Mysterious Mr Moto ** (1938, Peter Lorre, Mary Maguire, Henry Wilcoxon, Erik Rhodes, Harold Huber, Leon Ames) – Classic Movie Review 11,992

Peter Lorre again stars as Mr Moto in director Norman Foster’s 1938 20th Century Fox thriller Mysterious Mr Moto, the fifth in a series of eight films.

The film is from an original screenplay by Philip MacDonald and Norman Foster, based on John P Marquand’s character.

After escaping from the French penal colony on Devil’s Island, Mr Moto (Peter Lorre), pretending to be Japanese murderer Matsuka, falls in with assassin group member Paul Brissac (Leon Ames). In London, Brissac takes the alias of Romero and Moto is his houseboy, uncovering a plot to assassinate pacifist industrialist Anton Darvak (Henry Wilcoxon).

It was originally known as Mysterious Mr Moto of Devil’s Island.

Just after Mr Moto’s Gamble was shot, filming started in March and April 1938.

The cast are Peter Lorre as Mr Kentaro Moto, Mary Maguire as Ann Richman, Henry Wilcoxon as Anton Darvak, Erik Rhodes as David Scott-Frensham, Harold Huber as Ernst Litmar, Leon Ames as Paul Brissac alias Romero, Forrester Harvey as George Higgins, Fredrik Vogeding as Gottfried Brujo, Lester Matthews as Sir Charles Murchison, John Rogers as Sniffy and Karen Sorrell as Lotus Liu.

Mysterious Mr Moto, Think Fast, Mr Moto, Thank You, Mr Moto and Mr Moto Takes a Chance were released on DVD in 2006 by 20th Century Fox as The Mr Moto Collection, Volume One.

The films in the series are Think Fast, Mr Moto (1937), Thank You, Mr Moto (1937), Mr Moto’s Gamble (1938), Mr Moto Takes a Chance (1938), Mysterious Mr Moto (1938), Mr Moto’s Last Warning (1939), Mr Moto in Danger Island (1939), and Mr Moto Takes a Vacation (1939).

There was a further film in 1965, The Return of Mr Moto.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,992

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