Charlie Chan au Texas

The story is set mostly in Arizona near an old gold mine. The owner is being threatened and wants Chan's help. It's a good premise but the story is dull and unconvincing. There are not enough suspects to make the puzzle interesting. The killer here is easier to figure out than in most Chan stories. There was one surprise toward the end but it only contributed to the story's implausibility.

Characters are shallow and generally uninteresting. Way too much time is spent on the drunk who stumbles around the swimming pool. This character isn't really needed anyway and my impression is that he functions mostly as filler; the film contains a lot of filler, despite the short runtime.

Outdoor visuals do not look much like Arizona. The mine-shafts add a spooky quality. But film lighting renders the tunnels too bright to be convincingly subterranean. Overall lighting is generally too dark. Production design is predictably minimal and cheap.

As bug-eyed Birmingham Brown, Mantan Moreland is always a welcome addition to the cast. But Victor Sen Yung doesn't add much as Number Two Son. And Roland Winters is dreadful as Charlie Chan. Winters just doesn't have the Chan persona that Warner Oland or Sidney Toler had.

With minimal mystery and suspense, few suspects, and a dull Charlie Chan actor, "The Golden Eye" is below average for this series. Only hard core Charlie Chan movie fans will find much appeal in this film.

Charlie Chan's old friend from Arizona thinks that someone is trying to kill him. Chan travels to the friend's dude ranch and digs into the mystery, which he quickly discovers is tied up with a nearby gold mine.

Roland Winters is solid if unexciting as the famous detective in this passable series entry. Victor Sen Young and Mantan Moreland are featured in sizable roles this time around; as number two son Tommy and chauffeur Birmingham Brown, they liven up their portions of an otherwise rather bland production.

Tim Ryan attempts to add color as a tipsy ranch guest whom Chan quickly recognizes as his friend Lieutenant Mike from San Francisco. Lieutenant Mike, it turns out, is undercover at the ranch and investigating the same funny business at the mine.

Other story elements include a smuggling ring, a suspicious mine shaft accident, a miner's shack with a trap door in the floor leading to a secret tunnel.... It really doesn't make much sense but it's mildly entertaining.

I watched it because it was available and also because I had never seen it before. But I don't crave for Charlie Chan series, or maybe the Twentieth Century Fox films, starring Warner Oland, far better than those produced by Monogram Pictures and starring Sidney Toler. I am not a specialist of this movie series, so I won't describe details seperating both productions, but this very one is so lousy, so lame, that the best way to appreciate it would be to make a fun of it. Unlike concerning the Twentieth Century Fox features, made with greaat more care in directing and story telling. If you crave to mystery thriller and involving investigation, so, maybe it is for you.

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.

This is one of the last of the Monogram series of Charlie Chan films. By 1948, the series had been around for many years--since the late 1920s. Through the decades, Warner Oland and Sidney Toler had made a ton of these fun murder mysteries. By the death Toler in 1946, it was obvious that the series had been gasping for life for several years. However, instead of calling a halt to the films, Monogram plodded along with several more Chan films that starred Roland Winters. Now Winters wasn't too bad--after all, with makeup he was able to look like Chan and his delivery was rather Chan-like (though a bit rapid). However, the wit of the Sidney Toler version was noticeably absent. Another problem is that by 1948, the movies just weren't as interesting and were usually written in such a hasty manner that plot holes abounded--and this one looked rather Swiss cheesy at that! I know this to be so because I have seen all of the Fox Charlie Chan films that are in existence and almost all the Monogram ones--the slide is obvious.

Charlie is out west to investigate how a supposedly played out gold mine is suddenly brimming with gold. During the investigation, the man who hired Chan is supposedly hurt and his entire face is wrapped in gauze and doctors won't let anyone in to see him. It's so completely obvious to anyone with half a brain that either this isn't the man or he's being drugged. Oddly, Chan allows this ruse to continue for some time--even though someone's life might be at risk. Even when the nurse/nun who is caring for him reveals she's an idiot and practically knows nothing about medicine, Chan does nothing.

In addition to lots of inaction, the film is brimming with dull and awkward performances. About the only one who comes off reasonably well is Tommy Chan--who oddly was re-named Tommy even though he'd been Jimmy in the earlier films and was still played by the same actor (Victor Sen Yung). Even the usual comic relief from Mantan Moreland seems very subdued in this film. There simply is no energy or life to this film and a few really broad performances sink the film further.

The bottom line is that there isn't much of a mystery and Chan could easily get to the bottom of it. Instead, the amazingly subdued Chan sits back and lets the film go on for some time until the conclusion. Dull and uninspired.