Customer Reviews

Behind That Curtain (A Charlie Chan Mystery)

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I just read a copy of this book that I got from the Enoch Pratt branch of the Maryland State Library System. Prior to this I had watched the 1929 version of the story as part of the Charlie Chan DVD series. The film was an extremely bad attempt at portraying Earl Derr Biggers' book and character Charlie Chan. This book could easily be made into a mini-series along the lines of Miss Marple, Poirot, Foyle's War or any of the Mystery episodes long part of PBS. I could see Chow Yun Fat in the Charlie Chan role and the making of this book as a period piece along the lines of the great British Mystery series of the past 30 years. It would be an opportunity to make a more realistic rendering of this character which has suffered from Hollywoodization since the 1920's, Warner Oland's efforts notwithstanding. The story takes place primarily in San Francisco of the 1920's and a good screenplay showing the underrated genius of one of America's great detectives could be a very worthwhile task. This book provides the meat. Time to give Mr. Chan his due.