kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** Our hero Charlie Chan, Sidney Toler, gets involved in this murder case when his bumbling #2 Son Jimmy, Sen Young, gets himself involved in a treasure hunt by sneaking on the ship "Suva Star" that's taking a group of passengers to far off Cocos Island in the Caribbean. It's there at Cocos where 60 million in gold has been buried by pirate Black Hook Nodbury in the 18th century for safe keeping. Black Hook's descendant Patience Nodbury, Ethel Griffies, who's financing the treasure hunt had cut the map leading to the treasure into four pieces and sent it to the four persons who on on the trip. That so that none of then can have an advantage in finding it unless the four decide to put the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. As for #2 Son Jimmy he's determined to find the treasure himself even though he wasn't invited on the cruse.Right for the start things go wrong before the ship "Suva Star" sets out to sea. With Mrs. Nodbury dropping dead from fright when she sees the long dead Black Hook Nodbury show up at her cabin waving his hook at her. Charlie who's only looking for his #2 son Jimmy ends up getting involved in solving Mrs. Nodbury's death as well as one of the passengers escaped murderer posing as a newspaper man Bill Lydig's, Gerorge Reeves, murder after he was found suffocated in a diving bell. ***SPOILERS**** With all the evidence now pointing to passengers psychoanalyst Dr. Anne Bonny, Lenita Lane, and her ultra neurotic patient Gene La Farge, Milton Parsons, who had earlier tried to get #2 Son Jimmy to walk blindfolded off the plank something else, out of left field, pops up to make to plot more interesting: Revenge!. Charlie finds out that the skipper of the "Suva Star" Capt. Kane, had taken advantage of the treasure hunt not to find the treasure but the person who some 20 years earlier tried to kill him and left him stranded on Cocos Island to die of starvation. Now with him in charge of the treasure hunt and his intended victim not knowing who he is Capt.Kane plans to pay back in spades!P.S As for #2 Son Jimmy he spent so many times falling or diving into the water that with all that experience he can easily qualify for the US Olympic diving team!

utgard14 "Number Two Son" Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung) sneaks aboard a ship about to embark on a treasure hunt. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) comes looking for him and finds a murder to investigate with a boatload of suspects.Exemplary entry in the Toler Chan series. Eerie, moody atmosphere with some of the best cinematography and direction of any of the Chan films. Lots of close-ups. Nice cast includes George Reeves, Milton Parsons, and pretty Kay Aldridge. Jimmy Chan is on screen a lot in this one, so if you're not a fan be prepared. I happen to like Jimmy and I didn't think his comic relief here was too much, as some have said. Treasure maps, pirates, talking parrots, and even a future Superman -- what's not to love?

mlraymond This movie is so much fun! The wonderful Ethel Griffies plays an old lady whose pirate ancestor Black Hook left a map to his buried treasure. She has assembled a crew of treasure hunters, and they are due to set sail,but the night before the voyage, the ghost of Black Hook materializes and scares her to death. Detective Charlie Chan arrives to look for his runaway son Jimmy, and begins investigating the mysterious goings-on aboard the Suva Star. There are some priceless moments involving the 'helpful' son annoying his detective father with his bumbling heroics, including examining everyone he meets to see if they have a wooden leg. The grumpy sea captain and his talking parrot, a glib reporter,and various rough characters in the waterfront dive that Jimmy Chan snoops around in, are all colorfully played by familiar character actors, including George Reeves ( TV's Superman). Most of the laughs are intentional, with the exception of the bland hero, played by Robert Weldon, who seems to be doing a very poor imitation of Jimmy Stewart. Lots of fun for Chan fans and pirate movie enthusiasts.

classicsoncall It seems as if "Dead Men Tell" is over just as it's about to get interesting, with Inspector Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) solving two murders in virtually record time. The action takes place aboard a docked sailing vessel, The Suva Star, which has been chartered to host a treasure hunt cruise for sixty million dollars hidden on Cocos Island. Miss Patience Nodbury (Ethel Griffies) has divided the treasure map into four pieces, and has distributed them to members of the cruise party without each others knowledge. Miss Nodbury becomes the first victim, frightened to death by the "ghost" of the pirate Black Hook, an ancestor who escorts members of the Nodbury family into the "other world".Victor Sen Yung again helps his "Pop" as Number #2 Son Jimmy, and spends much of his time falling into and climbing out of the harbor, adding to the perception that as an aspiring detective, he's all wet. Before becoming the second victim, future TV Superman George Reeves makes an appearance as an escaped murderer and bank robber, posing as of all things, a newspaper reporter! Milton Parsons plays his part as an anxiety suffering neurotic well, and skulks in and out of shadows enough to be considered a likely suspect. There are other characters as well, and as with most Charlie Chan films, a scorecard helps to keep track of who's who, but this one moves along so quickly that it's almost a moot point. So too do the pieces of the treasure map wind up in more places than a pea in a shell game. When Charlie finally reveals the killer, it comes rather quickly out of left field, with the generally obligatory Chan exposition left out.Nevertheless, "Dead Men Tell" offers a rather atmospheric setting and enough bumps in the night to keep one's interest for it's quick pacing. The pairing of Griffies and Parsons in the film also worked well enough to recommend them for another Chan movie the following year, "Castle in the Desert".