CHARLIE CHAN CHRONOLOGY*
(1893—See 1933—Charlie
Chan’s Greatest Case)
[1912—Early-Mid-Year—Lee
Chan, the Chans’ first child, is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. (From information
in Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo.)]
[1918—September?—Charlie
Chan serves in Paris, France, for the Intelligence Service. Twenty years later
they have an anniversary gathering in Paris. (City in Darkness)]
[1918 – Late October (?) –
Jimmy Chan, the Chans’ number two son, is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. (From
information in Charlie Chan At Treasure Island.)]
1924—Barry Arnold nearly died
when part of a tomb fell on his foot. (Charlie Chan in Egypt)
1925(?)—(HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY)
1927(?)—(THE CHINESE PARROT)
[1928—June—Danny Mayo
was murdered in Hollywood, CA. (THE BLACK CAMEL)]
[1929—SPRING (?)—(two days)
– While visiting the New York Police Department along with his friend, Inspector Fife of Scotland Yard, Sir Lionel Grey,
former chief of Scotland Yard, is found murdered in the Manhattan penthouse office of Barry Kirk. Chan, working with Fife and the New York Police, solves this baffling and deadly case.] (Charlie Chan’s Chance)
1929-1930—3 days (+ travel to India);
1 day (travel in India); 3 days in the Iranian Desert; 1 day (journey of 4 months will be over tomorrow in Tehran, Iran);
2 days in Teheran, Iran; 1 year later in San Francisco, CA (BEHIND THAT CURTAIN)
[1930—PARAMOUNT ON PARADE-One
day]
1930—Summer—(about five
days)—Aboard a ship sailing from Honolulu to San Francisco, Charlie Chan carries on for his fallen friend, Inspector
Duff of Scotland Yard, as he unmasks a killer who has carried out his deadly work among members of an around-the-world tour. (Charlie Chan Carries On)
1931—Spring—2 days (April
2-3?)—In Honolulu, Charlie Chan works on the Shelah Fane murder case, also solving the Denny Mayo murder that had occurred
in Holly wood in 1928. [Probable date of Charlie’s involvement: “Early spring 1931 (two days) Note: it is possible that we can state that the action in this film
takes place in early April. We might further surmise that, owing to the brightness
of several night time scenes, that there was a full, bright moon over Waikiki at the time.
If this were so, we can, perhaps, noting that the moon was full on the evening of April 2, 1931, venture to state that
action portrayed in “The Black Camel” occurred on the above date and the following day {April 3}, a Thursday and
Friday.] (THE BLACK CAMEL)
1933—Joan Karnoff married Al
Rogers. (Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo)
1933—Mid-late May—Professor
Arnold discovers Ahmeti’s tomb and disappears about five months later—a month after that, Charlie Chan arrives
to find Arnold for a French Museum.
[1933—Summer (?)—(about
four or five days)—In Honolulu, Charlie Chan solves the murders of Dan Winterslip and his brother, Amos, in a case that
had roots extending forty years in the past.] (Charlie Chan’s Greatest
Case)
1934—Early to mid February (NOTE: Information from the script indicates that Charlie Chan arriving San Francisco on
Thursday, February 12, and that the case was concluded on Sunday, February 15. Were
these days and dates correct, the year would be 1931. However Charlie Chan’s
mention of the family’s most recent child, a girl [the twelfth Chan offspring], shown in this movie in a photograph
which was also presumably the same one that is seen in the next film, “Charlie Chan in London,” means that these
adventures must be contiguous, or at least very close in time. Therefore, we
must place the adventure depicted in “Charlie Chan’s Courage” in the year 1934, with Charlie Chan’s
involvement being, due to the railroad ticket found at P.J. Madden’s house, which was clearly dated Februar4y 8, four
days in the early part of February, beginning on a Thursday morning, probably the 15th, and concluding on the following
Sunday evening, which may been the 18th, with Bob Crawford, who mentioned the dates perhaps having been confused.) (Charlie Chan’s Courage)
1934—April—2 weeks—“[T]he
fox hunting club was holding its last hunt of the season, which would be in April”; “probably about one week including
work done after the solution of the case” (CC in LONDON)
1934----Mid-late April—Professor
Arnold disappears about a month before Charlie Chan appears to find him for a French Museum.
