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Earl Derr Biggers
Earl Derr Biggers (August 26, 1884 – April 5, 1933) was an American novelist and playwright. His novels featuring the fictional Chinese American detective Charlie Chan were adapted into popular films made in the United States and China. Biography The son of Robert J. and Emma E. (Derr) Biggers, Earl Derr Biggers was born in Warren, Ohio, and graduated from Harvard University in 1907, where he was a member of The Lampoon. He worked briefly as a journalist for ''The Plain Dealer'' in 1907, and then for the Boston Traveller until 1912, before turning to fiction. Many of his plays and novels were made into movies. His first novel, ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'', was popular in 1913, and George M. Cohan quickly adapted the novel as a hit Broadway stage play of the same name. Cohan starred in the 1917 film version, one of seven film versions of the play, and a 1935 revival.Warburton, Eileen"Keeper of the Keys to Old Broadway: Geroge (sic) M. Cohan's ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (1913)" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren, Ohio
Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The historical county seat of the Connecticut Western Reserve, it is the second largest city in the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, and anchors the northern part of that area. History Ephraim Quinby founded Warren in 1798, on of land that he purchased from the Connecticut Land Company, as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. Quinby named the town for the town's surveyor, Moses Warren. The town was the county seat of the Western Reserve, then became the Trumbull County seat in 1801. In 1833, Warren contained county buildings, two printing offices, a bank, five mercantile stores, and about 600 inhabitants. Warren had a population of nearly 1,600 people in 1846. In that same year, the town had five churches, twenty stores, three newsp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seven Keys To Baldpate (1917 Film)
''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' is a 1917 American silent mystery/thriller film produced by George M. Cohan and distributed by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount. The film is based on Cohan's 1913 play of the 1913 novel by Earl Derr Biggers. Cohan himself stars in this silent version along with Anna Q. Nilsson and Hedda Hopper, billed under her real name Elda Furry. One version of the play preceded this movie in 1916 and numerous versions followed in the succeeding decades such as the early RKO talkie starring Richard Dix. ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' is an extant film with much home video availability. Plot As described in a film magazine, George Washington Magee (Cohan) bets a companion $5,000 that he can write a bestseller in twenty-four hours. He goes to an isolated summer hotel in the mountains, receives the only key to the place, and sets about his task. Soon he is interrupted by complications as guests arrive, unexpected and uninvited, each with their own key to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Night In The Tropics
''One Night in the Tropics'' is a 1940 comedy film which was the film debut of Abbott and Costello. They are listed as supporting actors but have major exposure with five of their classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and their next film, ''Buck Privates'', made them bona fide stars. Songs in the film were by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The film is based on a 1914 novel, ''Love Insurance'' by Earl Derr Biggers, the creator of Charlie Chan. It was filmed as a silent movie in 1919 as ''Love Insurance'' by Paramount with Bryant Washburn and Lois Wilson, and in 1925 by Universal as ''The Reckless Age''. Plot Jim "Lucky" Moore, an insurance salesman, devises a novel policy for his friend, Steve: a 'love insurance policy', that will pay out $1-million if Steve does not marry his fiancée, Cynthia. Encouraged by Jim's argument that Jim has never had to pay out on a policy so that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keeper Of The Keys
''Keeper of the Keys'' (1932) is the sixth and last mystery in the Charlie Chan series of Earl Derr Biggers; Biggers was planning on continuing the series, but died in 1933 before he could. The films continued the series for him. Plot summary Once again, the setting of the novel is rural California, where Chan has been invited as a houseguest. He meets a world-famous soprano, Ellen Landini, who is murdered not too long after the meeting. Chan does not have far to look for suspects—the host is her ex-husband, as are three of the other house guests. Her servants, entourage and husbands all come under suspicion. Once again, Chan is expected to solve the murder, which he does by understanding the key clues—the actions of a little dog named Trouble, two scarves, and two little boxes. When he understands how the murder is committed, he learns the role of elderly house servant Ah Sing—the keeper of the keys. Film, TV or theatrical adaptations This was the only one of Bigger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chan Carries On
''Charlie Chan Carries On'' (1930) is the fifth novel in the Charlie Chan series by Earl Derr Biggers. Plot summary Inspector Duff, a Scotland Yard detective and friend of Chan's, first introduced in ''Behind That Curtain'', is pursuing a murderer on an around-the-world voyage; so far, there have been murders in London, France, Italy and Japan. While his ship is docked in Honolulu, the detective is shot and wounded by his quarry; though he survives, he is unable to continue with the cruise, and Chan takes his place instead. Eventually, Chan finds the killer before the next port of call. Film adaptations A film entitled ''Charlie Chan Carries On'', starring Warner Oland, was produced in 1931. The film is now considered to be a lost film, with only a trailer known to survive. However, Fox filmed a Spanish-language version starring Manuel Arbó, using many of the same sets, using a Spanish-speaking cast, which was released under the title ''Eran Trece'' (''There Were Thirteen''). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Camel
