Charlie Chan, Volume 1

A much-beloved series that spanned two decades, featured several dozen films, and starred three actors as the famous Chinese detective created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers, the Charlie Chan mysteries are classic Hollywood whodunits. Charlie, whose quaint aphorisms delighted moviegoers from 1931 to 1949, once said of a lying suspect: “Alibi like dead fish—cannot long stand test of time.” No one would say the same of his cinematic adventures, which aired on TV for decades before being withdrawn from circulation as a result of a controversial political correctness battle over the fact that Chan was played by white actors. This four-disc box set collects the first four surviving Chan films (several were lost when the negatives and master prints went up in a 1935 Fox vault fire). Charlie Chan in London (1934), stodgy but well plotted, is the earliest extant series entry starring Warner Oland, the Swedish actor noted for his portrayal of Asian characters (he also played the evil Dr. Fu Manchu). Charlie Chan in Paris (1935) marks the first appearance of Charlie's thoroughly Americanized “Number One Son” Lee, superbly played by the effusive Keye Luke, who made a perfect foil for Oland. Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935) is not only the best film in this box but one of the series' finest as well. Revolving around the mysterious murder of a prominent Egyptologist, it boasts atmospheric settings and photography (reminiscent of Universal's original 1932 The Mummy and its sequels) along with a wonderfully evocative musical score—and, of course, a baffling mystery. The murderer's identity is more readily apparent in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (also 1935), which nonetheless boasts rapid pacing and sports more physical action than other entries. As a bonus, the set also includes the phenomenally rare Eran Trece (There Were Thirteen), a Spanish-language version of Oland's long-lost first entry Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), shot on the same sets with Latino actors in the same costumes (presented in a subtitled version, it's the closest we'll ever get to the film that beguiled Depression-era moviegoers and sparked a renaissance in celluloid mysteries). Other DVD extras include three fine featurettes on the origins of Charlie Chan and his legacy in books ands movies. Fox plans to release the Chan films on DVD in chronological order, which means that the top series entries will appear in subsequent boxed sets, but this one is still well worth picking up. Recommended. (E. Hulse)