Had a hankering to rewatch these again because I always have enjoyed them even though I absolutely acknowledge the dodginess of Peter Lorre in yellow face. Mind you is Moto the only Japanese hero from a Hollywood studio film? As in, the actual lead, first on the call sheet, all that stuff, not a support? I wouldn't be surprised if he was. And it feels slightly less dodgy because Moto dresses up in so many disguises (I completely acknowledge I'm a white man writing this and it may be far more offensive to other people).
I liked the fast pace of these films - Norman Foster directed - and the stories were pretty good. I loved the studio backlot exotica - Chinatown in San Francisco, on board a liner, Shanghai. The production values feel really strong - Fox didn't stint, there's lots of detailed sets (shops, night clubs) and extras and so on.
The cast is, on the whole, strong. Lorre has star power and Sig Rumann and Murray Kinnell offer strong support. There's a decent Asian support role - Lotus Long (a Japanese actress who often passed as Chinese) as a girl romanced by Moto who helps him out and is shot dead warning the police. You lady killer, Moto!
I've read the original novel - lots of changes made, but it uses some of the same names, and kind of follows the template of the books, which were normally about an American abroad who meets a girl and gets involved in adventures with Moto popping up along the way. Only this film is told from Moto's point of view whereas the books were told from the American man's point of view.
Thomas Beck is okay as the guy - he starts out as a drunk, like the hero of the first Moto novel, but gets sober and responsible disappointingly quick, once he meets mysterious Virginia Field, who is poor, even though she gets to sing a song. But it's a solid start to the series.
2 comments:
"... is Moto the only Japanese hero from a Hollywood studio film?" Well, there was that odd period in the late teens when Sessue Hayakawa was a major Hollywood star for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which later evolved into Paramount. He played heroes and "forbidden lovers." The ladies loved him, but his stardom waned post-World War I. Valentino came along and took over as Hollywood's leading exotic lover.
Absolutely you're right.
James Shigeta had a few leads but I think there was always another star billed above him.
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