We're also looking for the four lost Chans with Warnere Oland:
Charlie Chan Carries On
Charlie Chan's Chance
Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
Charlie Chan's Courage
If anybody finds them . . . PLEASE LET US KNOW FIRST!
There are no foreign-produced Charlie Chan films available for purchase. As you can see from our "Other" Charlie Chan Films section, there were a good number of Chan movies made overseas, mainly in China. If they exist at all today is unknown, but, it would be fun to see one someday, wouldn't it?
Actually, "Eran Trece" ("There Were Thirteen") was a Fox production made at Fox studios using sets, stock footage, script, etc, from the original, "Charlie Chan Carries On." It was a Spanish language movie, and, I believe that the Spanish heard in the film was "Spain Spanish" rather than the Mexican equivalent. This would be similar to comparing British English to American English.
Interestingly, during the party scene aboard ship, Max Minchin sings, I believe, a song in Portuguese, I believe. Years ago, when a Spanish-speaking friend of mine helped (!) me with the task of translating the dialog in "Eran Trece" into English, he was unable to understand what was being sung in that song. It was then that I realized that it was not not in Spanish, but probably something similar in sound.
In short, "Eran Trece," although in Spanish, is as American as rolled tacos.
However, there have been Spanish language "Chan" films shot internationally. One, on our list of "Other Chan Films" was called "El Monstruo en la Sombra" ("The Monster in the Shadows"). This was made in Mexico in 1955. Another I have come across by way of a mysterious still from a "Charlie Chan" movie that seemingly aired on Cuban television in the 1950s. It may have been a Cuban-produced film, but, as I say, this is still a mystery to me, needing time - and good fortune - to find a suitable answer.
Internationally produced "Charlie Chan" movies are a fascinating subject, I feel, and they are yet another indication of just how far reaching was (and is) the detective's popularity.
