CHARLIE CHAN

Southland Times, Issue 23179, 21 April 1937, Page 9

CHARLIE CHAN

Success of Warner Oland

SCREEN’S MOST FAMOUS CHINAMAN

A little while ago, Warner Oland signed a contract to make ten more Charlie Chan pictures—and he has already appeared in thirteen of them in under six years. Chan is one of the most successful screen characters ever created. Warner Oland has become so closely associated with him that he will find it almost impossible to get into any other type of part. What is Chan s secret? asks John K. Newnham in London Film Weekly. He is always the same—imperturable, witty, wise. His method of solving his cases always follows the same pattern. Apart from the pearls of wisdom that fall from his lips, he never has very much to do. In many respects, Oland has fallen into one of the easiest jobs in the world. On the other hand, it must be a strain to keep the old fellow human and interesting year in and year out. Chan could easily become a terrible bore. To be frank, after seeing a few of the pictures in close succession, one is now and then inclined to think he is. But he keeps up a remarkably high level. This is due partly to the fact that he is given new _ surroundings every time. The subject itself is always fresh. The other characters are new. And it is partly due to the fact that Oland does not show any signs of being bored with the character. It took Charlie Chan some time to catch on with the public. Warner Oland, although frequently given the credit for creating him on the screen, didn’t actually do so. Charlie Chan made his film debut a long time before Oland began to portray him. How it Began Bathe were the first to introduce him. They bought the screen right in “The House Without a Key,” and they looked round for a Chinaman who resembled the character to play the role. They came across a merchant in Los Angles’ Chinatown who might have been author Earl Derr Biggers’s original model, and this worthy gentleman found himself signed up to play the part. But he returned to his own business soon afterwards. He was not at all successful as a film star. The film was silent. Later on, Um 7 versal decided to have a shot on their own to bring Chan to the screen, and they produced “The Chinese Parrot. Hollywood has never been quite certain that there is any difference between a Japanese and a Chinaman, so the Japanese star, K. Sojin, became Chan. But it was not a successful piece of casting. Sojin was thin, Derr Biggers had described Chan as rotund. And Chan died a screen death until talkies came along, when he made a rather unimportant reappearance in the shape of a Chinese actor, E. L. Parke, in “Behind that Curtain.” A couple of years later, Fox bought the rights in “Charlie Chan Carries On.” Remembering the failure of the previous Chans, they tested 20 different actors for the role, and were satisfied with none of them. Someone suggested the Swedish-born Warner Oland, but the idea was at first frowned upon. It was agreed that he looked the part. He had, in fact, played numerous Chineses roles on the screen, and his latest character was Fu Manchu. Gland’s Chinamen had all been villainous. Charlie Chan’s foremost attribute was his sympathetic nature. However, he was tested for the role, and the test was so successful that he was signed up. Since that day, nobody else has appeared as Charlie Chan. Oland has never found it necessary to use make-up of any sort for . the character. His features have a natural Oriental slant. A slight muscular contraction of the eye-lids, which has become second nature to him now, eyebrows brushed up; moustache brushed down; a sing-song voice—and Charlie Chan comes to life. Oland has never met Earl Derr Biggers, however. The author died before his creation became film famous. All the original Charlie Chan books that were suitable for filming were turned into pictures, and the character was still becoming more and more popular. The Fox people were in a quandary, and then arrangements were made with Derr Biggers’ widow for new stories to be written around her husband’s creation. • Most of the recent Chan stories have been written by a studio team consisting of Robert Ellis, the former actor, and Helen Logan, who used to be a typist. They turn out an average of four a year. Statistics prove that Chan, far from losing his popularity, is gaining more and more followers. Warner Oland gets £lO,OOO every time he portrays him. He has made very little attempt to experiment with his characterization. Chan, today, is practically the same as the Chan of “Charlie Chan Carries On.” He has settled down a bit, of course. Perhaps he is not quite so Oriental as he was. Lately, particularly, there have not been so many of those Chinese proverbs. It is a significant fact that Charlie Chan is one of the very few Chinese screen characters of whom China approves—and, so far no one has protested against an American-naturalized Swede playing the role.