SOURCE: "Charlie Chan for Rent," in The Armchair Detective, Vol. 22, No. 4, Fall, 1989, pp. 359-64.

In the following essay, Godfrey surveys the numerous films featuring Charlie Chan.

As they went out, the third man stepped farther into the room, and Miss Minerva gave a little gasp of astonishment as she looked at him. In those warm islands, thin men were the rule, but here was a striking exception. He was very fat indeed, yet he walked with the light dainty step of a woman. His cheeks were chubby as a baby's, his skin ivory tinted, his black hair close-cropped, his amber eyes slanting. As he passed Miss Minerva he bowed with a courtesy encountered all too rarely in a work-a-day world, then moved on after Hallett.

"Amos," cried Miss Minerva. "That man—why he—"

"Charlie Chan," Amos explained.… "The best detective on the force."

And so one of the...