Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation

The fact that this story mostly takes place in Honolulu certainly gives credence to the idea that this film was originally meant by 20th Century Fox to be for the Charlie Chan series. So instead of Honolulu PD's finest going undercover during an archaeological expedition its the soft spoken Japanese private investigator that does.

Peter Lorre is undercover, but that's soon blown on shipboard by G.P. Huntley playing an upper crust British twit who has a knack for turning up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but actually by accident helping Moto. Some priceless artifacts are recovered from the dig and are to be displayed in a museum in Honolulu. And there's a mysterious master crook at large known to be seeking said items for theft.

With such likely suspects as Joseph Schildkraut and Lionel Atwill in the cast you can imagine either of them as the master crook, but there are others whose behavior might make them suspicious. I will say it isn't Huntley although if he had been the brains behind all the villainy that would have been a real interesting twist.

The Moto series came to a close with relations with the Japanese getting downright unfriendly. And certainly Peter Lorre was going on to bigger and better things.

Disguised as a German archaeologist, Moto (Peter Lorre) helps unearth the priceless crown of the legendary Queen of Sheba and sans disguise defends it from a variety of thugs and criminals.

Plenty of good fights, an excellent plot, and the beard... man, what a beard. Lorre should have had a beard in more of his films.

At this point, the Moto series was winding down, Lorre was getting sick of doing them, and it would not be the least surprising if director Norman Foster was ready to move on, too. At least they had one thing going for them in this installment: Lionel Atwill, an actor probably best known for his 1930s horror films.

Moto (Peter Lorre) starts out in the North African desert, where the fabled crown of the Queen of Sheba is unearthed by archaeologists. Moto travels with the artifact first to Hawaii and then to San Francisco, where various parties try to steal it, including a legendary criminal mastermind known only as "Metaxa".

This one is a bit over-stuffed with characters, and at times it seems a bit muddled, but it's still fun, and Lorre is a hoot. The identity of "Metaxa" isn't too difficult to figure out, but I liked seeing Moto get his own Moriarty

It's hard to dislike a Mr Moto film, not only because of the stylishness with which they were all made but because, of course, Peter Lorre is so ingratiating in a role tailor-made for him. He is just excellent in the part and it is a pity there were only eight entries in this charming series. As for MR MOTO TAKES A VACATION, I can recommend it quite highly.

Like others I will offer the one caveat: the rather irritating "comic relief" character. Hollywood had such marvelous actors available to play the typical "silly-ass" Englishman that it is a wonder why they allowed this gentleman to take the role and to overplay it so gratingly. The writing here could have been tightened up a bit, and the reliable Norman Foster could have toned him down a few pegs.

But much of this is balanced by other delights in the film, starting with dear, old Willie Best in a wonderfully funny (and beautifully directed) cameo. Bob Hope called Best one of the best actors he'd ever worked with. It's easy to see why here. He is as lovable as everyone's favorite bumbling Uncle, a sort of compendium of both Laurel and Hardy. Also distinguishing its interesting cast is the great Joesph Schildkraut, an actor incapable of giving a bad performance. He was one of the masters of his profession.

Charming, fun, and magnificently photographed in rich, lustrous black and white, I really don't think you could go wrong with this one.

Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto in "Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation" from 1939. Moto is in Egypt helping with the security of a precious crown, that of the Queen of Sheba. He accompanies the crown on board ship, and he's undercover until Archie Featherstone (G. P. Huntley) announces his true identity for all to hear.

Once on terra firma, Moto's work becomes more difficult as it seems some people are not what they seem. And Moto isn't sure the famous crook Metaxa is really dead - in fact, he thinks he's hovering around. Moto plans on drawing him out.

Fairly easy to figure out, but I won't say why.

Some good character actors, including Joseph Schildkraut and Lionel Atwill, appearing with Virginia Field.

As a side note, the lovely Ms. Field could perhaps have reached major stardom had she knocked Darryl Zanuck on a head with a decanter when he made a pass at her. She was also very outspoken, which didn't help her either.

As we all know, #metoo was always very prevalent in Hollywood. According to many actresses, if you didn't "cooperate" you didn't get big parts. The starlet Rita Gam, an astonishingly beautiful woman, refused to go to Hollywood until someone offered her a $1250 a week contract. Why? Those who made $750 a week and under were part of the "visiting firemen" brigade. Sad but true.