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101-432: Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation . Monogram was among the smaller studios in the golden age of Hollywood , generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row . Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of

202-404: A security guard . The sound stage is the central component of a studio lot. Most studios have several; small studios may have as few as one, and large studios have as many as 20 to 30. Movie studios also provide office space for studio executives and production companies, and makeup rooms and rehearsal rooms for talent. If space allows, a studio may have an outside backlot . Finally, there

303-463: A "benevolent Other" who is "one-dimensional". The films' use of white actors to portray East Asian characters indicates the character's "absolute Oriental Otherness;" the films were only successful as "the domain of white actors who impersonated heavily-accented masters of murder mysteries as well as purveyors of cryptic proverbs. Chan's character "embodies the stereotypes of Chinese Americans, particularly of males: smart, subservient, effeminate." Chan

404-453: A Bowery Boys comedy. In the mid-1940s Monogram very nearly hit the big time with Dillinger , a sensationalized crime drama that was a runaway success in 1945. Filmed by King Brothers Productions , it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay . Monogram tried to follow Dillinger immediately (with several "exploitation" melodramas cashing in on topical themes), and did achieve some success, but Monogram never became

505-459: A Chinese detective called Sidney Wang, a parody of Chan. In 1980, Jerry Sherlock began production on a comedy film to be called Charlie Chan and the Dragon Lady . A group calling itself C.A.N. (Coalition of Asians to Nix) was formed, protesting the fact that non-Chinese actors, Peter Ustinov and Angie Dickinson , had been cast in the primary roles. Others protested that the film script contained

606-499: A Japanese actor, as Chan. A year later Universal Pictures followed with The Chinese Parrot , starring Japanese actor Kamiyama Sojin as Chan, again as a supporting character. In both productions, Charlie Chan's role was minimized. Contemporary reviews were unfavorable; in the words of one reviewer, speaking of The Chinese Parrot , Sojin plays "the Chink sleuth as a Lon Chaney cook-waiter … because Chaney can't stoop that low." For

707-597: A Mexican version of Charlie Chan called El Monstruo en la Sombra (Monster in the Shadow), starring Orlando Rodriguez as "Chan Li Po" (Charlie Chan in the original script). The film was inspired by La Serpiente Roja as well as the American Warner Oland films. During the 1930s and 1940s, five Chan films were produced in Shanghai and Hong Kong. In these films, Chan, played by Xu Xinyuan (徐莘园), owns his detective agency and

808-480: A board game, The Great Charlie Chan Detective Mystery Game (1937), and a Charlie Chan Card Game (1939), have been released. On May 21, 2020 digital casino website Play'n GO released Charlie Chance in Hell to Pay, a slot machine game, for desktop and mobile browsers. This is not an officially branded game, however, the game's main character Charlie Chance is directly based on the original Charlie Chan character, sharing

909-458: A brief period under this new venture, Johnston and Carr clashed with Yates and left. Carr moved to Universal Pictures , while Johnston reactivated Monogram in 1937. In 1938, Monogram began a long and profitable policy of making series and hiring familiar players to star in them. Frankie Darro , Hollywood's foremost tough-kid actor of the 1930s, joined Monogram and stayed with the company until 1950. Comedian Mantan Moreland co-starred in many of

1010-482: A distributor of foreign films, but restarted production with the release of Cabaret (1972) and followed it with Papillon (1973). Both were critical and commercial successes, but high production and financing costs meant they were not big moneymakers for the company. Allied raised financing for their adaptation of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) by selling the European distribution rights to Columbia Pictures and

1111-513: A fading Interstate TV company and injected some new razzmatazz patterns into syndication, with a resultant setup that now gives AAT the status of a major distribery with techniques that are paying off in handsome dividends. Most of it was accomplished through the marketing of five going packages of feature films, with particular success in bundling the pix as a series" [48 Bowery Boys, 22 science-fiction, 13 Bomba, and two packages comprising 72 miscellaneous features]. Allied Artists' television library

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1212-613: A faster recovery, contributing to the increasing dominance of Hollywood over New York City. The Big 5 By the mid-1920s, the evolution of a handful of American production companies into wealthy motion picture industry conglomerates that owned their own studios, distribution divisions , and theaters , and contracted with performers and other filmmaking personnel led to the sometimes confusing equation of studio with production company in industry slang. Five large companies: RKO Radio Pictures , 20th Century Fox , Paramount Pictures , Warner Bros. , and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer came to be known as

1313-464: A former exhibitor who became a Monogram executive, was named president. Interstate's biggest success was the Little Rascals series (formerly Hal Roach 's "Our Gang" comedies, which had been reissued for theaters by Monogram). Interstate further pursued juvenile audiences by distributing Monogram's feature-length westerns with Wild Bill Elliott , and outdoor adventures with Kirby Grant and "Chinook,

1414-644: A growing proportion of Hollywood movie revenue, with approximately 70% of total movie revenue coming from international ticket sales; and the Chinese domestic box-office revenue is projected to outpace those of US in 2020. The growth of film studios and filmmaking outside of Hollywood and the US has produced popular international film studio locations such as Hollywood North ( Vancouver and Toronto in Canada ), Bollywood ( Mumbai , India ), and Nollywood ( Lagos , Nigeria ). As

