Mr. Moto und die geheimnisvolle Insel

Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Seventh film in the series finds Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) tracking down a diamond smuggling ring working from South America through Puerto Rico. Along the way various murders begin to happen with a wide range of suspects. I've read that this was originally intended to be an entry in Fox's Charlie Chan series but it works well as a Moto movie. The movie has a nice pace to it, a great supporting cast and overall nice story, which makes this here another winner. What works the best is the cast and the lead performance by Lorre. He certainly never struck me as looking Japanese but he certainly digs deep into the character and delivers all the goods in terms of manor isms and various gestures that he does throughout. Warren Hymer adds a lot of nice comic touches in his role as the dimwitted wrestler who befriends Moto early on in the film and refuses to leave his side. Richard Lane, from the Boston Blackie series, does a very good job in his role of the Commissioner and we also get nice turns by Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff, Leon Ames and Paul Harvey. Even though the film is set in Puerto Rico, you really can't tell that but the stuff in the swamp contains some nice atmosphere. The movie is certainly one of the better entries in the series and makes for a nice, fast paced entertainment.

This is a murder mystery, with Mr. Moto, for those of you who don't know, as the crafty man investigating the case. Like Charlie Chan, he's a private investigator.

Peter Lorre had a "cool" charisma about him, much like Basil Rathbone, Humphrey Bogart, and others who played such roles.

Films like this either take one or a combination of two of the following: 1. Mystery with clues that the audience can use. 2. Mystery with atmosphere and humor 3. Mystery with a twist.

Just about none have all three. One may cite "Chinatown" as a possibility, but the atmosphere isn't what I would call strong in that one. Atmosphere and humor come either without twists or without clues.

This film uses the first two elements. It would be far fetched to say there is a twist. There is an abundance of atmosphere and humor, and many clues.

We know very soon who the killer is. At first it isn't easy, because all of the suspects look alike, middle aged white men with mustaches, but once we tell them apart, and once the atmosphere is established, we do know which one it is.

That doesn't take away from the adventure, though. Lots of good elements make this an enjoyable film.

Calling this a typical Moto film is not a bad thing. After all, this series from Twentieth-Century Fox was about the equal in quality to their other series, Charlie Chan. The big difference being that Moto is more a "gun for hire"--a man who would play private detective or even mercenary in his films. Unlike the squeaky clean and rather sedate Chan, Moto is more physical and not above twisting the law or even killing someone. Sadly, he didn't kill anyone in this film--always a trademark of a great Moto film!

Moto is on his way to Puerto Rico to investigate a diamond smuggling ring. However, on the way, he is laid out due to an appendicitis and it looks like Moto might have to drop the case. However, being a very sneaky character, there's a lot more to the story than this.

Along for the ride is Warren Hymer, who plays Moto's new friend who tags along during the investigation. Having Hymer in the film makes sense, however, as the film was originally planned another Chan film. But, since Warner Oland had recently died, the script was adapted for Peter Lorre's series. In the usual role of Number One or Number Two son is Hymer--who gets into trouble and makes a nuisance of himself just like he was an honorary Chan himself!

Overall, well written, exciting and up to the usual high standards of the series. The only serious knock I have against this film is that although it's set in Puerto Rico, there's no one who remotely looks or sounds Hispanic in the film. Of course, considering they have a German guy playing Moto, I guess this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

This is one of the later Moto pictures and not as good as the earlier ones. Peter Lorre is his usual great self. And, there is a great nostalgic sense of the time and setting. But it doesn't have as much life as the previous entries in the series. It is still worth seeing. Just don't expect to see Moto at his best. It is better than "Mr. Moto's Gamble" and far better than the 60's attempt at reviving the character, "The Return of Mr. Moto". This was based on the novel, "Murder in Trinidad" which did not feature Moto and was filmed before and since. For this film the locale was changed to Puerto Rico. At one time this was slated to be filmed as a Charlie Chan film, "Charlie Chan in Trinidad".

Peter Lorre stars as Japanese investigator Mr. Moto in "Mr. Moto in Danger Island," a 1939 release also starring Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff, Walter Hymer, Douglas Dumbrille, and Leon Ames. Originally written as a Charlie Chan script, Moto is asked to investigate the smuggling of inexpensive contraband diamonds from South America via Puerto Rico and into the U.S. that are driving down diamond prices. One investigator has already been murdered, so it's time to send in the big guns - Moto.

A professional wrestler named Twister McGurk (Hymer), whom Moto meets en route to Puerto Rico, attaches himself to the diminutive detective, which brings some comic relief.

Entertaining with a nice tropical atmosphere despite being made on a back lot, and it's always a joy to see Peter Lorre. Unfortunately for Mr. Moto, World War II ended his run.