The New Adventures of Charlie Chan
Following an eight-year hiatus, after the Charlie Chan film series came to its end in 1949, the world-famous, globetrotting detective made his return, this time to the small screen, in the form of the 39-episode New Adventures of Charlie Chan. This series, produced in 1957, starred J. Carrol Naish as Chan and featured a new “Number One Son,” Barry, who was played by James Hong in his first big role.
Now retired, slimmer, and more advanced in years, yet quite fit, Charlie Chan melded well into the modern, atomic-age world of the late-1950s. This series of adventures comprise what was certainly Charlie Chan’s busiest year! In the course of the year 1957, Charlie Chan and Barry, while on an extended “vacation,” traveled together through the mainland United States, Great Britain, the European continent, and beyond. Along the way, sometimes working alone, but more often accompanied by his son, the detective was drawn into a series of murder cases and other crimes that needed to be solved. These new adventures were fast-paced, quickly concluded crime dramas as was dictated by the half-hour format best suited to the still-new entertainment medium of television.
Listed below are all 39 episodes of The New Adventures of Charlie Chan. Titles are in the form of links that lead to detailed information, including full summaries, for each episode.
Episode 1: Your Money or Your Wife
Mr. Kramer, a wealthy resident of a Malibu beach community, calls on Charlie Chan to learn who is trying to kill him. Soon, Chan discovers that Kramer’s wife, Marsha, is missing and a ransom note is left behind.
Episode 2: The Secret of the Sea
Charlie Chan is asked by a wealthy Chinese merchant to investigate the death of his son, a worker on a ship soon bound for Hawaii. The mystery deepens when acts of sabotage begin to occur and some of the crew’s lives may be in danger.
Episode 3: The Lost Face
Charlie Chan is involved in a grand jury investigation in Los Angeles. He soon becomes personally involved in the case when the wife of one of the police officers he is working with is attacked by an assailant at their home, blinded by acid thrown in her face.
Episode 4: Blind Man’s Bluff
At Los Angeles International Airport, Charlie Chan and his son Barry are witnesses as a blind man is killed and his seeing-eye dog badly injured. Chan quickly realizes that this case is far more complex than it appears.
Episode 5: The Great Salvos
Charlie Chan, who is in Washington, D.C. with his son, Barry, becomes involved in a case of espionage after plans for a new jet engine are stolen. Suspicion falls on a brother and sister mind-reading act from Hungary.
Episode 6: The Counterfeiters
Charlie Chan is called to Paris when the Bank of France reports the theft of printing plates used to produce 5,000-franc notes. Chan must rely on connections that date back to the war as he seeks to solve this complex case.
Episode 7: The Death of a Don
In London, a student friend of Charlie Chan’s son, Barry, is accused of murder following a heated confrontation with a music professor. Chan seeks to find the truth behind what, on the surface, appears to be an open and shut case.
Episode 8: Charlie’s Highland Fling
While on holiday in Scotland, Charlie Chan and his son Barry become involved in a murder investigation when the wife of the estate owner is found shot to death on a country road.
Episode 9: The Patient in Room 21
Charlie Chan seeks to uncover the mystery of a doctor at a London hospital who may have been a doctor in Canada who was convicted of committing a mercy killing a decade earlier.
Episode 10: The Rajput Ruby
The Majaraja and Majarana of Rajput have come to Charlie Chan to help them recover the famous Rajput Ruby necklace which was stolen during a visit to the Tower of London.
Episode 11: The Final Curtain
In London, Charlie Chan is contacted by an actor who believes his estranged daughter is in a dangerous relationship with a swindler.
Episode 12: Death at High Tide
Charlie Chan is asked to travel to France to help track down a Nazi war criminal who has recently escaped from custody and is thought to be heading to that country in order to retrieve a stash of gold that was lost at sea during the war.
Episode 13: The Circle of Fear
While preparing to cut a large diamond that was destined to become a part of the royal collection, a London renowned diamond cutter is attacked and the diamond is taken. Charlie Chan is called on to solve what turns out to be a complex web of intrigue.
Episode 14: An Exhibit in Wax
During a visit to Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London, Charlie Chan and Inspector Duff witness what appears to be a senseless attack on a wax exhibit of a murderer who was convicted three decades before. Soon, Chan uncovers evidence indicating that the wrong man may have been hanged for the crime.
Episode 15: Backfire
At London’s British Museum, Charlie Chan is met by a noted archaeologist who hopes that the detective can find his wife left him for another man twelve years earlier.
Episode 16: Patron of the Arts
In Brussels, Charlie Chan becomes curious as to why a struggling young artist’s paintings suddenly gain so much attention and why another obscure artist has committed suicide.