1515-459: A home at Monogram. Storm had been promoted from Monogram's Frankie Darro series and was showcased in crime dramas (like The Crime Smasher (1943) opposite Richard Cromwell and radio's Frank Graham in the title role) and a string of musicals to capitalize on her singing talents (like Campus Rhythm and Nearly Eighteen (both 1943), as well as Swing Parade of 1946 featuring The Three Stooges ). Another of Monogram's finds during this time

1616-615: A long-term lease with Hickson for Placeritos Ranch, with terms that stipulated that the ranch be renamed Monogram Ranch. Actor/cowboy singer/producer Gene Autry purchased the Monogram Ranch property from the Hickson heirs in 1953, renaming it after his film Melody Ranch . As of 2010, it was operated as the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio and Melody Ranch Studios. After fire damage, the sets were replaced; as of 2012,

1717-578: A motion picture of their own because they are not entertainment companies or motion picture companies; they are companies who sell only studio space. In 1893, Thomas Edison built the first movie studio in the United States when he constructed the Black Maria , a tarpaper-covered structure near his laboratories in West Orange , New Jersey , and asked circus, vaudeville, and dramatic actors to perform for

1818-604: A new musical-comedy series called "The Teen Agers" (1946-48) as a vehicle for singer Freddie Stewart . Other series included the Cisco Kid westerns (1945-47); the exploits of masked crimefighter The Shadow with Kane Richmond (1946); the Bringing Up Father comedies (1946-50) based on the George McManus comic strip, featuring Joe Yule and Renie Riano as "Jiggs and Maggie; the "Joe Palooka" prizefight comedies (1946-51);

1919-524: A new unit, Allied Artists Productions, to make costlier films. The new name was meant to mirror the name of United Artists by evoking images of "creative personnel uniting to produce and distribute quality films". At a time when the average Hollywood picture cost about $ 800,000 (and the average Monogram picture cost about $ 90,000), Allied Artists' first release, the Christmas-themed comedy It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), cost more than $ 1,200,000. It

2020-470: A number of films, agreed; when asked if he thought that the character was demeaning to the race, he responded, "Demeaning to the race? My God! You've got a Chinese hero! " and "[W]e were making the best damn murder mysteries in Hollywood." Other critics, such as sociologist Yen Le Espiritu and Huang Guiyou, argue that Chan, while portrayed positively in some ways, is not on a par with white characters, but

2121-534: A number of stereotypes; Sherlock responded that the film was not a documentary. The film was released the following year as Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen and was an "abysmal failure". An updated film version of the character was planned in the 1990s by Miramax . While this Charlie Chan was to be "hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and... a martial-arts master," and portrayed by actor Russell Wong , nonetheless

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2222-455: A positive Chinese character in an American film, a departure from the sinister East Asian stereotypes in earlier movies like Thief of Baghdad (1924) and Harold Lloyd 's Welcome Danger (1929), which incited riots that shut down the Shanghai theater showing it." Oland's visit to China was reported extensively in Chinese newspapers, and the actor was respectfully called "Mr. Chan". In Neil Simon's Murder by Death , Peter Sellers plays

2323-791: A respectable "major" studio like former poverty-row denizen Columbia Pictures . The only Monogram release to win the Academy Award was Climbing the Matterhorn , a two-reel adventure that won the "Best Short Subject" Oscar in 1947. Other Monogram films to receive Oscar nominations were King of the Zombies for Academy Award for Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic Picture) in 1941 and Flat Top for Best Film Editing in 1952. Monogram's fortunes improved even more after World War II. With Hollywood's larger studios curtailing B-picture production in favor of more prestigious and more expensive pictures, there

2424-404: A similar name, trademark moustache and sharp dress sense. This game was followed by two sequels in 2021, Charlie Chance XREELZ and Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra. The character of Charlie Chan has been the subject of controversy. Some find the character to be a positive role model , while others argue that Chan is an offensive stereotype . Critic John Soister argues that Charlie Chan

2525-568: A stage adaptation of novel Keeper of the Keys for Broadway in 1933, with William Harrigan as the lead. The production ran for 25 performances. A Charlie Chan comic strip , drawn by Alfred Andriola , was distributed by the McNaught Syndicate beginning October 24, 1938. Andriola was chosen by Biggers to draw the character. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the strip was dropped;

2626-455: A tradition-bound and subservient nature. No Charlie Chan film has been produced since 1981. The character has also been featured in several radio programs , two television shows , and comics . The character of Charlie Chan was created by Earl Derr Biggers . In 1919, while visiting Hawaii , Biggers planned a detective novel to be called The House Without a Key . He did not begin to write that novel until four years later, however, when he

