Arts council film festival honors Warren-born creator of Chan

THE VINDICATOR
WARREN -- The character of Charlie Chan was created by Warren native and author Earl Derr Biggers. He published six Chan novels, and each was transformed into film.
On Friday and Saturday, the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County will honor Biggers and Inspector Chan with a two-day film festival at Market on the Square, 125 W. Market St., downtown.
Biggers was born in Warren in 1884. He graduated from Warren G. Harding High School and went on to Harvard University, graduating in 1907.
The first Chan story appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1925 and was re-published as a book later the same year. Over the next seven years Biggers authored seven more novels, two unrelated to the Chan series.
Biggers died in 1933 at age 48, one of the most admired mystery authors in the country.
While the Charlie Chan films have come under fire as being offensive and racially insensitive, Biggers' character was a benevolent, philosophical and professional man. Chan was the first Chinese character in popular culture who was not either a villain or servant. Chan is considered a complex character that develops throughout the series of six novels.
The two-day film event in Warren will include a total of five movies suitable for a family audience. It begins at 7 p.m. Friday with a 1934 film, and a 1981 Chan film at 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, films will be shown at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Admission is 5 per movie. A pass for all five films is 10. Tickets can be purchased at the door. For more information and a list of movie titles, call the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County at (330) 399-1212.