Mr. Moto's Gamble

In the first two Mr. Moto films, Moto was a complex and rather amoral man. If someone tried to kill him, often Moto killed that person instead. Additionally, you weren't always sure who Moto worked for or his motivations. I liked this, as it made his character a bit mysterious and quite a bit unlike the studio's other Asian crime fighter, Charlie Chan. However, with MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE the transition to a Charlie Chan clone has occurred. Why? Well the answer is that this film originally WAS a Charlie Chan film and shortly into shooting it was obvious that Warner Oland (Chan) was not emotionally fit enough to finish the film. So, instead of scrapping the film, they just altered it slightly to make it a Moto film.

So was this a successful move by the studio? Well, in some ways definitely not. The comic relief for the film was provided by Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom--playing a guy even more annoying and unrealistic than Mantan Moreland would play in the later Charlie Chan films. Frankly, I hated Rosenbloom in the film because he detracted from the mystery with his antics. Additionally, it seemed very strange for the Japanese detective to be teamed with Charlie's #1 Son, Lee Chan (Keye Luke). In fact, you will probably notice that Moto treats Lee pretty much the way Charlie did and it just feels odd. And, since Moto was essentially playing Chan, he had much less to do in this film than in previous ones. Like Chan, he was NOT the focal point of the film and aside from a couple judo flips, you'd barely notice him in the film. In essence, Mr. Moto was dead.

Despite this obviously being a Chan film (and second-rate due to the dominant presence of Rosenbloom), the film is still pretty good--provided you don't mind that it's not a Moto movie. The mystery itself isn't bad (though the squirt gun angle was pretty dumb) and the film worked pretty well. While the mechanical gun at the end was overly complex, how Moto used this was pretty neat. Overall, I give it a 6. It's interesting and fun but suffers a severe case of too much Rosenbloom and multiple personality disorder!

By the way, there are some famous faces buried within the film. Ward Bond (famous for his many appearances in support of John Wayne) plays the Champion, George E. Stone ('Runt' from the Boston Blackie films) and a young Lon Chaney, Jr. is in a bit role.

For more on how this film came to be, watch the DVD extra included along with MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE. MR. MOTO MEETS MR. CHAN is indispensable for die-hard fans like myself to understand the very troubled process through which this film was made.

Putting aside the racist implications of Fox's assumption that one yellowface detective is as good as another, plugging Mr. Moto into a Charlie Chan film only points out that Peter Lorre's Moto is both a more adaptable and infinitely more complex character than the stolid Chan. On one hand, it's quite out of character for the quick-witted Moto to go around mouthing lame aphorisms a la Chan, and Moto would never be as discourteous to anyone in his other films as he is to Lee Chan and his punchy sidekick Maxie Rosenbloom in this one. On the other hand, "Mr. Moto's Gamble" features a nice snappy story with more shape and suspense to it than the usual Moto scenario, and it's fun to see Moto interacting with other characters like a regular guy rather than as the enigmatic will-o-the-wisp of the earlier films. Unfortunately, the later Moto films tried to imitate the formula by giving him dopey sidekicks, which only weighed him down.

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.

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.

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.