It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

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.

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.

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.

"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!