Dead Men Tell *** (1941, Sidney Toler, Sheila Ryan, Robert Weldon, Victor Sen Yung, Don Douglas, Kay Aldridge, George Reeves, Ethel Griffies) – Classic Movie Review 9035

Director Harry Lachman’s 1941 Dead Men Tell again stars Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, who uncovers the murderer of eccentric old lady Miss Patience Nodbury (Ethel Griffies) – apparently scared stiff by a ghost! – aboard a schooner full of ripe suspects hunting for pirates’ gold. Miss Nodbury had inherited a treasure map from her pirate ancestor Black Hook and she had divided it into four pieces to stop a mysterious thief stealing it.

Despite the obvious low budget and cramped studio interiors, it is still a most diverting case, with a good original screenplay by John Francis Larkin. And it is filmed with the kind of visual style and flair for well-staged thrills that put many A-pictures of the era to shame.

Also in the cast are Sheila Ryan, Robert Weldon, Victor Sen Yung as Jimmy Chan, Don [Donald] Douglas, Katharine [Kay] Aldridge, George Reeves, Ethel Griffies, Milton Parsons, Lenita Lane, Truman Bradley, Stanley Andrews, Ralph Dunn, Pat Flaherty and Tim Ryan.

Dead Men Tell is directed by Harry Lachman, runs 60 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by John Francis Larkin, is shot in black and white by Charles G Clarke, is produced by Walter Morosco, is scored by David Raksin and is designed by Richard Day.

Dead Men Tell follows Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938), Charlie Chan in Reno (1939), Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939), City in Darkness (1939), Charlie Chan in Panama (1940), Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise (1940), Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940), Murder Over New York (1940), and is the 28th of 47 Charlie Chan movies. It is followed by Charlie Chan in Rio (1941).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9035

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