''The Black Camel'' (1929) is the fourth of the Charlie Chan novels by Earl Derr Biggers. Plot summary It tells the story of a Hollywood star (Shelah Fane), who is stopping in Hawaii after she finished shooting a film on location in Tahiti. She is murdered in the pavilion of her rental house in Waikiki during her stay. The story behind her murder is linked with the three-year-old murder of another Hollywood actor and also connected with an enigmatic psychic named Tarneverro. Chan, in his position as a detective with the Honolulu Police Department, "investigates amid public clamor demanding that the murderer be found and punished immediately. "Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here", Chan tells the suspects."Roseman, Mill ''et al.'' ''Detectionary''. New York: Overlook Press, 1971. Film, TV or theatrical adaptations It was adapted into a film of the same name based on the book and released in 1931. This was the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Behind That Curtain
''Behind That Curtain'' (1928) is the third novel in the Charlie Chan series of mystery novels by Earl Derr Biggers. Plot summary It is set almost exclusively in California (as opposed to Chan's native Hawaii), and tells the story of the former head of Scotland Yard, a detective who is pursuing the long-cold trail of a murderer. Fifteen years ago, a London solicitor was killed in circumstances in which the only clue was a pair of Chinese slippers, which he apparently donned just before his death. Sir Frederic Bruce has been following the trail of the killer ever since. He has also been interested in what appears to be a series of disappearing women around the world, which has some connection to the disappearance of a woman named Eve Durand in rural India also fifteen years ago. Just when it seems he might finally solve the murder case, at a dinner party to which a number of important and mysterious guests have been invited, Inspector Bruce is killed—and was last seen wearing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Chinese Parrot
''The Chinese Parrot'' (1926) is the second novel in the Charlie Chan series of mystery novels by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the first in which Chan travels from Hawaii to mainland California, and involves a crime whose exposure is hastened by the death of a parrot. The story concerns a valuable string of pearls which is purchased by a wealthy and eccentric financier. The handsome young son of the jeweller is assigned to shepherd the transfer of the pearls to the financier's vacation home in a desert area of California. Because of his long association with the owner of the pearls—before joining the police force, he was her houseboy—Charlie Chan travels from Hawaii to California with the pearls. After two mysterious deaths, first of a Chinese-speaking parrot and then of the household's Chinese man-of-all-work, Charlie Chan masquerades as a pidgin-speaking cook named Ah Kim and works undercover to solve a number of crimes. Along the way, the jeweller's son meets a beautiful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The House Without A Key
''The House Without a Key'' is a 1925 novel by Earl Derr Biggers, the first of the Charlie Chan mysteries. Set in 1920s Hawaii, the novel acquaints the reader with the look and feel of the islands from the standpoint of both white and non-white inhabitants, describing social class structures and customs of the era. Plot summary The novel deals with the murder of a former member of Boston society who has lived in Hawaii for a number of years. The main character is the victim's nephew, a straitlaced young Bostonian bond trader, who came to the islands to try to convince his aunt Minerva, whose vacation has extended many months, to return to Boston. The nephew, John Quincy Winterslip, soon falls under the spell of the islands himself, meets an attractive young woman, breaks his engagement to his straitlaced Bostonian fiancee Agatha, and decides as the murder is being solved to move to San Francisco. In the interval, he is introduced to many levels of Hawaiian society and is of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land area. With multiple plots in checkerboard pattern, more than 10% of the city is part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation land and is the administrative capital of the most populated reservation in California. The population of Palm Springs was 44,575 as of the 2020 census, but because Palm Springs is a retirement location and a winter snowbird destination, the city's population triples between November and March. The city is noted for its mid-century modern architecture, design elements, arts and cultural scene, and recreational activities. History Founding Pre-colonial history The first humans to settle in the area were the Cahuilla people, who arrived 2,000 years ago.Baker, Christopher P. (2008). ''E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Marino, California
San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. By extension, with a median home price of $2,699,098, San Marino is one of the most expensive and exclusive neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area. History Origin of name The city takes its name from the ancient Republic of San Marino, founded by Saint Marinus who fled his home in Dalmatia (modern Croatia) at the time of the Diocletianic Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ... of Christians. Marinus took refuge at Monte Titano on the Italian peninsula, where he built a chapel and founded a monastic community ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honolulu Advertiser
''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and Internet editions. ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was the parent publisher of ''Island Weekly'', ''Navy News'', ''Army Weekly'', ''Ka Nupepa People'', ''West Oahu People'', ''Leeward People'', ''East Oahu People'', ''Windward People'', ''Metro Honolulu People'', and ''Honolulu People'' small, community-based newspapers for the public. ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' has had a succession of owners since it began publishing in 1856 under the name the ''Pacific Commercial Advertiser''. On February 25, 2010, Black Press, which owned the '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin'', purchased ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' from Gannett Pacific Corporation, which acquired the ''Advertiser'' in 1992 after it had sold the ''Star-Bulletin'' to another publisher that later sold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
