Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)

An Exercise In Nonsense

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is an outstanding Charlie Chan adventure, which succeeds on every level. Sidney Toler gives a first-class performance--his Chan is wise, humorous and compassionate. All the supporting players are good. The plot background is one of a magic show and a creepy psychic in 1939 at the Treasure Island locale around San Francisco.The sets are excellent! The weird-looking psychic lives in a mysterious mansion, of the type which the studios could show so well. The plot is tight and well done. This is absolutely one of the very best of the Toler-Fox Chan films. Toler is totally assured and in control here--you believe he IS Charlie Chan. He owns the part here in a way that really carries the viewer along, for a very enjoyable and adventurous ride!As often with the Chan films, we see some familiar faces among the cast, and they all do well.

Although he had been brought to the cinema and TV screens before (in 1926 and 1927) and since (until the 1981 movie misfire virtually buried him), the classic "Charlie Chan" film series officially ran between 1929 and 1949 and saw four actors portray the character of the famed Oriental sleuth. Thanks to the same American friend through whom I obtained one of the entries in the "Mr. Moto" series, I also own the entire "Charlie Chan" franchise and have already, watched, enjoyed and reviewed a handful of them in the past. Together with the more popular CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA (1936; not least because of Boris Karloff's presence), the film under review is generally the best-regarded of the lot - both, in fact, are the only entries to rate a respectable ** in the esteemed "Leslie Halliwell Film Guide".Instead of Warner Oland and Karloff, here we have Sidney Toler (a Scotsman who inherited the role after Oland's untimely death and the one actor to slip into his investigating shoes the most – 22 times!) and Cesar Romero, plus a fine supporting cast that only adds to the fun: the ubiquitous Victor Sen Yung (as Chan's favourite, "No. 2" son), red-herring Douglass Dumbrille, reporter Douglas Fowley, police chief Donald MacBride, perennially-hungry waiter Wally Vernon, a little-seen Charles Halton, and ill-fated novelist Louis Jean Heydt. The film was directed by Norman Foster (his second of three Chans) who was more involved in the aforementioned concurrent "Mr. Moto" series, including the two entries I have watched from it so far.Toler's third stab at the role sees him land in San Francisco after waking up to the apparent suicide of his friend Heydt on the incoming flight (incidentally, I hazily recall these moments from a solitary Italian-TV broadcast of the film, along with others from the series, one Sunday morning during my childhood!). Suspecting unpleasant fellow traveler Dumbrille, Sen Yung clumsily follows him around while Toler is 'kidnapped' by MacBride's police. He is soon on the trail of the enigmatic occultist Dr. Zodiac who seems to have a stranglehold on much of the tourist resort's populace. Aiding him in unmasking the latter are rival Romero and pal Fowley…but, typically for these pulp thrillers, people and things are not to be taken at face value. Also involved in the broth are Dr. Zodiac's sinister Turkish attendant and an array of women who, however, often do more than just add local colour or provide eye candy. The plot wraps up with a lively finale depicting an eventful public challenge between prestidigitator Romero and the esoteric Dr. Zodiac.

While on a flight to the 1939 World's Exposition on San Francisco's Treasure Island, Honolulu detective Charlie Chan is puzzled by the apparent suicide of a writer, who is trying to expose physic fraud. Chan and Number Two Son Jimmy(Victor Sen Yung)are not in agreement with the ruling of suicide and set out to prove that a mystic named Zodiac is responsible for several murders via suicide. A magician , The Great Rhandini(Cesar Romero), offers help in the investigation. But just how much of his help is useful? This may be one of the best in the Chan mystery franchise. The pace is brisk and held together with light-hearted humor and the usual who-done-it trappings. A very interesting story that you don't really know the ending ahead of time. The supporting cast includes: Douglas Fowley, Pauline Moore, Douglass Dumbrille, Donald MacBride and Gerald Mohr.

"Charlie Chan at Treasure Island" is at the top of many Chan fan lists as their favorite; it certainly deserves that distinction. Even when the film gets creepy it's fun, as in the séance scene at the home of Dr. Zodiac.Charlie Chan's friend Paul Essex is an apparent suicide aboard a San Francisco bound plane flight. His suicide note - "Can't escape Zodiac, Good Bye my Love, Paul".Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is warned not to investigate: "Do not challenge the supernatural unless you are prepared to visit your ancestors." But investigate he does, and as usual we are introduced to a colorful cast of characters and suspects along the way. There's The Great Rhadini (Cesar Romero), who challenges other magicians and psychics, his mind reading assistant Eve Cairo (Pauline Moore), and insurance investigator Salsbury (Douglas Dumbrille). Aiding Charlie on the case are Number #2 Son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and Deputy Chief Kilvaine (Donald MacBride).Watch for a neat scene when Chan returns to the Zodiac home a second time - a black cat crosses his path.The twist to the story comes when we learn that Romero's character Rhadini is also Dr. Zodiac, blackmailing victims with secrets from their past. He even takes a knife to the shoulder during an on stage performance in an attempt to throw suspicion in a different direction. The film borrows from a Bela Lugosi trademark, piercing dark eyes attempting to overcome psychic Eve Cairo's thoughts while under Chan's influence to flush out the killer of Zodiac's Turkish servant.The film is set against the backdrop of the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair, Treasure Island being an attraction, along with the Century of Progress Exhibition. But as in most of the Charlie Chan films, the locale is secondary to the mystery, and this time it's a good one, with clever writing and just enough imagination to make you wonder whether mind reading might actually be real!