2727-588: A tram tour of the backlot where films such as Psycho and Back to the Future were once shot. In fall 2019, movie mogul Tyler Perry opened Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta . The studio lot is claimed to be larger than any movie-studio lot in Hollywood. In the 1980s and 1990s, as the cost of professional 16mm film equipment decreased, along with the emergence of non-film innovations such as S-VHS and Mini-DV cameras, many young filmmakers began to make films outside

2828-407: Is a secure compound enclosed by a tall perimeter wall. This is necessary to protect filmmaking operations from unwanted interference from paparazzi and crazed fans of leading movie stars . Movement in and out of the studio lot is normally limited to specific gates (often capped with grand decorative arches), where visitors must stop at a boom barrier and explain the purpose of their visit to

2929-733: Is a studio "commissary", which is the traditional term in the movie industry for what other industries call a company cafeteria . In addition to these basic components, the largest film studios are full-service enterprises offering the entire range of production and post-production services necessary to create a motion picture, including costumes, props, cameras, sound recording, crafts, sets, lighting, special effects , cutting, editing, mixing, scoring, automated dialogue replacement (ADR), re-recording, and foley . Independent suppliers of all these services and more (e.g., photographic processing labs) are often found in clusters in close proximity to film studios. Nitrate film , manufactured until 1951,

3030-416: Is aided not by a son but by a daughter, Manna, played first by Gu Meijun (顾梅君) in the Shanghai productions and then by Bai Yan (白燕) in postwar Hong Kong. Chinese audiences also saw the original American Charlie Chan films. They were by far the most popular American films in 1930s China and among Chinese expatriates; "one of the reasons for this acceptance was that this was the first time Chinese audiences saw

3131-454: Is both; when Biggers created the character, he offered a unique alternative to stereotypical evil Chinamen, a man who was at the same time "sufficiently accommodating in personality... unthreatening in demeanor... and removed from his Asian homeland... to quell any underlying xenophobia." Critic Michael Brodhead argues that "Biggers's sympathetic treatment of the Charlie Chan novels convinces

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3232-439: Is of my own origin, my own race, as you know. But when I look into his eyes I discover that a gulf like the heaving Pacific lies between us. Why? Because he, though among Caucasians many more years than I, still remains Chinese. As Chinese to-day as in the first moon of his existence. While I – I bear the brand – the label – Americanized.... I traveled with the current.... I was ambitious. I sought success. For what I have won, I paid

3333-502: Is representative of a model minority , the good stereotype that counters a bad stereotype: "Each stereotypical image is filled with contradictions: the bloodthirsty Indian is tempered with the image of the noble savage; the bandido exists along with the loyal sidekick; and Fu Manchu is offset by Charlie Chan." However, Fu Manchu's evil qualities are presented as inherently Chinese, while Charlie Chan's good qualities are exceptional; "Fu represents his race; his counterpart stands away from

3434-499: The Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish actor Warner Oland ; the film became popular, and Fox went on to produce 15 more Chan films with Oland in the title role. After Oland's death, American actor Sidney Toler was cast as Chan; Toler made 22 Chan films, first for Fox and then for Monogram Studios . After Toler's death, six films were made, starring Roland Winters . Readers and moviegoers of America greeted Chan warmly. Chan

3535-702: The Great Depression . Oland died in 1938, and the Chan film Charlie Chan at the Ringside was rewritten with additional footage as Mr. Moto's Gamble , an entry in the Mr. Moto series, another contemporary series featuring an East Asian protagonist; Luke appeared as Lee Chan, not only in already shot footage but also in scenes with Moto actor Peter Lorre . Fox hired another white actor, Sidney Toler , to play Charlie Chan, and produced eleven Chan films through 1942. Toler's Chan

3636-685: The Roddy McDowall series (1948-52), with the juvenile lead forsaking child roles for dramatic and action vehicles; the "Henry" series of small-town comedies (1949-51) co-starring Raymond Walburn and Walter Catlett ; and the " Bomba, the Jungle Boy " adventures (1949-55) starring Johnny Sheffield (formerly "Boy" of the Tarzan films). The Bowery Boys, Charlie Chan, and the Monogram westerns (now featuring Johnny Mack Brown, Jimmy Wakely , and Whip Wilson ) were

3737-454: The patents relevant to movie production at the time. Early movie producers relocated to Southern California to escape patent enforcement, thanks to more lenient local courts and physical distance from company detectives and mob allies. (Edison's patents expired in 1913.) The first movie studio in the Hollywood area was Nestor Studios , opened in 1911 by Al Christie for David Horsley . In

3838-407: The vertically integrated structure of the movie industry constituted an illegal monopoly . This decision, reached after twelve years of litigation, hastened the end of the studio system and Hollywood's "Golden Age". By the 1950s, the physical components of a typical movie studio had become standardized. Since then, a movie studio has usually been housed on a "studio lot." Physically, a studio lot

3939-547: The 20th Century Fox Radio Service. Walter Connolly initially portrayed Chan on Esso Oil's Five Star Theater , which serialized adaptations of Biggers novels. Ed Begley , Sr. had the title role in N.B.C.'s The Adventures of Charlie Chan (1944–45), followed by Santos Ortega (1947–48). Leon Janney and Rodney Jacobs were heard as Lee Chan, Number One Son, and Dorian St. George was the announcer. Radio Life magazine described Begley's Chan as "a good radio match for Sidney Toler's beloved film enactment." Valentine Davies wrote

