Here's a different automatic translation of the plot...

Chen Zha ceremony, Meina father entrusted by the detective sergeant detectors community unexplained spate of bootlegging
Burglary, a friend of Mr Qin Xiao You also actively help. One day, Chen was invited to dress up
I spend Communication Man-birthday banquet bizarre theft from happening again, the insurance money Add
Counters of precious ornaments were missing and a servant were also killed. Present at the banquet JIU Y
Lu and two small kiosks were suspects, but there is no evidence to determine who is. JIU Y girlfriend Zhou
China has derailed, but they did not know about it. Money Man-Week inadvertently found wearing jewelry in
With their loss of ornaments like. Chen dress for reconnaissance has almost distress. After Chen Zha
A ceremony invention may break the glasses on stealth, when glasses should be how they can find
The case deadlocked, Xiaoyou, who was very disappointed. After Mina or come up with a father and daughter duo
Set traps, and finally threw the Stealth identity theft.

Automatically translated text of the director's bio:

徐欣夫
Xinfu Xu
In 1920 after graduating from secondary school with Chenshouzhi others formed the Chinese movie Research Society, and participated Filming of the Chinese minister of the first feature films "YAN Rui Health." In 1924, in succession Dazhong Chinese stars, Xinhua, Cathay Pacific and other studios as a director, filming "Exploits" "Salt tide," "Girls." In 1948 the Taiwan group from Vientiane, as Taiwan Bay first Mandarin films "Alishan Situation," the producer. After 1954, he served as Taiwan's agricultural Education in Taichung plant film director, among others, directed the film "Love Sun Moon Lake."

Automatically translated texts of the actors' bios:

顾梅君
Meijun Gu
In 27 period from movie, the 1931 "American Heart" plays an important role. 1932 performance films of the "Mother", "Lovely Enemies." In 1933, left-wing film movement rise Gu Meijun during the same time perform a large number of "left-wing film," Xia Yan main scriptwriter, the director Zhang Ishikawa "Future", Zheng Boqi, AEF scriptwriter, Xu Xin-Fu's "Salt Tide," dozens of films. Go to Taiwan in 1949. 1953 performance "Yinhai 1000 Autumn "lip.

徐莘园
Ziyuan Xu
Male, born in 1886
1929 into the Shanghai Film Co., in 1932 the star of films by actors, the initial resistance at the Shanghai film company, in 1939 to Shanghai, China New, Xinhua companies such films as actor, since after the Group Theater Nanjing, the delegation Tianjin, Hankow other theatrical performances, to go to Hong Kong in 1949, making the company Yonghua Perturbation "Secrets" as role.

龚秋霞
Qiuxia Gong
Female, born December 4, 1918, Shanghai
The death in September 7, 2004 (Hong Kong)
Constellation : Sagittarius
Family members :
Hu soul (the husband); HU Rong (Cardiff sister); Ms Dai Chu (daughter)
That 12-year-old Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe Meihua entourage traverse around the recesses of Southeast Asia. In 1936, the Senate shoot his first film "Parentage", the following year proprietors My "New Year's money," a shot. Their concert film episode "Burst" album. During the war, she has joined the Shanghai-China, Xinhua, Guohong film, starring the "voice Bokhari" series of films. Travel to Hong Kong in 1946, starring in the Greater China, the Great Wall, the film company Phoenix 6 Brands film. His major works include : "Flower Street," "Daughter" and "Thunderstorm".

This film has Meijun Gu in it as well...

http://www.cnmdb.com/title/9724/

In the small accompanying picture, there is a somewhat heavyset individual pictured. I wonder if this could be the actor who played Charlie Chan.

The production / distribution company for this film was:

华新

which translates to New China.

Dear Douglas,

I am fairly stumped as to how you found the information. I went to the links provided, but I do not come up with anything readable. I would be very interested to persue this search further, as you may be on to something. With the cast lists of these films bearing the names you list, I cannot, as you mentioned as well, see that these could be Monogram films that were dubbed into either Mandarin or Cantonese.

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Rush:

I don't speak a word of Chinese, much less read it, but Google has an in-built automatic translation function now. The wonders of modern technology!

For example, try copying and pasting this series of symbols into the Google search window at http://www.google.com/ ...

陈查礼大破隐身术

You get a list of websites back. If you click on the link directly, you get a page of more of the same. However, if you click on the link just to the right of each line that says [ Translate this page ], it will percolate for a minute or so and return a translation of the webpage in sorta-kinda-readable English.

In addition, on the main Google page, there is a little link that reads Language Tools.

Again, copy 陈查礼大破隐身术 into the Translate Text window and select Chinese to English BETA.

