Mr. Moto sur le ring

I'd consider this one of the better of Peter Lorre's eight Mr. Moto films, with a good story of ringside gambling and crooks. The mysterious Japanese investigator must unravel what happened when a boxer was killed during a match. This one's got a well rounded cast too, beginning with Keye Luke making an appearance as none other than Charlie Chan's son, who is enrolled in a class which Mr. Moto is teaching. Also featuring Lon Chaney Jr. as a thug, and John Hamilton (Perry White on TV's SUPERMAN), too. Former real-life boxer-turned-actor Maxie Roosenbloom is the dimwitted comic relief. While watching and enjoying this entry I had the feeling that this was not in the same mold as previous Moto films I've seen. It was after the movie ended that I learned why via an informative bonus feature on the DVD -- MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE was originally scripted to be another Warner Oland Charlie Chan film for Fox, but Oland was having problems at the time, so the script was rebooted as a Mr. Moto film, with Peter Lorre practically doing Warner Oland. *** out of ****

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.

Mr. Moto's Gamble finds our Japanese sleuth in the position of teacher and among his pupils is Keye Luke the son of that other Asian detective Charlie Chan. He's Charlie's number one son, but he's Moto's number one pupil and he says he will write a letter to Charlie saying so.

Peter Lorre and Keye Luke are at a prize fight when one of the fighters is knocked out and later dies of a poison delivered in a most unusual manner. There was a lot of syndicate money on this fight and originally the winner was held for manslaughter. However Dick Baldwin is released in time to face champion Ward Bond where there is more villainy afoot.

Maxie Rosenbloom who had given up the ring for a more lucrative career in movies plays a former boxer who is a kleptomaniac and hangs out with Keye Luke during the film. Maxie's taking ways are what ultimately leads to the unmasking of the murderer.

Many players who have done roles in gangster films are in the cast and provide us a load of red herrings as to the murderer. You'll have to see one of the better Mr. Moto features to see who does it.

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.

Asian detectives, as far as 20th Century Fox was concerned, are interchangeable, so producers had no trouble turning this Charlie Chan film into a Mr. Moto one. Apparently there was some sort of problem between Fox and the current Chan, Warner Oland, so they did a switch. I know some people state the film was switched because Warner Oland died, but he didn't die until five months after this film was released.

Anyway, Mr. Moto is teaching a class in the science of investigation and who should one of his students be but Lee Chan (Keye Luke). And it's quite a cast: Lynn Bari, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, John Hamilton (Perry White from the TV Superman), Ward Bond, and Lon Chaney Jr.

Moto becomes involved in the death of a prize fighter after he's knocked out in the ring, but it turns out the man was murdered with poison on the opponent's glove.

Peter Lorre is just terrific, and while this isn't the greatest Mr. Moto film ever made, he's wonderful. Unfortunately, after Pearl Harbor, Mr. M kind of disappeared.