Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
I'll third Your Turn, Mr. Moto. While the idea of a white man (Peter Lorre) playing a Japanese role in the movies is not something most people are comfortable with today, the basic idea of an oriental detective in a society where orientals at the time were not given their due respect was probably considered very forward thinking when the books on which the movies were based were written.
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Tom, your point may be 100% correct. I don't know about that.
However, I have read that The Saturday Evening Post enjoyed great success with its publications of the Charlie Chan stories by Earl Derr Biggers. When Biggers died, the Post hired John P. Marquand specifically to create another oriental detective to replace Charlie Chan.