''Mysterious Mr. Moto'', produced in 1938 by

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

, is the fifth in a series of eight films starring

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...

as Mr. Moto. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by

John P. Marquand John Phillips Marquand (November 10, 1893 – July 16, 1960) was an American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a Pulitzer Prize for '' T ...

, from an original screenplay by Philip MacDonald and

Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...

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

Plot

A daring escape is made from the French penal colony on

Devil's Island The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953, in the Salvation Islan ...

by Mr. Moto, pretending to be Ito Matsuka, a Japanese murderer, and Paul Brissac, who belongs to a group of assassins. Brissac changes his name to Romero when they arrive in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Moto stays on as his houseboy. Moto then uncovers a plot to assassinate pacifist industrialist Anton Darvak.

Cast

as Mr. Kentaro Moto *

Mary Maguire Mary Maguire (born Ellen Theresa Maguire 22 February 1919) was an Australian-born actress who briefly became a Hollywood and British film star in the late 1930s. Early life Maguire was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Michael "Mickey" Magu ...

as Ann Richman *

Henry Wilcoxon Henry Wilcoxon (born Harry Frederick Wilcoxon; 8 September 1905 – 6 March 1984) was a British-American actor and film producer, born in the British West Indies. He was known as an actor in many of director Cecil B. DeMille's films, also ser ...

as Anton Darvak * Erik Rhodes as David Scott-Frensham *

Harold Huber Harold Huber (born Harold Joseph Huberman, December 5, 1909September 29, 1959) was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television. Early life Huber was born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Imperial Russia, who had arrived in ...

as Ernst Litmar *

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry Leon Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rem ...

as Paul Brissac (alias Romero) *

Forrester Harvey Forrester Harvey (27 June 1884 – 14 December 1945) was an Irish film actor. Career From 1922 until his death year Harvey appeared in more than 115 films. He was credited for about two-thirds of his film appearances, but some of his roles ...

as George Higgins * Fredrik Vogeding as Gottfried Brujo *

Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. Career In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. M ...

as Sir Charles Murchison * John Rogers as Sniffy * Karen Sorrell as Lotus Liu

Production

Henry Wilcoxon replaced Michael Whalen in the cast. It was an early Hollywood role for Australian actor Mary Maguire. Filming took place in March and April 1938, shortly after completion of ''Mr Moto's Gamble''. During filming Peter Lorre, as Moto, impersonated a seventy-year-old German painter.

Reception

The film was released in May 1938. The ''Los Angeles Times'' praised the "exciting action". It arrived in New York in September.

Home media

This film, along with ''

Think Fast, Mr. Moto ''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Norman Foster and featuring a mysterious Japanese detective named Mr. Moto. It is the first of eight films in the Mr. Moto series, all based on the character Mr. Moto create ...

'', '' Thank You, Mr. Moto'' and '' Mr. Moto Takes a Chance'', was released on DVD in 2006 by 20th Century Fox as part of ''The Mr. Moto Collection, Volume One''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mysterious Mister Moto 1938 films 1930s mystery films American black-and-white films American mystery films Films directed by Norman Foster Films set on Devil's Island Films set in London 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Samuel Kaylin 1930s American films