The first in 20th Century Fox's cheerful Charlie Chan knock off, Mr Moto, with Peter Lorre very effective in the title role. Within the first five minutes he's established himself - a master of disguise, cunning, the type of blends in with the crowd, clever, observant and a dab hand with the ju-jitsu (or at least his body double is). He then goes on a ship which takes him to Hawaii and he uncovers a smuggling racket. It's a fairly routine plot, with a bland male lead who starts out interesting (the seemingly alcoholic son of the owner of the liner, spoilt and useless) who I was expecting to turn up dead and/or villain but turns boringly decent, a supposed femme fetale who also whimps out and becomes a nice person. (Thomas Beck and Virginia Field aren't particularly memorable in these roles) However the story thumps along with plenty going on and I admit didn't pick the identity of the big boss.
Sig Rumann and J Carroll Naish add some experienced villainy. It's a B film but it was a studio B film which means the production values are high - San Francisco's Chinatown (where the film begins), the ship, a night club in Honolulu, rickshaw drivers, etc. Norman Foster directs with plenty of pace and Lorre completely commits to his role.
I also love how the way they show Moto you're never sure if he's a goodie or a baddie - I mean, because his name is in the credits you basically know he's going to be a goodie but they play him so enigmatically, never revealing his real role until the very end. (In the last five minutes he could still turn around and be bad, which I think is good writing and helps differentiate the character from Charlie Chan.) Gets the series off to a strong start - if you don't like it don't bother watching the rest.
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