Season’s Greetings Friends! Here’s something interesting for mystery buffs, but especially Chan fans. Want to hear how Charlie Chan sounds as a German speaking detective? Then you’ll want to order one of four audiobooks voiced by German Actor Helmut Krauss.
Krauss has lent his voice to Marlon Brando, John Goodman, Yaphet Kotto, Wilhelm von Homburg, Jean Reno, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Winfield, John Voight, as well as Reginald VelJohnson (Carl Winslow) in the American sitcom Family Matters. He was also the German voice of the talking horse Mr. Ed in the 1960s American television series, and he voiced Fidget in the Disney animated film Basil, the Great Mouse Detective and Percival C. McLeach in The Rescuers Down Under. Too much to to mention here!
My German is pretty rusty these days; at one time I spoke passable first-grade German. However, if ya don’t use it–ya loose it! Anyway, here are the four Charlie Chan audiobooks featuring Actor Helmut Krauss on Amazon. So how’s your German? Can you guess these titles?
- Charlie Chan 01: das Haus Ohne Schlüssel
- Charlie Chan 02: der Chinesische Papagei
- Charlie Chan 03: Hinter dem Vorhang
- Charlie Chan 04: das Schwarze Kamel
(What a perfect holiday gift for someone’s stocking, who either speaks German or is studying it (i.e. a college student!)
Continuing our German theme, I learned of these audiobooks at an awesome German website dedicated to Detective Chan? Friend Michael Höfler’s site titled “Charlie Chan in Germany (and elsewhere)” at: http://charliechan.mhoefler.de/. And if your German’s a bit rusty in the right column just click on “TRANSLATE SITE (English).”
Michael is a published author and penned a 487 page paperback: Charlie Chan – Eine Schwarz/Weisse Ara (2017), or Charlie Chan – A Black/White Era, available at Amazon UK. Here’s what he Michael has to say about Detective Chan:
More traveled than Sherlock Holmes, more familiar with the world than Mr. Moto, more philosophical – if not more hard-drinking – than the Thin Man: Charlie Chan not only stands alongside the great detectives of the golden age of crime fiction, he is – after Sherlock Holmes – the one with the most screen appearances.
Michael also tell us on his website:
“Anyone who has the musical theme of “Charlie Chan in Shanghai ” in their ears (practically everyone who saw the German TV dubbed version) will immediately recognize the opening line to “Charlie Chan” (1981, single) by the Austrian underground band CHUZPE : “Charlie Chan, Chinaman, help me through my misery … ”
Take a listen to CHUZPE sing it here:
But that isn’t all I found surfing this most interesting site! I never knew there was (as Michael put it) an arsenal of Charlie Chan dart and cork guns! Or how about Halloween costumes featuring kids from the animated TV cartoon series Charlie Chan and The Chan Clan. Who knew!
And besides the German edition novels, Michael has posted many covers from the Chan books published in various languages from countries around the world: Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and others. See them here: http://charliechan.mhoefler.de/bucher/.
There really is a plethora (I love using that word) of interesting articles, photographs, videos and other facts surrounding the detective’s international presence around the world. So much so that each time I visit I find something new!
So, whether or not you decide to pay Michael’s site a visit…”Das ist mir Wurst.” However, I believe you’ll love it and “Ich drücke dir die Daumen” to find something as interesting as I always do…like those Chan audiobooks.
As we approach “Die Weihnachtszeit,” I want to wish everyone Fröhliche Weihnachten, Mele Kalikimaka, Joyeux Noël, or however you say it…MERRY CHRISTMAS!
“Learning which does not daily advance, daily decreases”
(Keeper of The Keys (1932) Chapter 11)
P.S. A man of many interests, Michael also has written another book Zeppelinträume – Bodensee im Sturm, 2023 (Zeppelin Dreams – Lake Constance in a Storm.): “The battle for the future of the zeppelin – a fact-based novel about the time when the race between airplane and airship was still wide open.” (Q: In what film did Charlie Chan take a zeppelin ride to Europe?)
The Postman on Holiday 
Wow, what a plethora of information! And I use “plethora” in the newer, less strict meaning: a large amount. The older, more strict meaning implies “an excess amount.” But there cannot be an excess amount of information on Charlie Chan! Thanks for a fascinating article, Lou. And Happy Holidays to you, too!
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Barbara, thank you so much. So much information about this detective–a plethora!
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Herzlichen Dank für die freundliche Erwähnung auf deiner Website. Danke sehr, vielmals!
Thank you for the mention on your website.
The name of the my website “Charlie Chan in Germany” is kind-of a joke.
When our beloved detective back then walked over the silver screen he was nearly everywhere on the planet. Of course everywhere in europe, even in the smallest german-speaking countries or regions, except germany (you know the history).
Charlie made it’s german tv debut in the late 1970s and he made a lasting expression.
I hope, I can find a bit more that makes it worth to visit my site again. ;-)
Merry christmas to you
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Michael, I never thought about that (Charlie not making the rounds to Germany during the war years.) I certainly will be visiting and searching out all of the interesting facts you’ve uncovered. Also, I must thank you for correcting me. To anyone who read my blog prior to December 3rd, Michael pointed out I incorrectly linked to Helmut Krausser. The actor is Helmut Krauss (not Krausser.) For that my humble apologies.
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