Mysterious Mr. Moto

The Moto films were 'cheaps', made quickly and inexpensively, and also rather short to pack in with other films for a cinema experience packed with a variety of films in a string. Where most other films of the time have either risen to heights through brilliance or, as most have done, fallen from interest completely due to mediocre or lackluster efforts, the Moto films have found quite an enthusiastic audience that still thrills to the honest, entertaining portrayal of an exotic crime fighter.

Mysterious Mr. Moto is the first film in the series where the crew seems to have 'gotten it together'. The acting, acing, story, and film work were all quite a notch above the previous three. Though the stories are always rather linear they keep an audience by balancing thrills, violence, mystery, character and mild romance.

The criticism of racism is odd. Lorre plays the character slightly off Japanese, his accent being obviously Germanic, but his mannerisms are keen. Moto is an American schooled Japanese, which was very typical in those days, and it gives him an obvious bridge in understanding western culture. It is a pity they didn't find more Asians to fill key roles in these films, but generally the American actors used were quite good despite looking too Caucasian. I can forgive authenticity for acting ability, especially in the days when there were few stories written for Asians.

Moto always comes off as a powerhouse. He's an admirable figure for anyone undersized in a brutal world. Kids must have loved Moto in the day as he proved someone tiny could trash giant brutes with guns and ham hock fists. He's a great roll model for more than just Asians or Japanese, he's a hero for everyone. These films are fun, matinée film that portrayed the shrinking world with a metropolitan and international flavor. I think they are admirable. Lorre proved himself adept beyond any doubt with these movies. They are a credit to the entire crew.

With this, I begin a seven-movie tribute to the late British film critic Leslie Halliwell (the first one I came across and who instilled in me a love for the golden age of cinema) on the 25th anniversary of his untimely passing. He had compiled two books citing 219(!) of his all-time favourites, including titles he did not even praise all that much in his assessment on the official pioneering guide! Even if hardly constituting products of outstanding merit, but certainly proving great fun to watch, he showed a particular fondness for crime/mystery franchises (such as the Mr. Moto one here, Charlie Chan, Bulldog Drummond, Sherlock Holmes and "The Thin Man") – and also threw in a couple that could only be described as "guilty pleasures" i.e. NIGHT MONSTER (1942) and HOUSE OF Dracula (1945)!

This is actually the fifth entry in the character's original eight-movie run and, though I own all of them (as well as the 1965 one-off revival. THE RETURN OF MR. MOTO), only the second I have watched so far. Coincidentally, the other one (MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING {1939}) was also singled out for praise by Halliwell in those volumes…and, indeed, "Mr. Moto" is the only series to receive more than a single nod: make of that what you will! While there are obvious intrinsic similarities between him and that other even more popular Asian sleuth, Charlie Chan (concurrently the subject of a parallel franchise that would last much longer at the same studio – Fox), so much so that one of the Moto films i.e. MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE (1938) was originally planned as a Chan entry(!), the two detectives' modus operandi was decidedly different – since the former adopted affability and camouflage to solve any given case, whereas the latter relied on wise sayings and a little help from his brood of sons to get at the truth.

Needless to say, the look of the films and some of their credentials were similarly interchangeable – but so was the entertainment value gleaned from them: the Motos' briefer stretch ensured that this (and the plot lines) did not risk running thin, as the Chans inevitably did – especially since it saw a couple of replacements to the central role along the way! To its credit, not all these various detective thriller series featured great actors in the lead – but this surely was the case with Mr. Moto, played for nearly two straight years by Austro-Hungarian Peter Lorre in the initial stages of his Hollywood career. Though his features could hardly pass for an Oriental, Lorre's diminutive stature and soft-spoken delivery made him an ideal choice regardless: still, he is not played up as a feeble and subservient stereotype (outside of a deliberate disguise on his part) – in fact, he can effortlessly outwit or physically overcome his antagonists and show authority figures for the pompous fools they are (as amply seen in the movie under review)!

At this juncture, I cannot say which is the better effort of the two Motos I have checked out: it has been some time since my sole viewing of LAST WARNING, the sixth in the saga, via an original DVD of Public-Domain "Mystery" films (generously donated to me by an American friend of long standing) – though I would probably give the edge to it in view of supporting actors George Sanders and John Carradine and the exotic setting involved. Incidentally, why MYSTERIOUS was so called is itself a puzzle – as this is all-too-generic (witness the almost identically-titled yet wholly unrelated efforts involving the Oriental figure of Mr. Wong incarnated by fellow horror icons Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff) and, basically, the kind of moniker by which a personage is normally introduced to audiences!

