Shanghai," "Charlie Chan in Egypt," "Charlie Chan in London" and a Spanish language version of "Charlie Chan Carries On" were all made in the 1930s.