4040-533: The American entertainment industry, led by George Takei , most of whom were against the films. Collections such as Frank Chin 's Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers and Jessica Hagedorn's Charlie Chan Is Dead are put forth as alternatives to the Charlie Chan stereotype and "[articulate] cultural anger and exclusion as their animating force." Fox has released all of its extant Charlie Chan features on DVD, and Warner Bros. (the current proprietor of

4141-630: The Big Five, the majors, or the Studios in trade publications such as Variety , and their management structures and practices collectively came to be known as the studio system . The Little 3 Although they owned few or no theaters to guarantee sales of their films, Universal Pictures , Columbia Pictures , and United Artists also fell under these rubrics, making a total of eight generally recognized major studios. United Artists, although its controlling partners owned not one but two production studios during

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4242-576: The Darro films and continued to be a valuable asset to Monogram through 1949. Juvenile actors Marcia Mae Jones and Jackie Moran co-starred in series of homespun romances, and then joined the Frankie Darro series. Boris Karloff contributed to the Monogram release schedule with his Mr. Wong mysteries. This prompted producer Sam Katzman to engage Bela Lugosi for a follow-up series of Monogram thrillers. Katzman's street-gang series The East Side Kids

4343-495: The English language [whose] powers of observation, logic, and personal rectitude and humility made him an exemplary, entirely honorable character." Ellery Queen called Biggers's characterization of Charlie Chan "a service to humanity and to inter-racial relations." Dave Kehr of The New York Times said Chan "might have been a stereotype, but he was a stereotype on the side of the angels." Keye Luke, an actor who played Chan's son in

4444-562: The Golden Age, had an often-tenuous hold on the title of major and operated mainly as a backer and distributor of independently produced films. Smaller studios operated simultaneously with the majors. These included operations such as Republic Pictures , active from 1935, which produced films that occasionally matched the scale and ambition of the larger studio, and Monogram Pictures , which specialized in series and genre releases. Together with smaller outfits such as PRC TKO and Grand National,

4545-461: The Jungle Boy adventures (through 1955), and especially its breadwinning comedy series with The Bowery Boys (through 1958, with Clements replacing Leo Gorcey in 1956). For the most part, Allied Artists was heading in new, ambitious directions under Mirisch. Monogram was the first substantial theatrical distributor to offer its recent films to network television, in April 1948. Steve Broidy's asking price

4646-486: The Monogram library) has issued all of the Sidney Toler and Roland Winters Monogram features on DVD. Modern critics, particularly Asian Americans, continue to have mixed feelings on Charlie Chan. Fletcher Chan, a defender of the works, argues that the Chan of Biggers's novels is not subservient to white characters, citing The Chinese Parrot as an example; in this novel, Chan's eyes blaze with anger at racist remarks and in

4747-560: The Wonder Dog." Curiously, Interstate used the stock title design for the "Little Rascals" shorts when it filmed new TV titles for the Elliott and the Grant features. In July 1961 Interstate TV became Allied Artists Television Corporation, under the leadership of studio executive Edward Morey. Variety commented on the updated company's getting quick results: "Allied Artists Television Corp. took over

4848-613: The camera. He distributed these movies at vaudeville theaters, penny arcades, wax museums, and fairgrounds. The first film serial , What Happened to Mary , was released by the Edison company in 1912. The pioneering Thanhouser movie studio was founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1909 by American theatrical impresario Edwin Thanhouser . The company produced and released 1,086 movies between 1910 and 1917, successfully distributing them around

4949-437: The character as nonthreatening, the opposite of evil Chinese characters, such as Fu Manchu , while simultaneously emphasizing supposedly Chinese characteristics such as impassivity and stoicism. Biggers wrote six novels in which Charlie Chan appears: The first film featuring Charlie Chan, as a supporting character, was The House Without a Key (1926), a ten-chapter serial produced by Pathé Studios, starring George Kuwa ,

5050-770: The comic-strip exploits of Snuffy Smith and Sam Katzman's comedy series teaming Billy Gilbert , Shemp Howard , and Maxie Rosenbloom . Many of Monogram's series were westerns. The studio released sagebrush sagas with Bill Cody , Bob Steele , John Wayne , Tom Keene , Tim McCoy , Tex Ritter , and Jack Randall before hitting on the "trio" format teaming veteran saddle pals. Buck Jones , Tim McCoy , and Raymond Hatton became The Rough Riders; Ray (Crash) Corrigan , John "Dusty" King , and Max Terhune were The Range Busters , and Ken Maynard , Hoot Gibson , and Bob Steele teamed as The Trail Blazers. When Universal Pictures allowed Johnny Mack Brown 's contract to lapse, Monogram grabbed him and kept him busy through 1952. Monogram

