Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)

Charlie's investigation of a phony psychic during the 1939 World Exposition on San Francisco's Treasure Island leads him to expose a suicide as murder.

Director:

Norman Foster

Writers:

John Larkin (original story and screen play by), Earl Derr Biggers (based on: the character "Charlie Chan" created by)

Stars:

Sidney Toler, Cesar Romero, Pauline Moore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sidney Toler	...	Charlie Chan
Cesar Romero	...	Rhadini
Pauline Moore	...	Eve
Victor Sen Yung	...	Jimmy Chan (as Sen Yung)
Douglas Fowley	...	Pete Lewis
June Gale	...	Myra Rhadini
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Thomas Gregory (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Sally Blane	...	Stella Essex
Billie Seward	...	Bessie Sibley
Wally Vernon	...	Elmer Kelner
Donald MacBride	...	Chief J.J. Kilvaine
Charles Halton	...	Redley
Trevor Bardette	...	Abdul
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Paul Essex

Storyline

A novelist friend of Charlie's appears to have committed suicide. At the international Exposition held on San Francisco Bay's Treasure Island Charlie shows that Zodiac, a phony mystic who blackmails clients, is the culprit.

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Plot Keywords:

novelist | psychic | zodiac | murder | san francisco bay | 

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Taglines:

The strange case of murder by magic!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Charlie Chan na Ilha do Tesouro

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book Charlie Chan is reading in the opening scene on the plane is "Romantic Moon" by Michael Shawn.

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Goofs

As Chan's airplane approaches San Francisco, we briefly see a stock shot of the uncompleted eastern span of the Bay Bridge. The bridge opened more than two years before the Golden Gate International Exposition, the film's setting.

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Quotes

Charlie Chan: We are destroying web of spider. Now let us find spider.

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Connections

Follows Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933)

User Reviews

Terrific Cinematography

On a plane headed to San Francisco, Charlie Chan and one of his sons witness the death of a famous writer. The man's death sets the film's plot in motion, as Charlie and company investigate the mysterious "Dr. Zodiac", a grim and extremely intimidating figure who is tall, wears a large mask, and has "psychic" powers.

This is one of the better films in the Charlie Chan series. The story has some really good plot misdirection, consistent with the theme of magic. I correctly picked the killer, but only after a certain plot point toward the end. Up to that point, I was way off in my guess.

But this film is superior to other Charlie Chan films mostly because of the terrific B&W cinematography. The lighting trends toward stark contrasts, with spooky shadows. Some good cross lighting and black curtain effects, together with great close-ups of eyes in the darkness, amplify the suspense. Overall visual styling is more complex, more artistic than in other Charlie Chan movies. The other-worldly persona of Dr. Zodiac combined with the striking visuals give the film real atmospheric character.

I do have a couple of complaints. The suspect pool is not terribly exciting. I would have liked for the existing suspects to have more screen time; also, I would have preferred a larger number of suspects. Second, the way in which the whodunit puzzle is solved is not standard, to say the least. But maybe back in those days, people gave as much credence to mental telepathy as they did to logical deduction.

The film uses San Francisco's "Treasure Island" as a backdrop to the story, which adds some contextual flavor to the film, though unnecessary to the plot. Overall, this is a fine film, one that will appeal especially to die hard Charlie Chan fans.