That said, it is obviously representative of the lot, with respect to narrative (already with an eye on the impending war in Europe), twists (Moto springs a hit-man - Leon Ames - out of jail to catch his gang leader!), suspense (the climax being set in a crowded art gallery, with Moto dressed up as a disgruntled Germanic artist!), characterization (for the best part of the film, Moto poses as the hit-man's meek butler, bullied by racist bar patrons, in order to expose his opponents!), romance (Moto's own relationship with an Asian colleague working undercover is interesting – countering the obligatory one between the second leads - including Henry Wilcoxon) and comedy relief (supplied by Erik Rhodes, formerly the "other man" of many an Astaire/Rogers musical). In fact, the whole atmosphere (even more so here in view of the London backdrop and looking particularly nice in this DVD-sourced transfer) is – delightfully – not too far off the early Hitchcock mark.

Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre), under a fake ID, escapes from Devil's Island with another man who he follows to London. Once there Moto helps Scotland Yard try to crack the case of an assassination group. This fifth film in the series is a step up from the previous one but it doesn't quite have enough to put it on the level of the first three. The biggest problem is the actual story, which just isn't very entertaining and it actually makes for a rather slow and boring first forty-minutes. I never really could get into the story once we hit London because it was never quite clear what was going on and even worse is that we had an incredibly stupid character that Moto kept helping. The amount of dumb things this guys does is downright crazy and it really got under my skin. The final ten-minutes is when the action really picks up and the finale, with Moto having a very good fight, really packs a punch and delivers the goods. I also enjoyed the opening sequence on Devil's Island. Lorre is is usual very good self here as he's certainly got all of Moto's moves down. The supporting cast is also pretty good and that includes Henry Wilcoxon and Leon Ames.

This was my first look ever at Peter Lorre's "Mr. Moto" character, and I couldn't help but compare and contrast him to the famous "Charlie Chan" of a similar period. "Mr. Moto" is charming but isn't the comedian or the proverb-quoting Chan. I would have to watch a few more Moto movies before I could really compare the two fairly, as for quality and entertainment value, but what I saw in this film impressed me. My guess is that both of them are winners. I'm anxious to watch another Mr. Motor adventure, after seeing this.

I think both characters did a lot - or at least I hope they did - to put Asians in a favorable light. Hey, Chan and Moto are the heroes in their movies, and the smart and courageous guys who solve the murders. These series had to be a boost to the Asian-American community.

In this story, Moto pretends to be a fugitive from Devil's Island, one of two escapees who wind up in London. That was the idea all along for Our Man as he hoped his fellow man-of- flight, "Paul Brissac" would lead to him to bigger fish in the criminal world, specifically "The League of Assassins."

Just when I thought this film was starting to get a tiny bit slow, it picked up nicely and had very good last 20-some minutes with a suspenseful ending. The actions were hokey but so what? The film is 70 years old so I don't expect state-of-the-art special-effects. In spots, it was so corny it made it fun. I was shocked how physical little Mr. Moto was, throwing bodies around like a WWF bruiser!

Two quality actors, in addition to Lorre, had key roles in here: Leon Ames ("Brissac") and Henry Wilcoxon ("Darvak"). There's some good direction in here, too, by Norman Foster, who not only directed some Mr. Moto films, but a few Charlie Chan movies, too. He also married Claudette Colbert.

In addition, the restoration job on the DVD transfer makes this a good-looking film.

One of the weakest gimmicks in the Sol Wurtzel-Peter Lorre Moto series was Moto's occasional attempts to lurk about in disguise a la Sherlock Holmes. It's surprising therefore that one of the most successful (and dramatically strongest) films in the series featured Moto doing an extended undercover operation as "Ito," the pidgen-English-speaking Japanese houseboy of a British gangster. The scenes in which Ito/Moto is treated with condescending contempt by his employer and roughed up by Cockney barflies are clearly intended to stimulate the audiences' outrage against their stupidly bigoted treatment of "his kind"--racism here being portrayed as a specifically British tendency, in stark contrast to the friendly respect with which Mr. Moto is treated by American characters. Considering that the Moto series itself has been labeled racist--the assumption being that casting the "ugly" Jew Lorre as a Japanese was an insult to Asians, never mind the way the character was actually treated in the films--it may be time to take a more objective second look.