Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Micah Lloyd
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Yash Wade
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
bkoganbing
Contrary to what you might originally think The Golden Eye is not an original version of the James Bond classic. It's the name of a played out gold mine which has suddenly sprung to life. But its owner Forrest Taylor is so fearful of his that he goes to San Francisco to seek out Charlie Chan.The writers of the Charlie Chan series were getting terribly uninspired in doing this film. Roland Winters goes to a dude ranch with number 2 son Victor Sen Yung and the comical relief of chauffeur Mantan Moreland along to oversee the investigation. While there they meet Tim Ryan of the San Francisco PD who is doing a nice drunk act as a blind because they eventually find out they're on the same case which involves smuggling.Not much mystery here because just about every other cast member is involved some way in the racket. Evelyn Brent plays a nun, but none too successfully. She gives her disguise away in a truly stupid manner and you didn't need to be Charlie Chan to figure out she was a phony.Definitely not one of the better Charlie Chan features.
Michael O'Keefe
Oriental sleuth Charlie Chan(Roland Winters), Tommy Chan(Victor Sen Young)and chauffeur Birmingham(Mantan Moreland)head to Arizona at the request of a Mr. Manning(Forrest Taylor), owner of The Golden Eye mine. Manning finds it very odd that his mine losing a lot of money for a good while suddenly has become a gold bonanza. Lt. Mike Ruark(Tim Ryan) is also investigating Manning's mine manager Driscoll(Ralph Dunn)on a different matter that may help Chan's investigation of the situation at The Golden Eye. This mystery franchise is nearing its end and you can tell by the lack of any scenery and flat dialog. But this is a Charlie Chan flick, man. Just not one of the best. Other players: Wanda McKay, Evelyn Brent and Bruce Kellogg.
jonfrum2000
This episode in the Chan series features skimpy sets - not rare in the later Chans - and a weak role for the usually entertaining Mantan Moreland, but some Chan is better than none. Roland Winters does a perfectly serviceable job as Charlie - lacking the warmth of Warner Oland, but also lacking the harshness of Sidney Toler in his father/son interactions. The plot is pedestrian, but the series is about Charlie and assistants, not the stories, so a less than perfect plot is OK. This movie lacks the beautiful women in gowns we often get in Chans, and not much of a love affair, so some of the classic Chan features are missing. By this late time, they were spending very little money on the series, and milking it for the value of the franchise. One can imagine that it was a perfectly good way to spend an hour on a Saturday in post-war America.I noticed that after crediting Roland Winters and one woman actress, Mantan Moreland and Victor Sen Young came next. In spite of the fact that a white man was playing Chan, clearly a black man and a Chinese man came next in popularity with audiences. For some reason, this fact is never credited. The theme of racist America is just to popular to be spoiled by such facts.
classicsoncall
A formerly unproductive gold mine suddenly turns out to be highly profitable; it's owner Manning insists someone is out to murder him. He turns to Charlie Chan (Roland Winters) for help, and the Oriental detective and his two assistants, Number #2 Son Tommy (Victor Sen Yung) and driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) embark on a pseudo Western adventure. The story is set in Arizona, and to downplay suspicion in their involvement, the Chan party heads off to the Lazy Y Dude Ranch, from where they can keep an eye on developments at the Golden Eye Mine. Sen Yung and Moreland make quite a sight in their Western attire, particularly Birmingham in his buffalo inspired jodhpurs. Tim Ryan is back in a reprise of his role as Lieutenant Mike Ruark (The Shanghai Chest), but this time he's undercover as teetering lush Vincent O'Brien at the Lazy Y. He's there independently, but it turns out his investigation runs parallel to Chan's, so they use the coincidence to hook up. It turns out that the Golden Eye is a pass through for a gold smuggling operation originating in Mexico. The obvious brains of the smuggling gang appears to be the mine's superintendent Driscoll, but as usual for a Chan mystery, the obvious is always done one better, in this case, the mastermind is the handsome local assayer Talbot Bartlett (Bruce Kellogg), who's only too happy to assist Chan in any way he can so that he can throw him off the mark. Bartlett is also busy courting Manning's daughter Evelyn (Wanda McKay) to be better positioned to remove the mine's owner from the picture."The Golden Eye" is an average Charlie Chan mystery, made somewhat more interesting with the comedic bits by Mantan Moreland and the quite effective interplay of Tim Ryan's drunken character O'Brien. If you're a Charlie Chan fan, you'll have to add this one to your list.