The translation you get back is:

Chen Zha ceremony for the stealth big break

This seems like nonsense, but 陈查 which is "Chen Zha ceremony" and the word "Charlie" must be written the same as the Chinese word for "ceremony". "Chen" is "Chan", so it is something like "Chan Mr. Charlie", I've determined.

Other websites that I have translated talk about the famous "Chen Zha ceremony books of Earl Der Biggers." So 陈查 is how you write 'Charlie Chan' in Chinese characters.

I'm kind of proceeding like Champollion with the Rosetta Stone!

Thank you... so much!

Doug

P.S. It would be amazing to find these two films (if they still exist) for inclusion on a future DVD set. What did Chinese filmmakers do with Charlie Chan? I am very curious to know!

Rush:

As to how I started initially, I searched Google for some website that would be something similar to a Chinese version of the Internet Movie Database. I couldn't find that immediately, but I did find this website...

http://www.mtime.com/

I typed in 'Charlie Chan' and pressed a button that I supposed was for searching. Try it yourself...

It takes you to this page...

http://www.mtime.com/search/movie?Charlie%20Chan

The some Tolands and Olands are listed, most with accompanying pictures of the DVD covers. However, just below Charlie Chan in London, you see Charlie Chan Breaks the Conceal Down (listed twice).

There are two variants of the title in Chinese:

陈查礼大破隐身术

and

陈查理大破隐身术

Both titles are a 1941 film. They are the same movie.

Try Google translation... These titles translate to:

Chen Zha ceremony for the stealth big break

and

Charlie Chan broken stealth operation

respectively.

The first has the translated description:

"Thieves used a stealth operation crime, Chen Zha ceremony Detective help cracking a case."

The second has the translated description:

"Chen Zha ceremony this time is cracked by the use of stealth in a theft case."

Names are sometimes translated in the Rush Glick format or the Glick, Rush format. So, the name of the actor that seems to play Charlie Chan (顾梅君) is either written as Gu Meijun or Meijun Gu in the translations.

Hope this is of assistance!

Doug

Try copying and pasting this into a Google search...

陈查

Those symbols simply mean 'Charlie Chan'.

(陈查理 can be Charlie Chan also. The extra character doesn't seem to do much.)

The first website that comes up is that unknown film from 1948.

Unfortunately, it didn't work when I asked Google to translate the page, so I viewed the page directly in Chinese and copied and pasted the entire text of the page into the Translate Text window. I just did a 'select all' and copied it over to the translation window.

A long line of text shows up to include the title:

Charlie Chan and Combating of Enemy Overlord (1948)

This film also goes by a couple of variant titles by the way.

There is no way that these are translated Monogram films. These are Chinese-made films featuring Charlie Chan. They seem to be part of a trend at that time to make Chinese versions of western films. The term for this trend was translated as 'europeanized'.

There is a Chinese Tarzan movie and a Chinese Snow White and maybe a Chinese Shirley Temple, if I understood what I was seeing correctly. There is a page that seems to list about a dozen Chinese films made based on characters or stars in American films.

Unfortunately, www.imdb.cn (Chinese internet movie database) is actually of no help. It just lists the same films as on the U.S. version of IMDB.

Dear Douglas,

I am fascinated with the information that your Herculean efforts are uncovering. Hopefully, some conclusive proof will be unearthed which will verify that these films actually exist or, at one time, existed.

I have tried to do as you say and translate some of the pages, but, sadly, not too much information seems to appear in a readable form. As time allows, I will try to check out more of the material that you have offered. In the meantime, I applaud your work in this regard.

(Bowing) Thank you so much...

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Here's another translation of the plot via Babel Fish Translation...

Chen Chali, Chen Meina the father female is held to search observes the strange robber burglary case which in the society occurs one after another, Chen's friend Xiao Youqin also positively gives the help. One day, the Chen father female on invitation attends the human relations to spend the graceful cloud birthday banquet, the strange robber burglary case occurs once more, the money puts in the safe cabinet the precious jewelry to vanish into thin air, a servant is also killed. Attends banquet Jia Yi and Lu Shaoting two average per person has the suspicion, who but actually doesn't have the evidence determination is. The Jia righteousness girlfriend week lunar corona has the improper behavior, but they do not know the circumstances of the matter. Qian Manyun accidentally discovered the week wears the jewelry the jewelry which loses with own very much to like. The Chen father female goes to the reconnaissance actually almost to be in danger. Latter Chen Chali invents to be possible to break the stealth eyeglasses, is about to actually how all not to be able to find with the time eyeglasses, the case falls into the deadlock, Xiao Youqin extremely is also disappointed. Latter beautiful elegantly finds out an idea, the father female two people supposes the trap, finally caused the stealth robber walks into a trap.