5151-408: The creative genius of this nation's culture." Huang also suggests that critics of Charlie Chan may have themselves, at times, "caricatured" Chan himself. Chan's character has also come under fire for "nuggets of fortune cookie Confucius" and the "counterfeit proverbs" which became so widespread in popular culture. The Biggers novels did not introduce the "Confucius say" proverbs, which were added in

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5252-590: The end of the low-budget film had come true thanks to television, and in September 1952 Monogram announced that henceforth it would only produce films bearing the Allied Artists name. The Monogram brand name was retired in 1953, and the company was now known as Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Allied Artists retained a few vestiges of its Monogram identity, continuing its popular Stanley Clements action series (through 1953), its B-westerns (through 1954), its Bomba,

5353-497: The end, after exposing the murderer, Chan remarks "Perhaps listening to a 'Chinaman' is no disgrace." In the films, both Charlie Chan in London (1934) and Charlie Chan in Paris (1935) "contain scenes in which Chan coolly and wittily dispatches other characters' racist remarks." Yunte Huang manifests an ambivalent attitude, stating that in the US, Chan "epitomizes the racist heritage and

5454-461: The film did not come to fruition. Actress Lucy Liu was slated to star in and executive-produce a new Charlie Chan film for Fox. The film was in preproduction by 2000; as of 2009, it was slated to be produced, but it also did not come to fruition. On radio, Charlie Chan was heard in several different series on three networks (the NBC Blue Network , Mutual , and ABC) between 1932 and 1948 for

5555-717: The film industry had once hoped—movie studios were increasingly being used to produce programming for the burgeoning medium. Some midsize film companies, such as Republic Pictures , eventually sold their studios to TV production concerns , which were eventually bought by larger studios, such as the American Broadcasting Company which was purchased by Disney in 1996. With the growing diversification of studios into such fields as video games , television stations , broadcast syndication , television , theme parks , home video and publishing , they have become multi-national corporations. International markets account for

5656-426: The film rights from the author's widow. He had hoped to film more Charlie Chan pictures independently, to be released through Fox, but Fox had already discontinued the series and had no interest in reviving it. Toler approached Philip N. Krasne , a Hollywood lawyer who financed film productions, and Krasne brokered a deal with Monogram Pictures . James S. Burkett produced the films for Monogram. The budget for each film

5757-450: The films, but one novel features Chan remarking: "As all those who know me have learned to their distress, Chinese have proverbs to fit every possible situation." Huang Yunte gives as examples "Tongue often hang man quicker than rope," "Mind, like parachute, only function when open," and "Man who flirt with dynamite sometime fly with angels." He argues, however, that these "colorful aphorisms" display "amazing linguistic acrobatic skills." Like

5858-445: The first film to center mainly on the character of Chan, Warner Oland , a white actor, was cast in the title role in 1931's Charlie Chan Carries On , and it was this film that gained popular success. Oland, a Swedish actor, had also played Fu Manchu in an earlier film. Oland, who claimed some Mongolian ancestry, played the character as more gentle and self-effacing than he had been in the books, perhaps in "a deliberate attempt by

5959-467: The larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure. The company's trademark is now owned by Allied Artists International . The original sprawling brick complex which functioned as home to both Monogram and Allied Artists remains at 4376 Sunset Drive, utilized as part of the Church of Scientology Media Center (formerly KCET 's television facilities). Monogram

6060-431: The last strip ran on May 30, 1942. In 2019, The Library of American Comics reprinted one year of the strip (1938) in their LoAC Essentials line of books ( ISBN   978-1-68405-506-7 ). Over decades, other Charlie Chan comic books have been published: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Prize Comics ' Charlie Chan (1948), which ran for five issues. It was followed by a Charlton Comics title which continued

6161-432: The longest-running feature-film comedy series in movie history (48 titles over 12 years). During this run, Gorcey became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood on an annual basis. Monogram continued to experiment with film series with mixed results. Definite box-office hits were Charlie Chan , The Cisco Kid , and Joe Palooka , all proven movie properties abandoned by other studios and revived by Monogram. Less successful were

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6262-468: The minor studios filled the demand for B movies and are sometimes collectively referred to as Poverty Row . The Big Five's ownership of movie theaters was eventually opposed by eight independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn , David O. Selznick , Walt Disney , Hal Roach , and Walter Wanger . In 1948, the federal government won a case against Paramount in the Supreme Court , which ruled that

6363-472: The northern San Gabriel Mountains foothills. Tom Mix had used the Placeritos Ranch for location shooting for his silent western films. Ernie Hickson became the owner in 1936 and reconstructed all the "frontier western town" sets , moved from the nearby Republic Pictures Movie Ranch (present day Disney Golden Oak Ranch ), onto his 110-acre (0.45 km) ranch. A year later Monogram Pictures signed

6464-683: The numbering (four issues, 1955). DC Comics published The New Adventures of Charlie Chan , a 1958 tie-in with the TV series; the DC series lasted for six issues. Dell Comics did the title for two issues in 1965. In the 1970s, Gold Key Comics published a short-lived series of Chan comics based on the Hanna-Barbera animated series. In March through August 1989 Eternity Comics/Malibu Graphics published Charlie Chan comic books numbers 1 - 6 reprinting daily strips from January 9, 1939 to November 18, 1939. In addition,

