Charlie Chan played by Sidney Toler in Castle of the Desert The Charlie Chan movies were a big draw at the movie theaters during the 1930’s and 1940’s and were based on a fictional Chinese detective created by American novelist Earl Derr Biggers (1884 – 1933) in 1925. Biggers went on to write a total of 6 novels and developed his protagonist into a benevolent and philosophical sleuth with a comical twist and a knack for humorous "one-liners". The first of the series was  Charlie Chan in Honolulu, 1939  In all 44 films were made between 1931 and 1947, the first group of 16 films were portrayed by Swedish actor Warner Oland (1879 – 1938) and then after his premature death Sidney Toland (1874 – 1947) took over the role and went on to make another 11 movies until he too died suddenly. While there is no doubt that Oland developed the persona of the screen character for Twentieth Century Fox and brought Charlie Chan into the spotlight, Toland was also well received. Iread more