1934—May 13-14 (Sunday)—2
days in Paris (CC IN PARIS)
1934—Mid-late May—2 days (CC
IN EGYPT) [—Professor Arnold discovered the tomb of Ahmeti six months before. He disappeared about 4 weeks before this.]
1935—May 7-8—2 days (CC IN
SHANGHAI)
[1935—May 30th—“Decoration
Day”—The Gaines/Kinney Circus are forced to spend time in El Paso, TX, because of equipment failure that must
be fixed and five months before Charlie Chan and his family are treated to passes to the Gaines/Kinney Circus in October] (CC at the Circus)
1935—Fall—1 day—The
USS Nestor sinks, all (including Alan Colby) aboard thought to drown, two weeks before Charlie Chan comes to investigate for
Mrs. Henrietta Lowell. (Charlie Chan’s Secret)
1935—Fall—4 days, beginning
two weeks after sinking of USS Nestor [Charlie Chan flies from Honolulu to San Francisco to give information to Mrs. Henrietta
Lowell regarding her missing nephew, Alan Colby. While there, Colby is murdered,
and Chan works to solve the crime.] (CC’s SECRET)
[1935—October 5—“What
really happened in London the night of October 5,
1935?” spoken at the séance attended
by Frances Chan. Chardo, a well-known magician, is also gravely injured in an
automobile accident. (BLACK MAGIC,
AKA MEETING AT MIDNIGHT)]
1935—Late October—2 days (Charlie
Chan AT THE CIRCUS)
1937—July 21 to early August—about
2 weeks (Charlie Chan at the Olympics)
THIS MOVIE WAS RELEASED IN 1937.
1936—(?)—Mrs. Russell’s
husband is murdered. Charlie Chan solves the murder three years later while trying
to clear a good friend from the charge of murder. (Charlie Chan in Reno)
[1936—July 21—August—An
investigation of the murder of the pilot of an experimental airplane takes Charlie Chan on a trail that leads from Honolulu
all the way to the Olympic games in Berlin, Germany.] (Charlie Chan at the Olympics)
This movie was released in 1937.
[1936—Late August—2 days—Passing
through New York City while returning home to Honolulu from Europe with his son, Lee, who had just competed in the Berlin
Olympic Games, Charlie Chan is called on to help solve the murder of Billie Bronson, whose diary had threatened a number of
underworld figures with exposure.] (Charlie Chan on Broadway.)
[1936—September 2 (please see “FILM
NOTES” for “Charlie Chan at the Race Track”)—From the ship’s log of the “S.S. Oceanic”: “This day at 3:42 P.M., Lat. 12 (degrees) N. Long. 163 (degrees) W. regret to record death of Major Gordon Kent, Passenger, D-249 kicked to death by the horse Avalanche in
its stall in the forward deck.”] (Charlie Chan at the Race Track)
1936—Either mid- to late-September
or about mid- to late-December, since the Melbourne Cup is held the first Tuesday of every November. [The Melbourne Cup was run at the beginning
of the movie. The ship was enroute to Hawaii when the Captain listed Major Kent’s
death at 3:42pm on the 2nd of September in 1936. The ship stopped one day in Honolulu and then went on to Los Angeles
where they spent two days—the last one being The Santa Juanita Handicap.] (Charlie
Chan AT THE RACE TRACK)
[1936—Fall—(four days)—Charlie
Chan flies from Honolulu to San Francisco to give information to Mrs. Henrietta Lowell regarding her missing nephew, Allen
Colby. While there, Colby is murdered, and Chan works to solve the case. (Charlie Chan’s Secret)
1936—November 5 (the 5th,
6th, and 7th were dates that Carnival would play—2 days (CC AT THE OPERA)
1937—(?)—Charlie Chan
goes to Shanghai to arrest Jan Van Horn. (The Shanghai Cobra)
1937—July 21 to early August—about
2 weeks (Charlie Chan at the Olympics)
THIS WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY HAPPENED
IN 1936.
1937—Fall—3 days (Charlie Chan on Broadway)
1938---(?)---Charlie Chan arrests
Cooper in Shanghai. (The Scarlet Clue)
1938—August 25th—Lee’s
Birthday—2 days (Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo)
1938—September 28-29—Charlie
Chan was in Paris on the 20th anniversary gathering of the Intelligence Service.
