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 Francis Larkin (original story) (as John Larkin), John Francis Larkin (screenplay) (as John Larkin)

Stars:

Sidney Toler, Cesar Romero, Pauline Moore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sidney Toler	...	Charlie Chan
Cesar Romero	...	Rhadini
Pauline Moore	...	Eve Cairo
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:

crystal ball | charlie chan character | five word title | 1930s | year 1939 | 

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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 en la isla del tesoro

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

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 22nd of 47 Charlie Chan movies.

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Goofs

Radini's name is spelled 'Radini' in a newspaper headline and 'Rhadini' in the final credits.

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Quotes

Charlie Chan: If request music, must be willing to pay for fiddler.

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Connections

Followed by The Sky Dragon (1949)

User Reviews

Chan Comes To Bury Caesar.....sort of

A lot of people think this was Sidney Toler's best Charlie Chan film. I don't know about that, but it is one of his better ones, that's for sure. It featured a lot of suspense, along with action and humor - a good bit of everything that makes the Chan movies popular among its fans.

Charlie travels to San Francisco to find out if a friend of his really committed suicide or was murdered. Son "Jimmy" (Sen Yung) comes along for the ride, for some help and some humor. The story revolves around the occult, a familiar theme in films back in the '30s and '40s. Charlie provides an a solid challenge to the charlatans who practice the occult and bilk people out of their money believing in that hocus-pocus. While Chan disproves that stuff, there is one case of a woman definitely having mind-reading abilities that our Chinese friend acknowledges.

A very young (and almost unrecognizable the first time I saw this) Caesar Romero plays a magician, and skeptic ghost-buster and something I can't say without giving away the ending. He was a likable guy and a good edition to the movie.

In all, a fun 75 minutes. Now, if we could just get this to come out DVD.