The Golden Eye

Charlie Chan (Roland Winters) agrees to investigate the strange happenings at an Arizona (or is it New Mexico - I really can't be bothered to check) goldmine. Along for the ride are son Tommy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).

I have seen all of the Sidney Toler and Warner Oland Chan films - most multiple times. But oddly enough, this is my first experience with Roland Winters. I'm not impressed. Maybe it's my personal bias, but he seems all wrong for the role. Instead of the measured, deliberate Chan played by both Toler and Oland, Winters is too quick in both speech and action. And, if it weren't for the yellow-face, I'd swear Winters was trying to pull off some kind of European, maybe Italian, accent. It was all so distracting.

As for the film itself, you know you're in trouble when the credits begin with the words Monogram Pictures and end with the name William Beaudine. That pretty much says all you need to know. Honestly, it's just a bad movie and not really worth dwelling on.

On a positive note, The Golden Eye doesn't feature an overdose of Tommy and Birmingham. Their comedy bits are limited. And thank goodness because as much as I like Moreland, his Birmingham Brown schtick gets old pretty quick.

Finally, there were two things that bothered me while watching The Golden Eye and both are related to Victor Sen Yung. First, why is he named Tommy in this movie? If you've seen any of his previous Chan films, you know he's Jimmy. Second, in 1948, he was 33 years old - way too old to be playing the bumbling son. In fact, he's way too old to be playing Winters' son. Winters would have been 44 when this movie was made - a difference of only 11 years.

3/10.

A gold defunct gold mine is mysteriously profitable. The owner of the mine thinks he is being targeted and soon to be dispatched. He thinks this is right up Charlie Chan's alley.

Charlie poses as a jade dealer and with help from his standard entourage, must sort out the dastardly doers and find out what it is they are doing. Can he save the mine owner in time or is it curtains? If the mine owner goes is his daughter next?

"Ain't that something? Good gracious of me. That's Mr. Chan allover. When you think it is, it ain't and when you think it ain't, that is just what it is." - Birmingham Brown (Mantan Morland).

Instead of taking precautions to aid a man who is in grave danger, Charlie again waits to do anything. He is approached by an old friend who says that someone is trying to kill him. It has something to do with an old gold mine, The Golden Eye, that has begun producing after many lean years. The gang find themselves on a dude ranch where things aren't' as they should be. The old friend supposedly falls down a shaft and is left a broken man, fighting for his life. Once again, there are a couple bodies that need to be dealt with. Charlie pretends to be a jade merchant and exposes his identity to an old detective friend who seems to be aware of the goings on. The problem, as it often is in these poorly done old films, is the slipshod work of everyone as they do nothing to protect those in danger. It was good that this series slowly plodded to an end.

Like several other reviewers, this is my first Charlie Chan film with Roland Winters cast as the detective. I have to be honest; I've always enjoyed Roland Winters in every role I've seen him in, so I'm a bit biased in his favor. IMHO, he brings a certain gravitas to the role that had been missing since Warner Oland's untimely passing. In his defense, Sidney Toler deserves much credit for purchasing the rights to the character, so that the film series could continue, but his health problems and age contributed to the energy draining from his later performances. I also liked that Mr. Winters' Chan appreciated the support of his son Tommy, finely portrayed by Victor Sen Young. It was a refreshing change from the condescension and sarcasm of the Sidney Toler portrayal toward any of his male offspring. Mantan Moreland, who I always enjoyed as Birmingham Brown, was also more subdued in this film. Now, to what dawned on me toward the end of the film... What I realized was that this could very well have been a Hopalong Cassidy movie, replacing Charlie Chan with Hoppy, and Tommy and Birmingham with Lucky and California. That's not necessarily a bad thing; plots, stories and scripts have been recycled for decades. The trouble here was that I realized it as I was watching the film. There was nothing about the plot that was noteworthy. Other drawbacks to this film are that the supporting cast was adequate, but that's about all that can be said. The budget was minimal. As other reviewers have indicated, the series was running out of steam. I sincerely believe that had Roland Winters assumed the role of Charlie Chan a few years earlier, the quality of the series would have improved, and more money would have been invested into the film series. All in all, not a terrible film, but it is noticeable where improvement could have been made. 6/10.

Charlie Chan heads to Arizona to investigate a gold mine mystery. A typically cheap Monogram movie starring Roland Winters, the worst of all Charlie Chans. Mantan Moreland returns as unfunny comic relief character Birmingham Brown. Victor Sen Yung is back as Tommy Chan. The western locale allows both to dress like cowboys. So it's trying to be like a Bowery Boys comedy or something. Except the Bowery Boys were funny. The once-great Charlie Chan series had fallen pretty far by this time. Winters is absolutely terrible as Chan. Poorly written, directed, and acted -- it's a really a stinker of a movie. The one positive thing I will say about it is that actor Ralph Dunn, who plays the mine superintendent, has a pretty cool head of hair.