(City in Darkness)
1938--Fall—Charlie Chan has
double duty—He’s ordered to the passenger freighter “Susan B. Jennings” while his # 1 daughter is
in the hospital giving birth to his first grandchild, Leng. (Charlie Chan in
Honolulu)
1939—April 7th to
the 9th (Easter)—3 days (Charlie Chan in Reno)
1939—October 22-23—2 days (Charlie Chan at Treasure Island)
[1939?]--?????—3days (Charlie Chan in Panama)
1939—August—about 1 week (Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise)
1939—October 22-23—Charlie
Chan flies from Honolulu to San Francisco to solve the murder of an old friend that somehow involves a psychic named Dr. Zodiac. (Charlie Chan at Treasure Island)
1940—(?)Fall—2 to 3 weeks?—Dr.
Von Brom’s chair is electrified at 8:20 pm, 30 minutes after the start of the movie.
(Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum)
1940—September—2 days (Murder Over New York)
1940-41—Fall/Winter—1
day—when the movie begins, it’s 7:30 and lasts until about 11:30 (Dead Men Tell)
1941—Early Spring—1 night
(Charlie Chan in Rio)
1942-Fall—1 week between Dr. Gleason’s
disappearance and the day Charlie is there. (Castle in the Desert)
1943—Late Summer-Early Fall—1
day. (Charlie Chan in the Secret Service)
1943-1944—October 8; October 31;
November 21; January 15; two weeks later; murder happened six months ago; must leave in 48 hours (The Chinese Cat)
1944—Fall—two days—Probably
in New York City, working for the U.S. Secret Service, Charlie Chan is called on to solve the murder of Mr. Harper. A scientist
who had been working on an important government project. In the process, four
others die at the hands of the same murderer. (The Jade Mask)
1945—Spring—2 days—Charlie
Chan, continuing his wartime work for the U.S. government, breaks up a spy ring working in the Cosmo Radio Center in an unspecified
eastern city. The detective also solves a series of murders committed by the
spy ring’s leader. (The Scarlet)
1945—Spring—3 days—Called
to New York City by his assist his old friend [sic], Inspector Harry Davis, Charlie
Chan, also in that city to check on a quantity of government uranium stored in a vault at the Sixth National Bank, solves a series of Cobra Murders, a bloody trail that goes back seven years to Shanghai, (The Shanghai Cobra.)
1945—Fall—About one week—Charlie
Chan is called to Mexico City to by U.S. Government agent Walter Dorn to investigate the attempted theft of important papers
that relate to a new element which could be used to create a super nuclear bomb. Upon
his arrival, Chan learns of the murder of Dorn. After two others are killed,
Charlie Chan solves the case, working with his old friend, Inspector Louis
Carverro.
(The Red Dragon).
1945—Fall—Between the 8th
and the 14th of the month [Possibly while in Los Angeles, Charlie
Chan is asked by June Harley, whose father, Thomas, she insists, has been framed for bank robbery and murder. As Thomas Harley’s execution date is only a week away, Chan agrees to help, and in so doing unmasks
the real murderer.] (Dark Alibi)
1946—(Shadows Over Chinatown)
1946—Summer—3 days [Early Summer—three days—While aboard the ship “New Castle” in the South
Pacific, Charlie Chan witnesses the murder of undercover agent Scott Pearson. In
Samoa, Chan solves this and two other killings, and in the process, uncovers a gang of art smugglers.] (Dangerous Money)
1946---Summer—2 days [Charlie Chan solves the murder of two members of the King Cole Variety Troupe in Malibu, California.](The
Trap)
1947—March 22—Princess Mei
Ling arrives in San Francisco on a freighter, “Shanghai Maid.” (The
Chinese Ring)
1947---2nd Week of April—in
2 days Charlie Chan solves her case. (The Chinese Ring)
1947---Fall—2 days (Docks of New Orleans)
1948---Spring—6 days (Shanghai Chest)
1948(?)---The Chinese New Year plus
2 days (The Golden Eye)
1949---Fall—3, maybe 4, days (The Feathered Serpent)
1949---Fall—3 days (The Sky Dragon)
*Maven owes the basic concept and the bulk
of research for this to Rush Glick at www.charliechan.info.
