Mr. Moto und die Flotte

1939's "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" stars Peter Lorre as the Japanese detective, of whom nothing was heard once the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Lorre is surrounded by a great cast, which includes Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Field, John Carradine, and George Sanders. Lorre not only plays Moto, but his cover, who runs an antique store.

The story concerns Moto's investigation of a conspiracy against the British and French governments. One of the "conspirators" is a British agent, and the two of them discover that the group has put mines in the harbor in order to blow up the French fleet -- the group had been desperately trying to find out the arrival date, and once they got it, set the bombs in place. Obviously, this is before Churchill blew the French fleet up in 1940 when the French refused to do so, which would thus give the Germans access to the fleet. The conspirators plan to blame the British for the bombing, hoping to start the Second World War.

Lorre does a great job, and Ricardo Cortez, as the head of the group whose works as a ventriloquist as his cover, makes an effective villain. Sanders uses a strange accent. Virginia Field, one of the "ice cream blondes" of that era was under contract to 20th Century Fox at the time; unfortunately, she never made it to the top, but she was in a lot of good films and is very pretty. John Carradine is in top form.

Entertaining as well as interesting, this is a good entry into the series featuring the brilliant and delightful "Mr. Moto."

Has a lotta the old reliable British character actor standbys of the time, E.E. Clive, Coates, Sanders, etc. It's good, the 'great shots' were indeed that, Lorre and Carradine in good form, there was more $$$ thrown into the making of this one than in others in the series. I enjoyed this alot, and if you like Moto or Lorre at all, this one is a must.

*** outta ****

Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre), believed dead, is assisted by an undercover British agent (John Carradine) as the two try to stop a couple international agents (Ricardo Cortez, George Sanders) from using the Suez Canal to blow up some French ships and blaming the British. This sixth entry in the series is a major step up from the previous two entries and one could say this one here was the best of the series. The story is a pretty good one but what really works here is the wonderful cast of character actors who really make this a must see. It's fun seeing Lorre's Moto up against various other actors who played famous roles themselves and that includes Perry Mason and Sam Spade (Cortez), The Saint (Sanders) and Dracula (Carradine) too. Seeing the four character actors share the same film makes for a lot of fun and the story itself also helps build some drama and that includes a wonderful underwater sequence that certainly won't be forgotten by anyone who sees it. The story is certainly a bit far fetched but it's made believable due to the actors all giving very good performances and Foster handles the material very well. The ending contains some great action with our hero kicking it into high gear to do major damage. The guys get to have a lot of fun but so does Virginia Fields in her small but fun role. Lorre is great as usual but it's actually Cortez who steals the film as the ruthless villain. Carradine also offers up an excellent performance and his scene at the bottom of the ocean is quite creepy and highly effective. Overall this here is certainly one of the best films in the series and one that even non-fans should be able to enjoy.

Peter Lorre as the oriental detective Mr. Moto was truly a delightful experience to behold. A seemingly small man in statue but gifted in the art of judo. When the decoy Moto is murdered you feel that the real Moto will not stop at nothing to bring justice. A man of quick wit and chameleon abilities to blend in, joins up with a british agent to stop the suspected saboteurs. Mr. Moto faces death several times and survives by observational powers of deduction and underwater skills. A top notch performance by Mr. Lorre and George Sanders really make this film a worthwhile experience.

As originally created by author John P. Marquand, Moto was an icy and distinctly lethal Japanese agent; 20th Century Fox, which had earlier created the extremely popular Charlie Chan series, toned down his more deadly qualities, cast German actor Peter Lorre in the role, and between 1937 and 1939 made eight films featuring the character. Although they did not really challenge the Chan films, they were popular in their own right, and it was not until American sentiment began to turn against the Japanese that 20th Century Fox dropped the character.

Made in 1939, MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING is the sixth film in the series, and it finds Moto (Lorre) working to foil an attempt to set the English and French against each other by blowing up the French fleet as it enters an English-controlled canal in the middle east. Although the film has a slow start, it is graced with a gifted cast that includes George Sanders, John Carradine, and Ricardo Cortez, and it soon comes up a snappy pace and proves unexpectedly watchable.

Over the years the Chan films have drawn considerable condemnation from Chinese Americans due to the fact that Chan was never played by an Asian actor; somewhat curiously, the Moto films have escaped the same degree of politically-correct derision. This is all the more odd because Lorre is even less of Japanse than Oland and Toler were Chinese. Even so, Lorre is always interesting to watch, and his unexpected physicality (Moto is a master of judo) drives the film remarkably well.

MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING is the only film in the series presently in public domain, a circumstance that seems more accidental than intentional. The Alpha release is very much in line with that: the picture is shaky, particularly in the opening segments, and the sound is quite weak. Fans of the series would do better to go with the series editions now in release through 20th Century Fox--but no matter which copy you lay hands on, you'll find the film an enjoyable bit of flyweight fun. Recommended to fans of 1930s mysteries, thrillers, and espionage movies.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer