DEAD MEN TELL

US, 1941, 61 minutes, Black-and-white.
Sidney Toler, Sen Yung, Sheila Ryan, Robert Weldon, Donald Douglas, George Reeves, Truman Bradley, Ethel Griffies, Milton Parsons.
Directed by Harry Lachmann.

Another entertaining Charlie Chan mystery, this time set on a treasure hunting boat, Charlie called in after his son, Jimmy, is found on the boat and reported.

At the centre is an elderly lady, allegedly descended from pirates, who has a map to find a treasure – but to keep the secret safe, she has divided the map into four pieces. Then she is killed.

As usual, there is a range of suspects on board, a man posing as a journalist, a neurotic man and his psychologist, there is also the captain who acts suspiciously. There is a touch of romance. There is also a talking parrot and suggestions of the ghostly presence of the pirate ancestor.

Charlie Chan has to do the interrogations, discover the lies, discover who is searching for the missing piece of the map – uncovering a past difficulty where a man was left to die by his partner.

And the solution, the solving of the mystery, as usual with Charlie confronting all the suspects.