Earl Derr Biggers' seminal sleuth, Charlie Chan, was adapted for television for the first time in 1957 in a syndicated series that began production here in the US, but finished in England, as it was produced by ITC.
Continuing what had been a tradition of not casting Asian actors to play Chan, J. Carrol Naish (ex-Life With Luigi) was cast in the lead role of The New Adventures of Charlie Chan. Occasionally, Chan would be aided by son Barry (James Hong), who does not figure into the episode, "The Lost Face":
Naish was not convincing at all as Chan, which would explain why the series lasted just one season. 15 years later, Chan would return, this time in an animated series in which Keye Luke, who played son Lee in the Warner Oland film series, voiced Chan. The Amazing Chan & The Chan Clan had one season's worth of episodes that cycled through two years. A TV-movie with Ross Martin (ex-Wild, Wild West), "Happiness is a Warm Clue", and the feature film, "Charlie Chan & The Curse of The Dragon Queen", with Peter Ustinov, represent the last live-action attempts to adapt the character.
Rating: B-.
No comments:
Post a Comment