I don't believe I found this movie

I saw this movie only one time late night on TV when I was a kid -- I guess in the 70's. I don't remember exactly which my age at the time was but it is incredible how the movie keep saved in my memory since then.

The mysterious atmosphere, the rainstorm in the road, the painted cat, the oriental "Hercule Poirot"...

Since I became an IMDb user, circa 1997, every time I remembered I tried to find it. I didn't know nothing about it beyond some scenes, that the plot was located in China, the protagonist was a detective or inspector (I find now he is a judge), the oriental-american cast.

So the search was a challenge. IMDb is a good pastime -- I like to "discover" names and titles with little information about -- more difficult more interesting.

I searched by keywords: nothing. By possible actors: nothing.

So yesterday I used Google and after some attempts I typed "Chinese Sherlock Holmes". The Google showed various Chinese "Holmes", one of which Judge Dee. Searching IMDb by character names I finally found it! The "monastery" from the title enlightened my memory.

Bem... I was guessing the movie page would be some blank, like many others with old and unknown movies. But I was very surprised to see various other persons with the SAME feelings about this movie! Very interesting and very strange as an old, modest and lost-in-time TV movie, watched only one time decades ago, was keep in the memory in so many minds -- certainly there are many other people who don't know how to came here. Fantastic.

I'm Brazilian and watched it dubbed in (of course) Portuguese, but in a B&W TV, in the 70's. Probably after "thousands" of movies I already watched, if I see "Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders" again -- in original English and color -- it won't cause the same pleasure. But I would love to have a new experience.

Reading the comments I remembered the polygamy of the Judge Dee and his 3 wives. I forgot that detail.

Please, if they make a DVD, alert me: [email protected]