6565-493: The other Asian Hawaiians." Some argue that the character's popularity is dependent on its contrast with stereotypes of the Yellow Peril or Japanese people in particular. American opinion of China and Chinese Americans grew more positive in the 1920s and '30s in contrast to the Japanese, who were increasingly viewed with suspicion. Sheng-mei Ma argues that the character is a psychological over-compensation to "rampant paranoia over

6666-689: The price. Am I an American? No. Am I, then, a Chinese? Not in the eyes of Ah Sing. The "amiable Chinese" made his first appearance in The House Without a Key (1925). The character was not central to the novel and was not mentioned by name on the dust jacket of the first edition. In the novel, Chan is described as "very fat indeed, yet he walked with the light dainty step of a woman" and in The Chinese Parrot as being " … an undistinguished figure in his Western clothes." According to critic Sandra Hawley, this description of Chan allows Biggers to portray

6767-570: The public domain. Jean-Luc Godard dedicated his film Breathless (1960) to Monogram. Allied Artists had its studio at 4401 W. Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, on a 4.5-acre lot. The longtime home (since 1971) of former PBS television station KCET , the station sold the studios to the Church of Scientology in April 2011. Monogram Pictures operated the Monogram Ranch , its movie ranch in Placerita Canyon near Newhall, California , in

6868-554: The racial other." In June 2003, the Fox Movie Channel cancelled a planned Charlie Chan Festival, soon after beginning restoration for cablecasting, after a special-interest group protested. Fox reversed its decision two months later, and on 13 September 2003, the first film in the festival was aired on Fox. The films, when broadcast on the Fox Movie Channel, were followed by round-table discussions by prominent East Asians in

6969-478: The reader that the author consciously and forthrightly spoke out for the Chinese – a people to be not only accepted but admired. Biggers's sympathetic treatment of the Chinese reflected and contributed to the greater acceptance of Chinese-Americans in the first third of [the twentieth] century." S. T. Karnick writes in the National Review that Chan is "a brilliant detective with understandably limited facility in

7070-458: The release of Al Capone in 1959. This prompted Allied to invest in a series of bigger budgeted films once more including El Cid , Billy Budd , The George Raft Story and Hitler . There were still cut backs in overall production – the studio had released 35 films in 1958 but this dropped to 12 in 1960 (mainly because the studio stopped making westerns). Studio chief Steve Broidy retired in 1965. Allied Artists ceased production in 1966 and became

7171-728: The rest of the backing came from Canadian tax shelters. King was released in 1975, but received disappointing returns. That same year, the company distributed the French import Story of O , but spent much of its earnings defending itself from obscenity charges. In 1976, Allied Artists attempted to diversify when it merged with consumer producers Kalvex and PSP, Inc. The new Allied Artists Industries, Inc. manufactured pharmaceuticals, mobile homes, and activewear in addition to films. Monogram/Allied Artists continued until 1979, when runaway inflation and high production costs pushed it into bankruptcy. The post-August 1946 Monogram/Allied Artists library

7272-561: The same production schedule, with each scene filmed twice the same day, once in English and then in Spanish. The film followed essentially the same script as the Anglophonic version, with minor additions such as brief songs and skits and some changes to characters' names (for example, the character Elmer Benbow was renamed Frank Benbow). A Cuban production, La Serpiente Roja (The Red Snake), followed in 1937. In 1955, Producciones Cub-Mex produced

7373-540: The same year, another 15 independents settled in Hollywood. Other production companies eventually settled in the Los Angeles area in places such as Culver City , Burbank , and what would soon become known as Studio City in the San Fernando Valley . The stronger early public health response to the 1918 flu epidemic by Los Angeles compared to other American cities reduced the number of cases there and resulted in

7474-414: The studio had 74 buildings (including offices) and two sound stages. The owners in 2019 were Renaud and Andre Veluzat. The owners indicate that other recent movies were also partly filmed here, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . The site includes a movie memorabilia museum that is open to visitors. Film studio There are also independently owned studio facilities, who have never produced

7575-569: The studio system. Filmmakers and producers such as Mike Judge , Adam Sandler , Jim Jarmusch , Robert Rodriguez , Steven Soderbergh , Quentin Tarantino , Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater made films that pushed boundaries in ways the studios were then reluctant to do. In response to these films, many distributed by mini-studios like Miramax , the majors created their own in-house mini-studios meant to focus on edgier, independent content. Focus Features

7676-479: The studio to downplay an uppity attitude in a Chinese detective." Oland starred in sixteen Chan films for Fox, often with Keye Luke , who played Chan's " Number One Son ", Lee Chan. Oland's "warmth and gentle humor" helped make the character and films popular; the Oland Chan films were among Fox's most successful. By attracting "major audiences and box-office grosses on a par with A's" they "kept Fox afloat" during

