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The Worst Film Ever

Simply Perfect

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A Major Disappointment

Mr. Moto was a B-movie series from 20th Century-Fox Studios and it was made at the same time they were cranking out Charlie Chan films. Both series are similar in that Western actors played Asians and both usually fought against crime and offensive vocal stereotypes such as Moto saying "chop-chop". However, unlike Chan, Mr. Moto was more of a mercenary and his conscience was not particularly bothered by killing his enemies--one difference that made the Moto films more interesting. This was most evident in this early film--later, unfortunately, the films were almost indistinguishable from the Chan movies. In this film, he drowns one man, shoots another and arranges to have one bad guy murder another! This certainly is NOT Charlie Chan!! As for the plot, it's very similar to Chan films in that Moto is working to uncover the truth about a smuggling ring--something that Charlie did in at least a couple movies himself. However, given that there is no Number One Son or other sidekick, the film does seem more serious and not quite as entertaining--but also more intelligent. Had Keye Luke or Victor Sen Yung been on hand, the film might have been a tad more interesting. Plus, the son of the shipping line owner seemed like a bit of a lazy weasel, so it was hard to care about the secondary characters--a weakness of the film.By the way, for a Russian expatriate, the lady sure has an unusual accent--and it's even less authentic than Peter Lorre's Japanese accent. Still, despite these shortcomings, it's a dandy film and along with the next film, probably the best ones in the series

Ah, the Thirties. What could be more elegant and enjoyable than an ocean liner to the Orient, with two heartbreakingly beautiful people having a shipboard romance while criminal intrigue sort-of-kind-of goes on around them and they are watched over by a genial Japanese man who may or may not be a good guy? And that's really about all there is to the slapdash plot of the first movie in the Mr. Moto series. Yes, there's something about diamond smuggling and murder, but the main point of this story seems to be to introduce the world to the polite but dangerous gentleman from Japan.And that is something that surprised me about this little movie (it clocks in at under 70 minutes) -- just how dangerous Mr. Moto is. Throughout the first hour he is presented as someone who's more interested in making an allegiance with the smugglers than stopping them. The movie begins with him in disguise looking into the San Francisco end of the smugglers, seeing -- but not reporting -- a murdered body and getting away so he can quietly head for Shanghai. He shows he's a black belt in jiu-jitsu by tossing a few disrespectful drunks around, including the son of the man who owns the ocean liner he's traveling on. And he kills a killer in such a way that no one can find the body...then calmly, albeit a bit sadly, continues his secretive journey. It's not until the last few minutes of the movie that his real purpose and superior intelligence is revealed. To have a Japanese man out-thinking all the sneaky Caucasian minds around him is really quite startling for 1937, considering the casual xenophobia of the time."Think Fast, Mr. Moto" may be an obvious attempt to capitalize on the hugely popular (and usually much better) "Charlie Chan" series of mysteries, but it works very well in its own right. Peter Lorre does a fine job (of course) pretending to be Japanese, but something that I've never understood is why Thomas Beck never got to be big in Hollywood. He has such a natural grace in front of the camera, and he's extremely good-looking. The same holds for Virginia Field, though she did have more of a career than he. The production values are above average for a "B" movie and the pace is relatively brisk. If they'd just done a better job with the script, it could have been on the same level as "Charlie Chan in Shanghai." But as it is, it's still surprisingly fun.

This was the first of the eight Mr. Moto movies but not necessarily the best of the early group, although not bad. I thought the second and third ones were the best of the first grouping of four. This got bogged down a little too much early on with Thomas Beck's infatuation with Virginia Field ("Gloria Danton"). In subsequent Moto movies, the romance angle was lesser and Moto featured more, which is better. However, some of the sappy guy's lust for his girl turns out to tie in with the head crook, so all is not lost in having to sit through the dull romance spots. (Dull because the dialog was affected, especially Beck's as "Bob Hitchings," the son of the shipping magnate and the man pursuing Gloria.When the script featured the crime angle (smuggling), as in the beginning and in the last 25 minutes, it's interesting and gets involving. The long break in the middle of the film makes it easy for the viewer to lose track what exactly is going on here: who is smuggling what. We have to piece things together again when the action re-gains in the last third of the film. There is an interesting twist near the end and we hear Mr. Moto sum everything up a la Charlie Chan.The exotic setting is Shanghai and viewers can enjoy the hectic sets with lots of people running to and fro; obnoxious British and Americans making racist statements to the locals, treating them as insignificant young kids and, of course, all the Asians played by the Anglos. That was part of '30s Hollywood, and you just accept it.The last 40 percent of this movie makes up for any shortcomings and makes the viewing worthwhile. Mr. Moto is definitely one cool guy, who seems to have it all - except height. Peter Lorre was just great playing this role and I hope I get the opportunity to see all eight feature films in the series. I always enjoy his disguises, too, even though they don't fool us for a minute!

This series of Mr. Moto films were very low budget films and during the year 1937 the country was not in prosperity like it is today. Actors like Peter Lorre had to find work and therefore, we find him in pictures like Mr. Moto. Lorre was also starting out his career in America and this was a great opportunity for Peter Lorre to become a great character actor! Peter Lorre (Kentaro Moto), "The Beast With Five Fingers",'46, did a great job of performing a role like Charlie Chan and manged to keep you guessing just who the criminal really was. Virginia Field, (Gloria Danton),"The Earth Dies Screaming",'65 gave a great supporting role and appeared in quite a few of these Mr. Moto films. Sig Ruman, (Nicholas Marloff),"Doom of Dracula",'66, played a different role and did all he could to trick Mr. Moto. If you look real close, you will see J. Carrol Naish,(Adram,Shop Keeper), who adds some mystery to the plot. These Mr. Moto films were usually shown as a second feature at the local movie houses along with Newsreels and Cartoons which created a big Saturday night treat for the local families during 1937!