Dear Douglas,

As presented in your numerous posts, you have uncovered much information on the obscure Charlie Chan films made in China. In fact, it seems that you have unearthed previously unknown possibilities.

It is interesting to note that the dates placed on many of the titles are years that would have been during Japanese occupation. Were these films shot in the unoccupied areas of free China, or, did the Japanese allow them to be made? A possiblly interesting area of research in itself.

The film that has been called "Charlie Chan at the Radio Station" must be the same one that you have translated as "Murder at the Taiwan National Radio Station" from 1939. This is interesting, because I would not have thought that Taiwan would have been considered of much importance regionally at that time. Also, during the occupation the Japanese sought to dominate the Chinese culture, attempting to eliminate as much of the culture as possible, replacing it with a Japanese-centered one. It would be hard to immagine any films based on a Chinese (or American!) hero being allowed by the brutal authority of that dark time!

Again, it is possible if not probable, that the films you note bearing dates from 1937 to 1945, were filmed in the free areas of China, although it is amazing that any such projects could have been carried out amidst the tumult of that time!

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Rush:

My wife and I have been discussing the matter of how these films may have been made under Japanese occupation.

In 1937, there was the fierce Battle of Shanghai...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shanghai

It is difficult to grasp what the whole situation would have been like at the time.

Definitely a historical retrospective would be a valuable extra when these come out on DVD!

By the way, do you happen to know who might be contacted at Fox or MGM about these Chinese films? Although I was planning to email the China Film Archive about them myself, it might be even better if one of the two actual companies who might want to locate them and put them out on DVD were contacted and then contacted the various archives in Asia to ask about them.

I have looked through the entire list of films from the 1930s and 1940s with Zuyuan Xu in the cast list (his last film appears to have been made in 1950). There are three additional titles indicating that the genre is 'Hangs Doubt' which I have discovered means 'Mystery.'

These are:
'Shadow' (1935)
http://www.mtime.com/movie/47239/

'The Jadeite Horse (1935)
http://www.mtime.com/movie/47153/

and 'Lady Body's Revenge' (1942).
http://www.mtime.com/movie/47735/

The rest of the films in the list do not seem to be Chan films, since they are listed as Romances or Historical Costume Dramas or whatever else and the plot summaries indicate different sorts of films.

For these three films, there is virtually no information about two of them, but there is a plot description of 'The Jadeite Horse' (1935). The plot is clearly a mystery (the plot deals with drug smuggling) but there is no mention of Chan. My suspicion is that 'Shadow' (1935) is probably also a pre-Chan series mystery film. The rest of the cast also does not line up with any actors in Xu's Chan films. However, perhaps these two mystery films helped to lead to Xu's role as Charlie Chan (???).

As for 'Lady Body's Revenge' (1942), this could be a Chan film. However, once again, the rest of the cast and crew doesn't link up with the other Chan films. Nonetheless, this film might be added to the list of possible Chan films, along with 'Lan Guifei's Corpse' (1937) and 'Clairvoyance' (1942).

However, it must remain as a possible only, since there is this film...

'The Pink Bomber' (1947)
http://www.mtime.com/movie/47154/

...which although it has Ziyuan Xu and many cast members from the Chan films and has the same scriptwriter and director of other Chan films, from the plot summary it is clear that this is not a Chan film.