7777-517: The studio's biggest drawing cards. Monogram filmed some of its later features in Cinecolor , mostly outdoor subjects like County Fair , Blue Grass of Kentucky , and The Rose Bowl Story , as well as the science-fiction film, Flight to Mars (1952). Producer Walter Mirisch began at Monogram after World War II as assistant to studio head Steve Broidy . He convinced Broidy that the days of low-budget films were ending, and in 1946 Monogram created

7878-838: The studio's early days was a father-son partnership: writer/director Robert N. Bradbury and cowboy actor Bob Steele (born Robert A. Bradbury). Bradbury wrote almost all of the early Monogram and Lone Star westerns and directed many of them himself. Monogram offered a selection of film genres, including action melodramas, classics, and mysteries. In its early years, Monogram could seldom afford big-name movie stars and would employ either former silent-film actors who were idle ( Herbert Rawlinson , William Collier Sr. ) or young featured players ( Ray Walker , Wallace Ford , William Cagney , Charles Starrett ). In 1935, Johnston and Carr were wooed by Herbert Yates of Consolidated Film Industries . Yates planned to merge Monogram with several other smaller independent companies to form Republic Pictures . After

7979-595: The studios increased in size they began to rely on production companies like J. J. Abrams ' Bad Robot to handle many of the creative and physical production details of their feature films. Instead, the studios transformed into financing and distribution entities for their films (generally made by their affiliated production companies). With the decreasing cost of CGI and visual effects , many studios sold large chunks of their once-massive studio spaces or backlots to private real-estate developers. Century City in Los Angeles

8080-498: The world beyond Hawaii as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes. Chan first appeared in Biggers' novels and then was featured in a number of media. Over four dozen films featuring Charlie Chan were made, beginning in 1926. The character, featured only as a supporting character, was first portrayed by East Asian actors, and the films met with little success. In 1931, for the first film centering on Chan, Charlie Chan Carries On ,

8181-568: The world. In the early 1900s, companies started moving to Los Angeles, California . Although electric lights were by then widely available, none were yet powerful enough to adequately expose film; the best source of illumination for motion picture production was natural sunlight. Some movies were shot on the roofs of buildings in Downtown Los Angeles . Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company , based in New York City, controlled almost all

8282-612: Was $ 1,000,000 for a package of 200 features, or $ 5,000 per title. The CBS network declined the offer, and the films went instead to Motion Pictures for Television, a pioneer TV syndicator established in 1951 by film executive Matty Fox. Monogram cautiously entered the field of syndicating its own product in November 1951. Fearing adverse reaction from its movie-theater customers, a major studio avoided putting its own name on its television subsidiary. Monogram followed suit, christening its TV arm as Interstate Television Corporation. Ralph Branton,

8383-400: Was British skating star Belita , who conversely starred in musical revues first and then graduated to dramatic roles, including Suspense (1946), an A-budget King Brothers Productions picture released under the Monogram name. Monogram's final leading-lady discovery was Jane Nigh , who starred in several wholesome outdoor stories between 1950 and 1952; she returned to the studio in 1957 for

8484-608: Was also a haven for established stars whose careers had stalled: Edmund Lowe in Klondike Fury , John Boles in Road to Happiness , Ricardo Cortez in I Killed That Man , Simone Simon in Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Kay Francis and Bruce Cabot in Divorce . Monogram did create and nurture its own stars. Gale Storm began her career at RKO Radio Pictures in 1940 but found

8585-878: Was also a useful outlet for ambitious movie stars who wanted to produce their own films. Lou Costello , Sidney Toler , Kay Francis , Leo Gorcey, and Arthur Lake all pursued independent production, releasing through Monogram. The studio was a launching pad for new stars ( Preston Foster in Sensation Hunters , Randolph Scott in Broken Dreams , Ginger Rogers in The Thirteenth Guest , Lionel Atwill in The Sphinx , Alan Ladd in Her First Romance , Robert Mitchum in When Strangers Marry . The studio

8686-497: Was an imitation of the then-popular Dead End Kids features. The first film cast six juveniles who had no connection with the Dead End series, but Katzman signed Dead End Kids Bobby Jordan and Leo Gorcey , and soon added Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell from the original gang. The East Side Kids series ran from 1940 to 1945. East Side star Gorcey then took the reins himself and transformed the series into The Bowery Boys , which became

8787-411: Was bought by television production company Lorimar in 1980 for $ 4.75 million; today a majority of this library belongs to Warner Bros. Pictures (via their acquisition of Lorimar in 1989). The pre-August 1946 Monogram library was sold in 1954 to Associated Artists Productions , which itself was sold to United Artists in 1958 (it merged with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1981). The pre-1946 Monogram library

8888-488: Was created by Universal Pictures and Fox Searchlight was created by 20th Century Fox for this purpose. Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana . The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu . Many stories feature Chan traveling

8989-467: Was created in the early 1930s from two earlier companies: W. Ray Johnston 's Rayart Productions (renamed Raytone when sound pictures came in) and Trem Carr 's Sono Art-World Wide Pictures . Both specialized in low-budget features, a policy which continued at Monogram Pictures, with Carr in charge of production. Another independent producer, Paul Malvern , released 16 Lone Star western productions (starring John Wayne ) through Monogram. The backbone of