Episode 17: A Hamlet in Flames
In Germany, an extremely rare manuscript of Shakespeare’s Hamlet comes up for sale by a wealthy baron and, following a series of attempts to steal it, Charlie Chan becomes involved.
Episode 18: Dateline – Execution
In London a priest approaches Charlie Chan stating his belief that a man condemned to death is innocent. Chan has only 24 hours to try to save the man’s life.
Episode 19: The Sweater
in Amsterdam, a famous clothing designer accidentally sells a commissioned sweater to the wrong person. When the owner of the sweater is found dead Charlie Chan takes on the case.
Episode 20: The Noble Art of Murder
In Brussels, Barry Chan participates in a French sabot boxing match. After Barry knocks out his opponent, it is announced that the downed fighter is dead. Charlie Chan must prove that his son is not guilty of murder.
Episode 21: Three Men on a Raft
At a book signing at a London bookshop, an author promotes his best seller about his survival on board a raft with two other men, a tale that paints a very unflattering picture of the man on the raft who perished. Charlie Chan is asked by the dead man’s young son to prove the truth about his late father.
Episode 22: No Holiday for Murder
In a Brussels museum, a tour group is stunned at the apparently accidental death of a woman who was disliked for her blunt, berating nature. When a young lady, who has recently spent time in a mental hospital, is accused of murdering the woman, Charlie Chan steps forward in her defense.
Episode 23: No Future for Frederick
After the sudden death, apparently of a heart attack, of a well-known London actor who has many enemies, Charlie Chan soon notes clues that point toward a more nefarious direction.
Episode 24: Safe Deposit
When his son, Barry, accidentally gets caught up in a London bank robbery, Charlie Chan becomes involved in the investigation.
Episode 25: Voodoo Death
The host of a dinner at an English manor is murdered and circumstantial evidence points to a servant who is a practitioner of voodoo as the killer. Charlie Chan, who is among the guests, believes otherwise.
Episode 26: The Expatriate
At his London hotel, Charlie Chan follows the sound of a gunshot to find a young woman standing over the prone body of her father. Charlie Chan, however, soon finds that there is much more to the case than meets the eye.
Episode 27: The Airport Murder Case
While visiting Rome, Charlie Chan is asked by a friend, an inspector of the Rome police, to help investigate a young woman’s death. it is soon apparent that the murder has ties to international espionage.
Episode 28: The Hand of Hera Dass
In Nice, France, Charlie Chan agrees to travel to Cairo, Egypt to retrieve a stolen artifact, the Hand of Hera Dass, in order to avoid a possible Middle East crisis.
Episode 29: The Chippendale Racket
In London, what begins as an investigation into forged antiques soon becomes a murder case for Charlie Chan.
Episode 30: The Invalid
Charlie Chan is the technical adviser on a film being shot in London when the leading lady suddenly and mysteriously disappears.
Episode 31: The Man in the Wall
When an old bombed-out mansion, a relic from the war, is being removed to make way for a new project, the demolition team comes across a skeleton. Charlie Chan seeks to solve a case with deep implications that dates back nearly two decades to the London Blitz.
Episode 32: Something Old, Something New
A woman’s murder is witnessed by a burglar who is then blamed for the crime. Charlie Chan is employed by the thief to prove that he is innocent of the crime.
Episode 33: The Man with a Hundred Faces
In Venice, Charlie Chan and Number One Son, Barry work to help a repentant thief, who is a master of disguise, who is being forced to assist a ruthless criminal gang in carrying out their heists.
Episode 34: The Point of No Return
Charlie Chan, still in Venice following his previous adventure, works to solve the apparent murder of a wealthy man with a dubious past.
Episode 35: A Bowl by Cellini
In Rome, a tourist is tricked into purchasing a fake artifact. When it turns out that the artifact is, in fact, a precious artwork, Charlie Chan seeks to find the truth behind what develops into a mystery laced with death.
Episode 36: Without Fear
In London, Charlie Chan attempts to uncover the past for a woman who has lost her memory and has been accused of committing a murder seven years before.
Episode 37: Kidnap
A noted scientist who is working on a secret government project is kidnaped in Rome and Charlie Chan is called upon to find him.
Episode 38: Rhyme or Treason
A man who was imprisoned for treason during World War II. Fifteen years later, his daughter enlists the aid of Charlie Chan to reopen and investigate this case in an effort to prove her father’s innocence.
Episode 39: Three for One
The manager of a London antique shop asks Charlie Chan for help when a series of bizarre acts of vandalism by his friends threaten to ruin the business.
