Steve:

According to the information I detail in my update posted here, a print of one of the six Chinese-produced Chan films indeed exists at a film archives in Beijing. It seems beyond the rumor stage at this point. However, I will need to ask John Williams in which film archive in Beijing his graduate student contact confirmed that a print exists.

I'm sorry to hear about the predicted demise of the DVD format. I love DVDs. Well, in whatever format, it would be great to find a way to get this long-lost Chinese-made Chan film seen in the United States!

Doug

Folks:

Here is an update from John Williams. From his message, it would appear that one Chinese-made Charlie Chan film does indeed exist in the Beijing archives.

While we were at it, I mentioned to him the idea that China might at one time have had copies of the lost Oland Chan films and (as a long shot) they might still be in China somewhere. (Why not ask while we are looking into the Chinese-made Chan films?)

He writes as follows ...

"My graduate student contact went down to the archive yesterday in Beijing, and it turns out that, according to at least what they have, "Murder at the Taiwan..." is the only extant film of the Chinese-language Chans. And not only that, but they were telling him the reproduction costs were more like $1500 a minute (and the film is apparently 90-100 minutes long).

I'll write to him about the lost Chan films too and see what he can turn up. I'm not very optimistic that 20C-Fox films would have survived the Cultural Revolution, and in fact we're probably lucky that there's even one Chinese-language Chan film to hope for, but it's worth a try."

Well, it would appear that a print of "Murder at the Taiwan National University Radio Station" (1939) does indeed exist in Beijing, but the question is whether it will every be viewable in the United States!

Doug Wulf

well you never know, maybe somewhere in China are the lost Warner Oland Chans. There may be something around, just never hurts to inquire. :) Speaking of old films (and not to distract the topic), an old film reel for the original King Kong 1933 movie was discovered recently overseas. Many are wondering if this old film reel will show if the lost footage of the spider canyon and the lizard scene may be on it. We won't know until later.

So I am going to be optimistic that somewhere and somehow, more Chan films will emerge.