9090-435: Was highly flammable, and sets and backlots were and still are very flammable, which is why film studios built in the early-to-mid 20th century have water towers to facilitate firefighting . Water towers "somewhat inexplicably" evolved into "a most potent symbol ... of movie studios in general." Halfway through the 1950s, with television proving to be a lucrative enterprise not destined to disappear any time soon—as many in

9191-599: Was inspired to add a Chinese-American police officer to the plot after reading in a newspaper of Chang Apana and Lee Fook, two detectives on the Honolulu police force. Biggers, who disliked the Yellow Peril stereotypes he found when he came to California, explicitly conceived of the character as an alternative: "Sinister and wicked Chinese are old stuff, but an amiable Chinese on the side of law and order has never been used.": It overwhelms me with sadness to admit it … for he

9292-403: Was less mild-mannered than Oland's, a "switch in attitude that added some of the vigor of the original books to the films." He is frequently accompanied, and irritated, by his Number Two Son, Jimmy Chan, played by Victor Sen Yung , who later portrayed "Hop Sing" in the long-running Western television series Bonanza . When Fox decided to produce no further Chan films, Sidney Toler purchased

9393-692: Was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Wilder's Love in the Afternoon were box-office flops in 1956–57, studio head Broidy reverted to the kind of pictures Monogram had previously been known for: low-budget action pictures and thrillers, such as Don Siegel 's science-fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Allied Artists and The Mirisch Company released some (but not all) of their late-1950s films through United Artists . Roger Corman made several successful films for Allied Artists. The studio had renewed success with

9494-469: Was not part of the deal with Ted Turner . (The rights to many of the later films are now owned by MGM via United Artists; others, such as The Big Combo , lapsed into the public domain.) A selection of post-1938 Monogram films acquired by M&A Alexander Productions and Astor Pictures were later incorporated into Melange Pictures ' library, today a part of Paramount Global -owned Paramount Pictures . Most Monogram Pictures films released before 1942 are in

9595-465: Was now a greater need for low-priced pictures that theater owners could afford. Major first-run theater chains that had never played Monogram's budget movies -- as well as small, independent theaters that depended on bargain-rate films to turn a profit -- began using Monogram features regularly. Monogram continued to launch new series. In 1946 The East Side Kids became The Bowery Boys under a new producer, Jan Grippo. The former producer, Sam Katzman, began

9696-399: Was once part of the 20th Century Fox backlot, which was among the largest and most famous of the studio lots. In most cases, portions of the backlots were retained and are available for rental by various film and television productions. Some studios offer tours of their backlots , while Universal Pictures allows visitors to its adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park to take

9797-502: Was reduced from Fox's average of $ 200,000 to $ 75,000. For the first time, Chan was portrayed on occasion as "openly contemptuous of suspects and superiors." African American comedic actor Mantan Moreland played chauffeur Birmingham Brown in 13 films (1944–1949) which led to criticism of the Monogram films in the forties and since; some call his performances "brilliant comic turns", while others describe Moreland's roles as an offensive and embarrassing stereotype. Toler died in 1947 and

9898-575: Was rewarded with an estimated $ 1.8 million boxoffice return. Subsequent Allied Artists releases were more economical. Some were filmed in black and white, but others were filmed in Cinecolor and Technicolor . Monogram continued to be the parent company; the "Allied Artists Productions" all bore Monogram copyright notices, and were released through Monogram's network of film exchanges. The studio's new deluxe division permitted what Mirisch called "B-plus" pictures, which were released along with Monogram's established line of B fare. Mirisch's prediction about

9999-495: Was seen as an attractive character, portrayed as intelligent, heroic, benevolent, and honorable; this contrasted with the common depiction of Asians as evil or conniving which dominated Hollywood and national media in the early 20th century. However, in later decades critics increasingly took a more ambivalent view of the character. Despite his good qualities, Chan was also perceived as reinforcing condescending Asian stereotypes such as an alleged incapacity to speak idiomatic English and

10100-624: Was sold to Lorimar's TV production and distribution arms in 1979. Lorimar was acquired by Warner Bros. Television , which now controls the library. For a time in the mid-1950s, the Mirisch family held great influence at Allied Artists, with Walter as executive producer, his brother Harold as head of sales, and brother Marvin as assistant treasurer. They pushed the studio into big-budget filmmaking, signing contracts with William Wyler , John Huston , Billy Wilder and Gary Cooper . When their first big-name productions, Wyler's Friendly Persuasion which

10201-418: Was succeeded by Roland Winters for six films. Keye Luke, missing from the series after 1938's Mr. Moto rework, returned as Charlie's son in the last two entries. Three Spanish-language Charlie Chan films were made in the 1930s and 1950s. The first, Eran Trece ( There Were Thirteen , 1931), is a multiple-language version of Charlie Chan Carries On (1931). The two films were made concurrently and followed

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