it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

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.

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.

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.