Mr. Moto de incógnito

***SPOILERS*** Mr. Moto, Peter Lorre, is sent to the island of Puerto Rico to check out a diamond smuggling ring that's responsible for the murder of a Government Agent, Rodney Graham, who had infiltrated it. Faking an appendicitis attack Mr. Moto and his good friend and bodyguard, as if he needs one, professional wrestler Twister McGurk, Warren Hymen, is kidnapped by the smugglers on his way to the hospital only to lead the local police straight to them. In what was a wild brawl the leader of the group Capt.Dahlen, Eddie Marr, escaped to the Puerto Ricen swamps where his smugging operation originates from. Now again faking that he in fact is not Mr. Motto Mister Motto gets himself, together with Twister McGurk, recruited into the diamond smuggling ring using the allies of wanted and on the lamb hood Yoko Simura.

Not one of the better Mr. Moto movies with the fearless and martial arts expert Mr. Motto getting his nice clean and pressed white suit and pants wet and dirtied with mud in the swamps where the diamond smugglers are operating out of. It takes a while for Mr. Moto to find out who's really behind this diamond smuggling ring that has already murdered two people including the Governor of the Island John Bentley, Paul Harvey, who had uncovered his identity. It's when Capt. Dahlen is caught in his attempted escape,on a motor boat, from the law that Mr. Moto devises a fool proof plan to get the head of this diamond smuggling ring to come out in the open. That in him trying to murder the seriously injured Capt. Dahlen before he comes out of his coma and talks to the police!

***SPOILERS**** As the saying goes "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and that also goes for Capt. Dahlen. He was dead all the time but the clever Mr. Moto kept that from the person who was to eventually "murder" him to keep him from talking. A neat trick on Mr. Moto's part in having him expose himself by killing Capt. Dahlen a second time, he in fact died in a shoot out with the police on the high seas, in him not knowing that he was dead already!

Moto #7/8 finds us in "Porto Rico" with a great print, some nice sets and atmospheric photography and a sterling cast giving the flimsy plot all they had.

Moto played as ever by Peter Lorre is called in by the Government in cahoots with the Governor to root out an international gang of diamond smugglers, discovers straight away that one the Governor's confidantes must be one of the baddies, if not the top dirty dog. Just picture the high profile suspects: Leon Ames, Douglas Dumbrille, Richard Lane, Jean Hersholt, Charles Brown or even Robert Lowery, all shifty and at each others throats from the word go but which one is guilty? At least Moto's sidekick wrestler Warren Hymer has no doubts, even if he is paradoxically also continually bewildered. Mention ghosts and Willie Best makes an appearance! The dialogue was surprisingly witty, the production values high - from the delightful evening party to the beads of sweat on various foreheads. The running gag was supplied by McGurk's unstinting admiration for Moto always besting him at judo - he sure took some beating and shooting at in here!

Great non-heavy entertainment as usual, an excellent entry in the series.

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.

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.