Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)

I thoroughly enjoy B movies series and the Mr. Moto series is among my favorites. This entry involves a treasure map which can be completed when seven ancient scrolls are brought together; this map leads to the tomb and treasure of Genghis Khan. Mr. Moto is a very physical detective and dispatches his adversaries quickly and without compunction. The story is one not only of adventure but honor, courage and loyalty to old friends. The cast is a strong one with Sidney Blackmer as the villain, John Carradine as the oily and dishonest antiques dealer, Pereira (since Pereira is a common Portuguese name and the character calls the men señor, it's likely that the character is Portuguese), Philip Ahn as Moto's good friend Prince Chang and Pauline Frederick as Madame Chang (given her earlier illustrious career in movies and on the stage, it's a bit sad that her last movie was in a B film). As usual, Thomas Beck plays an affable young man. However, he does have quite the screen presence and it's a surprise he didn't have more of a movie career. Richard Loo has an uncredited role as a police officer (although Chinese, Loo very often played Japanese officers and villains in WW II movies) Peter Lorre does a great job as Moto and that with the great production values and solid cast, makes this a movie a winner.

Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)*** (out of 4)Second film in the series has Peter Lorre returning as Mr. Moto. This time out Moto must battle bad guys who will stop at nothing to get the seven pieces of a map that when put together shows an endless treasure of Genghis Khan. This second film is certainly a major step up from the previous film, which in itself was good. This one here takes everything that worked in the first movie and just builds more fire around it and then pours some gas on it for a real explosion of entertainment. The movie runs an extremely fast 67-minutes and there's really nothing dull throughout the film. The story itself is a very interesting and entertaining one as pieces together a treasure map always makes for many enjoyable situations. Lorre really nails his character down perfectly with some great vocabulary and some even better fighting scenes. Even though there weren't as many fights this time around I can't help but get a huge smile when Lorre goes into action. It's also very refreshing to see Moto kill, which is something other stars of this genre wouldn't do in a million years. Moto will even take it a step further and rub the killings in. The supporting cast of Thomas Beck, Pauline Frederick and Sidney Blackmer are all great as well. John Carradine nearly steals the film in his role as a Chinese art dealer. I'm going through the series one by one so I'm not sure if any of them will eventually top this one but fans of the genre will certainly get a kick out of this one.

"Adventurer, explorer, soldier of fortune...one of the Orient's mysteries. No one knows much about him, except that when he shows up something usually happens." It would be wise to remember, also, that when Kentaro Moto fights an opponent, he most often wins by killing the man. Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre), in his second film adventure for Twentieth Century Fox, is on the hunt for a rare scroll painting, one of seven that together hold the key to where in the Gobi desert lies the lost tomb of Genghis Khan...a tomb filled with gold, gems and legendary treasure. The scrolls themselves are priceless works of art from the time of Kublai Khan that had been in the possession of a noble handmaiden to the last great Chinese empress. But the seventh had been stolen from her and her son. Mr. Moto is on the trail, but so is a group of unscrupulous collectors and fortune hunters who won't stop at murder to achieve their end. All this starts out in a caravan crossing the Gobi with Mr. Moto disguised to the nines and fending off a knife-wielding camel driver. Then we're in exotic Pekin (Beijing nowadays) for the rest of the movie, moving from posh hotels filled with wealthy Westerners (and Mr. Moto) wearing white suits and shoes to ancient, crowded streets filled with antique shops, hurrying Chinese, carts, rickshaws and gunmen. The climax is a struggle in a filthy river and aboard a huge junk. Mr. Moto's death toll is not excessive considering the provocations. The scrolls, now united, meet an honorable fate. We even get a bit of philosophy from Mr. Moto to ponder while we struggle for our last breath..."Birth is not a beginning...death is not an end." Thank You, Mr. Moto works so well because it moves briskly and the Moto character is not condescended to, or at least not much. There also are some vivid character actors to enjoy. Two of my favorites are Sig Ruman as Colonel Tchernov, a wealthy and ruthless man who will have what he wants to have. Ruman, for me, always looked impressive as a nobleman or pompous boor. When I hear his voice and accent, I can't help but smile at the sound of all those comic Nazis he played later in movies such as To Be or Not to Be and Stalag 17. John Carradine shows up as Periera, a small but pungent part as an obsequious and unreliable antiques dealer. Most of all, however, the Mr. Moto movies are such good entertainment because of Peter Lorre. He manages to look innocent while being no one's fool. Lorre gives us a ruthless and amusing portrayal.

This is the second Mr. Moto film and I enjoyed the hell out of it! I've only got two movies of this series under my belt at the time of this writing but I liked this entry even more than the first one, which was called THINK FAST, MR. MOTO. I was struck by how much the Moto character and the formula of this film in particular reminded me of James Bond; I could almost see Sean Connery somewhere in here, if he had taken on 007 twenty-five years sooner! Peter Lorre again plays the very eccentric Mr. Moto, and this time he's trying to find the tomb of Genghis Khan, which can only be located by securing seven ancient scrolls with intricate artwork drawn on them that may provide the desired information. There is a treasure housed in the burial place, and so Moto is not the only seeker interested in obtaining each of these valued art scrolls. Lorre is very good in this part, and he displays a varying array of moods as Mr. Moto. This chapter benefits from a generous amount of wham-bam action and also some necessary violence which seems daring for the times in which the production was made. It's also a real treat to see Sig Rumann here again as the heavy, as well as a change of pace stint by John Carradine as a foreign antiques dealer. Good stuff. Thank You indeed, Mr. Moto. *** out of ****