Rush:

Yes, I have looked in the list of films by Ziyuan Xu for some film that might somehow refer to 'the homeland'. There is nothing that translates directly to 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' or 'Homeland' directly or indirectly, as far as I can see.

The tricky thing is that these films may actually have had some sort of English-translated title put on them that only does an approximate job of saying what the film is.

For example, if you look at...

http://www.mtime.com/movie/45077/

You see that the English translation given is 'Kill at the Broadcasting Station' (1939).

However, the original title in Chinese mentions the radio station of the National University of Taiwan specifically. This is lost in translation (and besides, 'Kill at the Broadcasting Station' is not idiomatic English in any case).

I think that 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' must be some sort of English title that was stuck on one of these films at some point, possibly to add the name 'Charlie Chan' to the title specifically.

For example, 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' could be an alternate title for 'The Pearl Shirt' (despite the fact that the Chinese title is not close at all).

In the plot description we find:

"The Zhao family ancient grave is robbed, and one of the lost objects is a priceless shirt with pearls. Having returned from overseas, Charlie Chan is staying with his daughter in the Zhao family home, and therefore participates in the investigation."

First of all, this plot seems to fit well with the idea that Charlie Chan is visiting his homeland after having been overseas.

Secondly, the Pearl Shirt is also (possibly) the first Chinese-made Charlie Chan film (assuming that the mystery film 'Lan Guifei’s Corpse' (1937) that stars Ziyuan Xu is not a Chan film). At the time 'The Pearl Shirt' was made in 1938, Charlie Chan would have been known as a Chinese detective who lives in Hawaii, so his arrival in China seems to form part of the plot in the early portion of this film.

Thus, 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' would have been a plausible alternate title to put on the film 'The Pearl Shirt', especially if 'The Pearl Shirt' is indeed the first Chinese-made Chan film. The film could have later been retitled as something like 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' to focus less on the pearl shirt aspect and more on the idea that this is Charlie Chan's first adventure in China.

That's my best guess as to what may be going on. As I say, 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' seems like it would be a good sort of title for the very first film to feature Charlie Chan in China. Since this seems likely to be 'The Pearl Shirt', I'm guessing that this is an alternate title for this film (or maybe for 'Lan Guifei's Corpse' if that turns out to be a Chan film, though that is in some doubt).

Doug

Dear Douglas,

I enjoyed your reasoning regarding the possibility of one of the earliest Chinese-made Chan adventures being the illusive "Charlie Chan in the Homeland." it makes sense that that could have been, as you suggest, an alternative title.

Thank you for the continuing great research in this area!

Sincerely,
Rush

Rush:

I figured out something else. 'Xinhua' means 'New China' in Chinese.

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

Lan Guifei’s Corpse (1937)
The Pearl Shirt (1938)
Murder at the Taiwan National University Radio Station (1939)
The Great Charlie Chan Breaks a Stealth Technique (1941)

were all produced at Xinhua/New China. The symbols for the Production Companies are all the same but are sometimes in reverse order: 华新 or 新华

That's why I got two different translations... Xinhua or New China.

I believe you said that 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' was produced by Xinhua (a.k.a. New China). Thus, it seems likely that 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland' is an alternate title for one of these:

Lan Guifei’s Corpse (1937)
The Pearl Shirt (1938)
The Great Charlie Chan Breaks a Stealth Technique (1941)

Well, it's difficult to figure it out. I'll continue to poke around online from time to time and see what I can locate.

Doug

Rush:

I think we can safely say that in The Pearl Shirt, Murder at the Taiwan National University Radio Station, and The Great Charlie Chan Breaks the Stealth Technique that Ziyuan Xu plays Charlie Chan and Meijun Gu plays his daughter, Meina Chan.

It would be like seeing that Warner Oland and Keye Luke were in some unknown film in which the plot synopsis describes the adventures of Charlie Chan and his Number One Son and then wondering what parts Oland and Luke may have played.

I can't tell what roles the rest of the cast played with certainty, but these two actors must be in these roles.

Ziyuan Xu and Meijun Gu are also in Lan Guifei’s Corpse (1937) and Clairvoyance (1942). Also, Ziyuan Xu is in Lady Body's Revenge (1941). However, since I don't have plot synopses of these films or the names of the actor's roles, I can't tell if any of these are Chan films too.

Rush:

The reason I list 'Lan Guifei's Corpse' as a possible is that the cast list includes both Ziyuan Xu (who plays Chan in these films) and Meijun Gu (who plays Chan's daughter Meina in the early part of this series). It was also made in 1937, which is just one year before 'The Pearl Shirt' in (1938). The screenwriter/director for both films was Xinfu Xu and it was the same photographer and production company. Also, the film is described on one website as some sort of mystery film.

All of these points of similarity seem to suggest that 'Lan Guifei's Corpse' was perhaps a Chan film, but there is no confirmation of this to be found. It could also be a mystery film that starred these two individuals and that inspired Xinfu Xu to have these two actors play Charlie Chan and his daughter in a series of Chan films.

The fact that Charlie Chan and his daughter arrive in China from overseas at the start of 'The Pearl Shirt' gives me the impression that perhaps this is the first Charlie Chan film in the series of Chinese-made films and that this and not 'Lan Guifei's Corpse' is the film that is perhaps also known as 'Charlie Chan in the Homeland'.

Doug

This rather blurry still photograph is from Hero of Our Time (1948) if you can use it:

http://www.cnmdb.com/upload/images/title/2005/12/31/101538134_s.jpg

And this is from The Net of Divine Retribution, if you can use it...

http://www.cnmdb.com/upload/images/title/2005/12/30/171522178_s.jpg

And this is from The Pearl Shirt...

http://www.cnmdb.com/upload/images/title/2006/07/21/211051362_s.jpg

Maybe these could be added alongside the descriptions.

I suspect that Ziyuan Xu is the man on the left in this photo, but this is a still from a non-Chan picture:

http://www.cnmdb.com/upload/images/title/2005/08/22/144744951_s.jpg