THE CASE FILES OF THE ORIENTAL SLEUTHS: CHARLIE CHAN, MR. MOTO & MR. WONG (hardback)
ISBN 9781629337333
During the golden age of magazine fiction, motion pictures, and radio-roughly the 1920s through the late 1940s-three Oriental crime fighters were introduced to the American public. Through the media which they inhabited they became fictional icons in American popular culture: Honolulu Police Inspector Charlie Chan, International Secret Agent Mr. I. A. Moto, and Justice Department Agent Mr. James Lee Wong-commonly known as the Oriental Sleuths.
Created by respected authors Earl Derr Biggers, Pulitzer Prize-winner John P. Marquand, and Hugh Wiley, the three Oriental sleuths' adventures first appeared in popular magazines and then were quickly snapped up by Hollywood to sate the appetites of film-goers for detective thrillers on the silver screen. Charlie Chan carried his case loads over into radio, television, newspaper comic strips, comic books, Better Little Books, and games. Mr. Moto followed with radio adventures and a graphic novel, and Mr. Wong added comic book exploits to his résumé.
Now author David Rothel brings all three Oriental sleuths together for the first time in one volume as he examines their origins and covers their development in all the media forms they encompassed through the years.
THE SUSPENSEFUL NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
THE EXCITING FILMS
THE MYSTERIOUS RADIO EPISODES
THE LIVE-ACTION TELEVISION EPISODES
THE ANIMATED TELEVISION EPISODES
THE CLASSIC COMIC BOOKS, BETTER LITTLE BOOKS, AND GAMES
IN FACT, JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT
THE ORIENTAL SLEUTHS
Author David Rothel received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Williamsburg Film Festival in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Williamsburg Classic Film Guild, Inc. Presents the George Coan Lifetime Achievement Award for 2012 to David Rothel for His Dedication and Outstanding Contributions in Honoring the Golden Age of Hollywood.
"Rothel brings much in the way of both historical and personal perspective to his chronicling of these films, which continue after nearly three quarters of a century to interest and entertain. Each film is covered in detail with fascinating background material as well as the author's own critical evaluations. If at times Rothel may perhaps be accused of waxing a tad too enthusiastically over what are often no more than humble little exercises in 'B' film production, his genuine affection for these movies is legitimate and highly appealing and he makes a strong case for their on-going popularity and appeal."
- Scarlet, the Film Magazine
Review by Boyce McClain's Collector's Corner