Moviecut—Charlie Chan at Treasure Island

source: Charlie Chan at Treasure Island

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island

I recently bought this video on Ebay. I'm told it's hard to find in stores. I recall the Dr Zodiac scenes being frightening as a kid and you know, there are still scenes in this that give me the creeps. The scene where the female psychic keeps sensing evil (evil looking like two eyeballs illuminated in the darkness) and that nasty looking Dr Zodiac gave me nightmares. I wonder why they don't make a Charlie Chan movie today with some Asian actor finally playing Charlie.

"Charlie Chan at Treasure Island" is my favorite Chan film even though Chan is played by Sidney Toler, who is my second favorite actor to play the distinguished detective. Even though this movie does not have the benefits of Warner Oland's performance as Chan, this stands out as the best of the series.It combines an interesting mystery plot with great atmosphere, comedy, and an excellent supporting cast including Cesar Romero, Sen Yung, and Douglas Dumbrille. It also has the mysterious Dr. Zodiac and his seance parlour. Of historical interest, also, are the scenes of the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco. Even when you know the killer's identity, this one is worth seeing over and over again!

found in this "treasure island" starring Sydney Toler.It is a 20th Century production, which makes it all worthwhile.The spirit world and seances are the backdrop for this mystery.There is a cast of some familiar faces including Cesar Romero.This film is certainly one of the better ones with a surprise ending as to the identity of the killer/blackmailer,Dr.Zodiac. Worth watching.

This worthy addition to the Charlie Chan canon is chock full of the usual genre gimmicks: lightening storms, seances and Confucianism. The inscrutable Sydney Toler travels to the Century of Progress Exhibition in San Francisco to investigate the apparent suicide of a friend. Naturally his "number two son" Jimmy tags along to provide comic relief. Young Cesar Romero plays a skeptical ghost-buster. Pauline Moore is typically shrill and hysterical. There is no sign of Mantan Moreland at all, thank heavens. Director Norman Foster and cinematographer Virgil Miller suffuse everything with ominous gloom. By any standard, this mystery-thriller is a complete success. If you need further chills, it might interest you to know that California's uncaptured Zodiac Killer is believed to have modeled certain elements of his M.O. upon the villain of this film.

Charlie and Jimmy end up at Treasure Island, at the 1939 San Francisco Exposition. While on a plane, a well known writer dies and his death is suspicious. He is connected to someone or something called Scorpio. Charlie must inform his wife of his death. This leads to the detective dealing with a couple guys who have a connection to a mystic whose name is indeed Scorpio. There seem to be a lot of cover ups as they wade through the case. Charlie is accompanied by a couple guys. One is really annoyed that his serious girlfriend is under the spell of this mystic. This is quite a good presentation because of the seances and the intrigues of the netherworld. There is one great scene where the young woman, who does a mind reading act senses murder in the room.

Before history gets rewritten (incorrectly) on more of these comments, this movie was set at the Golden Gate International Exposition (sometimes erroneously known as the San Francisco World's Fair) which was held in San Francisco on what was known as Treasure Island in 1939 and 1940. (There is still a small museum of Expo artifacts in the horseshoe-shaped Administration Building.) It was not the "Century of Progress Exhibition" as some people have thought. That was the 1933 Fair held in Chicago! The real footage of this Exposition is terrific, especially the aerial views. I think the writers used the backdrop of the Expo to their advantage. The magic show was very entertaining and the clairvoyant was eerie. All in all, this is one of the best of the Chan series.

The movie starts out with Charlie and #2 Son on an ill fated plane trip to San Francisco and the mysterious death of a writer on board. This all leads to several twists in the sub-plot and the entrance of mind reader, the mysterious Dr. Zodiac and his fake spirt world trappings. It is a very good flick and if you enjoyed Warner Oland's Chan, Sidney Toller lives up to his acting especially in this film. The Treasure Island refers to the '39 Worlds Fair exhibit and is part of the plot and includes some very interesting, period photography The ending is very dramatic and I won't spoil it but you "will" like this movie so watch for it, only on Fox Movie Network or TCM, as it is not on VHS.