I'm not sure what the title of this is meant to be - plain old Danger Island or Mr Moto in Danger Island. It was the second last in the series and the second not directed by Norman Foster; like the other one, Mr Moto's Gamble, you can tell - also set in Puerto Rico, there is hardly any exotic feel (were they trying to save money? Or just slack). Most of the cast seem plain old American and it feels as though it could have just as easily been set on Catalina Island.
Also Moto has a comic sidekick most of the time, a "loveable lunk" wrestler who wants Moto to teach him jiu jitsu. This feels very like a reworked Charlie Chan script, with the wrestler standing in for Number One Son: Moto is very much a straight up detective (they throw in a little mystery at the end with Moto pretending to pretend to be an imposter) but its resolved very quickly, and there's a Charlie Chan style finale with the main suspects gathered for cross examination.
Douglas Dumbrille is in the cast and so too is Leon Ames - did two actors ever look so alike (doesn't help they both wear white suits). Jean Hersholt adds some class as a suspect and the fights with Peter Lorre's unconvincing double doing ju jujitsu are fun as always. Amanda Duff is the female lead - she's pretty and likeable and went on to marry Philip Dunne in real life.
The story isn't that much - boring old smugglers - and feels anti climactic after previous films involving blowing up French fleets and Genghis Khan's treasure. Also it felt particularly easy to figure out the identity of the big baddie. It's minor Moto.
On the good side though the action does pump along well enough, the acting is pretty strong, and I particularly enjoyed the scene in the swamp.
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