The Golden Eye (1948)

Director:

William Beaudine

Writers:

Earl Derr Biggers (characters)
Scott Darling (writer)

Release Date:

29 August 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A gold mine in Arizona, that was formerly losing a lot of money, suddenly turns into a veritable money-making machine...

Plot Keywords:

Charlie Chan | Sequel

Cast

Roland Winters	...	Charlie Chan
Wanda McKay	...	Evelyn Manning
Mantan Moreland	...	Birmingham Brown
Victor Sen Yung	...	Tommy Chan
Bruce Kellogg	...	Talbot Bartlett
Tim Ryan	...	Lt. Mike Ruark
Evelyn Brent	...	Sister Teresa, Nurse
Ralph Dunn	...	Driscoll
Lois Austin	...	Mrs. Margaret Driscoll
Forrest Taylor	...	Manning
Lee 'Lasses' White	...	Pete
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herman Cantor	...	(scenes deleted)
Richard Loo	...	(scenes deleted)
Sam McDaniel	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)
Tom Tyler	...	(scenes deleted)
Barbara Jean Wong	...	(scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Charlie Chan and the Golden Eye
The Mystery of the Golden Eye

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Monogram Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Followed by Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981)

"Small thing sometimes tell very large story."

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

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.