Return to Website

The Charlie Chan Family Message Board

Welcome to our Message Board. Please feel free to post your thoughts, questions, or information.

The Charlie Chan Family Message Board
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
View Entire Thread
Re: Saturday night in Berlin: Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Dear Michael,

THANK YOU for this information! It would be interesting to learn more about this showing such as how was it received, especially regarding the brief stock Olympics footage with clips of Nazi salutes at the torch lighting and the portrayal of Berlin police officer Captain Strasser, etc. Also, was it shown with subtitles or dubbed into German? I would guess it was the former.

Again, thank you for bringing this to light!

(Below is a Google translation, which is never "perfect, of the German text about the showing of "Charlie Chan at the Olympics.")

Sincerely,
Rush

From 1931 to 1942, the comedic crime novels about Charlie Chan, the wise detective of Chinese origin from Hawaii, were practically produced on an assembly line by 20th Century-Fox, they were not only so popular in the USA. After adventures in London, Paris, Egypt or Shanghai, on the occasion of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, he also investigated strategically important equipment and spies who, when hunting for this invention, make life difficult for American athletes, among others. Presumably the location of the games was solely responsible for the choice of the location: The conditions in Berlin in 1936 play almost no role in the film. The documentary recordings of the sporting competitions as well as of the airship "Hindenburg" are remarkable. This legendary zeppelin, with which Chan travels to Germany, burned a few days before the premiere of the film.

Re: Saturday night in Berlin: Charlie Chan at the Olympics

The website has the original title (no translation). Also the abbreviation OF for Original version so it was shown without subtitles (in contrast to OMU which means Original-with-subtitles).

The theme "rare views of foreign film makers" indicates a reflective audience interested in history. Not so many Chan fans, I guess.

Re: Saturday night in Berlin: Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Thank you, Michael!

Well, the people in attendance surely received some history in that film! Great stock footage was used throughout. Recently I went through the movie and pulled all of the participants in the Olympic Games that were seen through some of this stock footage, adding them to the "uncredited" portion of the film credits at this site. It was very interesting to quickly research each one for their personal information. For example, Fritz Schilgen, the Olympic torch runner, was born in 1906, passing at the age of 99 in 2005! (Note the Nazi salute in the background!)



Thank you, again, for sharing this interesting topic!

Sincerely,
Rush

Re: Saturday night in Berlin: Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Das war sehr schön, Mr. Gluck! "Ich danke dir sehr."