Thu 28 May 2009
Reviewed by Marvin Lachman: EARL DERR BIGGERS – The Keeper of the Keys.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[4] Comments
by Marvin Lachman
EARL DERR BIGGERS – Keeper of the Keys. Bobbs-Merrill, US, hardcover, 1932. Cassell, UK, hc, 1932. Reprinted many times in both hardcover and paperback.
I recently went back to a simpler time and reread Keeper of the Keys, by Earl Derr Biggers, the last of the Charlie Chan novels. Those who know Chan only from the B-movies of the ’30s and ’40s will be pleasantly surprised at how readable and well plotted the six books about him are.
Charlie, at Lake Tahoe to find the missing son of millionaire Dudley Ward, encounters his first taste of snow. The plotting is deft, and there is depth in the portrayal of Chan, especially his reactions to bigotry and “Americanization.”
Aphorisms, those sayings which occur in most Chan movies, seem more appropriate here as they embody Chan’s detective methods. As he gathers clues, he says, “We must collect in leisure what we may use in haste. The fool in a hurry drinks his tea with a fork.”
When Chan sits down to weigh the clues, he remarks, “Thought is a lady, beautiful as jade. Events of tonight make me certain I must not neglect the lady’s company longer.”
Most mysteries written more than fifty years ago are far more dated. Fortunately, those in the Chan series are notable exceptions.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Charlie is a much more rounded (no pun intended) character in the books than the films. He speaks precise English, and only resorts to the familiar film speak for the aphorisms — which aren’t as numerous as in the films. The books set in his native Hawaii even touch on his own racism towards his Japanese assistant, played for comic effect, but accurate about inter-Asian relationships at the time.
The Chinese Parrot even contains Charlie’s own comment on American racism when he goes undercover as a gun-toting crazy cook at an eccentric millionaire’s desert estate.
The Chan books were often run down by the critics of the genre, and to be honest a few too many end in the convenient suicide of the murderer (the same can be said of Philo Vance), but they are well written, and the characters a bit better realized than the usual run of cardboard cut outs. Charlie alone lifts them above the average.
If all you know are the screen portrayls by Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, or Roland Winters (hopefully you avoided Ross Martin and Peter Ustinov — though J. Carroll Naish wasn’t bad) you’ll find Charlie is both more interesting and less offensive stereotype than his film incarnations. Biggers knew something about Asian culture and the life of the Asians in Hawaii, and it shows in his well-written books.
Unlike some mysteries that are unreadable once you know the solution, you can reread the Chan books with pleasure.
Biggers, of course, had two other non Charlie hits, The Agony Column, and Seven Keys to Baldpate, the latter produced on Broadway by George M. Cohan and made into movies multiple times over the years with everyone from Richard Dix to Desi Arnaz Jr..
May 28th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Speaking of the Charlie Chan movies, local TV stations used to run the series over and over and I have to admit watching them over and over. I still love the films of which there were over 40, most of them collected into several dvd box sets with some interesting extras.
Recently, a few friends visited me to unwind from several days of overdosing on pulp magazines at Windy City in Chicago, and we watched Charlie Chan In Egypt. A great B movie and I still couldn’t figure out who the murderer was!
May 29th, 2009 at 12:16 am
No knocks against the Chan movies here. Even one or two of the Roland Winters films have good moments, and by then the Chan makeup mostly consisted of Winters squinting when the camera was on him.
Almost all the Oland films are good, and most of the early Tolers, plus you have screenplays by the likes of Philip MacDonald and Philip Wylie (Charlie Chan on Treasure Island which is based on a Clayton Rawson Great Merlini novel and has Cesar Romero in the Merlini inspired role).
Guest stars include Ray Milland, Bela Lugosi, William Demarest, Boris Karloff, and many familar faces.
Charlie Chan in Egypt is interesting for a couple of reasons, not the least the performance of Stepin Fechit, who under the guise of the Charlie’s chauffeur and companion manages to bring a bit of dignity to the proceedings despite the low comedy. Notably he’s the only character in the film who never doubts Charlie will get the killer. Though dated, The Black Camel, set in Hawaii and with Bela Lugosi is good too.
Walker is right that all the Oland and Toler films are available in various boxed sets (all the Mr. Moto films too, and six of the Michael Shayne’s). Among the extras are some nice bios of the writers with a lot of the covers and in the case of Chan and Moto illustrations from their Saturday Evening Post appearances. The Shayne set even has a good piece on Robert McGinnis and the Shayne covers he did for Dell.
To date none of the other studios has taken the hint, though there is a complete collection of the Bonita Granville Nancy Drew films, and MGM has long had sets of the Thin Man films. TCM however has shown all of the Crime Doctor films, many of the Boston Blackies, most of the Lone Wolf series, all the Falcon films (save the rare John Calvert films), all of the Whistler series, and all of the series Saint films (alas not the rare Saint’s Girl Friday). You probably couldn’t avoid the Mr. Wong films if you wanted to.
January 16th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
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