Throughout the 1930s Charlie Chan, a Honolulu-based Chinese-American detective (ironically played in the 1930s by Swedish actor Warner Oland) was popular with movie audiences.
Unlike evil characters such as Dr. Fu Manchu (reflecting Western fears of a “Yellow peril”), Chan was an honorable, intelligent and benign character. On the other hand, many came to view him as an unfortunate stereotype of the subservient Asian who speaks English rather poorly.
This film clip from 1936 aptly demonstrates racial attitudes at the time toward African-Americans as well as Asians.
I wanted to see what Detective Chan was going to say happened! How interesting to see the stereotypes played out in film. Holly
The refusal to cast Asian actors lasted far too long. In 1955, Jennifer Jones played a Chinese doctor who falls in love with William Holden. The make-up artist made her look more like a burn victim than Chinese.