Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Brilliant and touching

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

****SPOILERS**** International crime fighter Mister Kentaro "Kenny" Moto, Peter Lorre,is on a mission to see that the Chung family heirloom scrolls-all seven of them- stays in the family and not stolen by a gang of thieves to guide them, by putting the scrolls together, to the tomb and treasures, worth up to 10 million in gold and jewelry, of Mongolian chieftain Genghis Khan. It was first that Moto had to deal with Colonel Tchernov,Sig Ruman, who attempted to get Prince Chung,Philip Ahn, to hand the scrolls over to him, by pulling a gun on the Prince, by offing him with a fatal judo chop-off camera-and making it look like he killed himself.It's then that the late Colonel's wife Madame Tchernov, Nedda Harrigan, had her goons try to get Moto to tell them where the scrolls were or else they'll not only kill him but Prince Chung and his mother Madame Chung, Pauline Frederick, as well. The attempts to murder Mr. Moto by Madame Tchernov's goons fell apart with him outwitting them at every occasion. But it was prince Chung who gave into them when they threatened to murder his mother who in fact was more then willing to die and in fact did then to give up where the scrolls were hidden.***SPOILERS*** It was when Mister Moto turned Madame Tchernov against her lover the real boss of this criminal operation Herr Koerger, Sidney Blackman, by claiming he was going to drop her for pretty socialite Eleanor Joyce ,Jayne Regan, which caused the two now ex-lovers to turn on each other. That give Moto the chance to gun down Koerger and neutralize, by having her arrested, Madame Tchernov when all the dust cleared. In the end Prince Chung committed suicide for dishonoring his ancestors by revealing where the scrolls were hidden but Mister Moto cleared all that up by burning them in preventing any more people getting killed over them as a favor , that he made while he was still alive, to the late Prince Chung!

"Adventurer, explorer, soldier of fortune...one of the Orient's mysteries. No one knows much about him, except that when he shows up something usually happens." It would be wise to remember, also, that when Kentaro Moto fights an opponent, he most often wins by killing the man. Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre), in his second film adventure for Twentieth Century Fox, is on the hunt for a rare scroll painting, one of seven that together hold the key to where in the Gobi desert lies the lost tomb of Genghis Khan...a tomb filled with gold, gems and legendary treasure. The scrolls themselves are priceless works of art from the time of Kublai Khan that had been in the possession of a noble handmaiden to the last great Chinese empress. But the seventh had been stolen from her and her son. Mr. Moto is on the trail, but so is a group of unscrupulous collectors and fortune hunters who won't stop at murder to achieve their end. All this starts out in a caravan crossing the Gobi with Mr. Moto disguised to the nines and fending off a knife-wielding camel driver. Then we're in exotic Pekin (Beijing nowadays) for the rest of the movie, moving from posh hotels filled with wealthy Westerners (and Mr. Moto) wearing white suits and shoes to ancient, crowded streets filled with antique shops, hurrying Chinese, carts, rickshaws and gunmen. The climax is a struggle in a filthy river and aboard a huge junk. Mr. Moto's death toll is not excessive considering the provocations. The scrolls, now united, meet an honorable fate. We even get a bit of philosophy from Mr. Moto to ponder while we struggle for our last breath..."Birth is not a beginning...death is not an end." Thank You, Mr. Moto works so well because it moves briskly and the Moto character is not condescended to, or at least not much. There also are some vivid character actors to enjoy. Two of my favorites are Sig Ruman as Colonel Tchernov, a wealthy and ruthless man who will have what he wants to have. Ruman, for me, always looked impressive as a nobleman or pompous boor. When I hear his voice and accent, I can't help but smile at the sound of all those comic Nazis he played later in movies such as To Be or Not to Be and Stalag 17. John Carradine shows up as Periera, a small but pungent part as an obsequious and unreliable antiques dealer. Most of all, however, the Mr. Moto movies are such good entertainment because of Peter Lorre. He manages to look innocent while being no one's fool. Lorre gives us a ruthless and amusing portrayal.

I usually find it helpful to keep a scorecard when watching a Charlie Chan film to keep track of all the characters, for this one, you need it just for the action. Yikes! - it took about twenty movies in the Chan franchise to build up to four dead bodies in one outing, but here they pile up fast and furious. Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is not above dispatching a few himself, and just as he did in the first film of the series (Think Fast, Mr. Moto), winds up throwing a man over board. There are other similarities as well, the biggest coincidence being the use of the name Marco Polo; here it's the name of a bridge, while in 'Think Fast', it was the name of a cruise ship.By this time, we know Moto to be an importer operating as a detective, but here we learn that he's also an adventurer, explorer, soldier of fortune and one of the Orient's great mysteries. Or so he's described by businessman Tom Nelson (Thomas Beck). In the story, Moto seeks to protect a missing scroll that when joined together with others to form a pattern, indicates the location of the burial place of Genghis Khan and a vast treasure. Of course, a host of others seek to own the desired scroll, as much as Madame Chung (Pauline Frederick) and her son, the Prince (Philip Ahn) are determined to protect it.Oddities abound in the film, as in the opening scene when Moto in disguise dispatches an assassin in the Gobi Desert, and proceeds to bury him - inside the tent! John Carradine makes an appearance in the story as an antiques dealer named Periera, and for some unexplained reason uses the terms 'senor' and 'senorita' when addressing Nelson and Eleanor Joyce (Jayne Regan). And say, could there really have been an American bar in China in 1937 called 'Mike's Place'? But you know what, most of it doesn't matter, because Mr. Moto is a bundle of energy uncovering the bad guys and tracking down the stolen Chung scrolls. He even concocts a romantic link between the main heavy Koerger (Sidney Blackmer) and Miss Joyce to create a jealous rage in Madame Tchernov (Nedda Harrigan), thereby undermining the villain's plot to discover the treasure. But the biggest shock of all is the way it ends, and for that you'll have to see the picture.With just a couple of the Mr. Moto films under my belt for now, it's quite unusual to see how differently he operates compared to the other Oriental Detectives of the era, notably Charlie Chan and Mr. Wong. Whereas the latter two solved their cases much more methodically, Moto combines clever analysis and martial action to achieve his results, and the results are entirely entertaining. Peter Lorre adds a distinctive flair to the Moto persona, and gets one excited about catching the next film in the series - Oh, so!

I love the Mr. Moto series. My favorite is the first, Think Fast, Mr. Moto, but this second in the series comes a close second. Mr.Moto has been tasked (by whom we don't know) to locate the treasure of Genghis Kahn. His good friend Prince Chung is a descendant of Kahn, and cares for 5 (one was stolen) scrolls that, when put together with the remaining two, reveal the location of the tomb of Genghis Kahn, and within it, a vast treasure.Considering how Japanese/Chinese relations were at the time, the friendship of Moto and Chung is perhaps unusual, but its very touching.John Carradine does a lovely turn as the slimy antique dealer Parera, Thomas Beck is the usual boyish hero in love with the girl. Philip Ahn is quite good as Prince Chung. Why his mother was played by Pauline Frederick instead of a Chinese woman I do not know, but she did quite a good job in her last movie.Quite a few Chinese actors had walk ons in this movie, and the Chinese police are shown in a good light - they too are anxious to stop the smuggling of art objects.It's fast paced, it's fun, I recommend it.