Mr. Moto und der Wettbetrug

Mr. Moto's Gamble finds our Japanese sleuth in the position of teacher and among his pupils is Keye Luke the son of that other Asian detective Charlie Chan. He's Charlie's number one son, but he's Moto's number one pupil and he says he will write a letter to Charlie saying so.

Peter Lorre and Keye Luke are at a prize fight when one of the fighters is knocked out and later dies of a poison delivered in a most unusual manner. There was a lot of syndicate money on this fight and originally the winner was held for manslaughter. However Dick Baldwin is released in time to face champion Ward Bond where there is more villainy afoot.

Maxie Rosenbloom who had given up the ring for a more lucrative career in movies plays a former boxer who is a kleptomaniac and hangs out with Keye Luke during the film. Maxie's taking ways are what ultimately leads to the unmasking of the murderer.

Many players who have done roles in gangster films are in the cast and provide us a load of red herrings as to the murderer. You'll have to see one of the better Mr. Moto features to see who does it.

Although originally intended as a Chan film maybe not surprisingly it's easy to switch to Moto Mode and enjoy what we've got. Not being a boxing fan is much harder to overcome!

A boxer is murdered mid-fight, under the eyes of the multitude and especially Moto's pair of roving eyes, the job is on to find whodunit and how. Peter Lorre was excellent as usual, even hampered with comedy duo no.2 Chan son Lee and kleptomaniac Knockout Wellington. Favourite bit : where someone shouts "Whoever heard of a crooked cop?" and everyone laughs uproariously - in disbelief! The best thing about this Moto though is the never ending stream of then current Fox background actors appearing, from Doug Fowley, chunky Cliff Clark, George E. Stone – even Lon Chaney Jr down to Paul Fix, Ward Bond, Fred Kelsey – why, everyone at the studio was here except Warner Oland!

A nice series entry [3/8], all well worth watching if you're a fan of the genre like me.

I'd consider this one of the better of Peter Lorre's eight Mr. Moto films, with a good story of ringside gambling and crooks. The mysterious Japanese investigator must unravel what happened when a boxer was killed during a match. This one's got a well rounded cast too, beginning with Keye Luke making an appearance as none other than Charlie Chan's son, who is enrolled in a class which Mr. Moto is teaching. Also featuring Lon Chaney Jr. as a thug, and John Hamilton (Perry White on TV's SUPERMAN), too. Former real-life boxer-turned-actor Maxie Roosenbloom is the dimwitted comic relief. While watching and enjoying this entry I had the feeling that this was not in the same mold as previous Moto films I've seen. It was after the movie ended that I learned why via an informative bonus feature on the DVD -- MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE was originally scripted to be another Warner Oland Charlie Chan film for Fox, but Oland was having problems at the time, so the script was rebooted as a Mr. Moto film, with Peter Lorre practically doing Warner Oland. *** out of ****

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is teaching a criminology course in New York when he gets involved with a murder case concerning boxers, gamblers, and poison. Also featuring Keye Luke as Lee Chan (Charlie Chan's #1 son).

The backstory of this movie is almost as interesting as the film itself. This started out as a Charlie Chan feature, and much of it was filmed, but star Warner Oland had some "issues" and left the set. He wouldn't return, and in fact would be dead a few months later. Fox felt too much had been spent already, so they took what they had, reshot a few scenes, and added a handful of new ones to make this into a Mr. Moto movie. Keye Luke's #1 son character was too integral, so they left him in, continuing to play the same character, establishing that Moto and Chan operate within the same cinematic world. Moto even has a line of dialogue where he says that he's been in contact with Charlie Chan about his son's schooling.

The end result movie is entertaining, although it bears more resemblance to the Oland/Chan films than to the two previous Moto features, which were more exotic, violent, and unpredictable. Moto still manages to toss a few people around like rag dolls, but he's more of the quiet center around whom the others gravitate. Maxie Rosenbloom is very amusing as a kleptomaniac who is taking Moto's detective course so that he can track down the people from whom he's stolen. Maxie and Keye Luke make for an unlikely but humorous duo.

Due to the illness of Chan star Warner Oland, this film's script had to be turned into a Mr. Moto movie. I feel this is the weakest entry in the Fox Moto series with Peter Lorre. The film is set in the New York boxing world. I've never been a fan of boxing--so the atmosphere did nothing for me. Lorre is his usual great self. That can't be taken away. And the film has the bonus of Keye Luke reprising his role as Charlie's Number One Son, Lee Chan, for the last time at 20th Century Fox. (He would play the Lee role twice more in the last two Monogram Chans.) But even with Lorre and Luke, this one is a bit weak. It might have been better if filmed with Mr. Oland as an actual Charlie Chan film. Still--it is worth seeing.