Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939)

In the sixth of eight Mr. Moto films released between 1937 and 1939, Interpol police officer Kentaro Moto pursues a group of international saboteurs. Twentieth Century – Fox Film Corporation released Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939) (affiliate link) on January 20, 1939. Peter Lorre returns as the cerebral but deadly Mr. Moto.

Ricardo Cortez plays Fabian the Great, a ventriloquist, who leads the saboteurs. The saboteurs mine the Suez Canal with the intent of blowing up a ship. The wreckers intend to pin the crime on the British government. Besides Mr. Moto being on their trail, a British agent has also infiltrated the group.

Mr. Moto must foil the saboteurs without giving himself away. After he throws around two big sailors with his jujitsu skills to protect a tourist, he knows it will not be long before the saboteurs discover his true identity.

Ricardo Cortez played heroic characters in early 1930s films but played primarily villains in the 1940s and 1950s. Cortez was born Jacob Krantz to Austrian Jewish immigrants on September 19, 1900. Both Jacob and his brother Simon, who was a cinematographer, changed their last name to Cortez.

Ricardo’s looks pegged him as a “Latin lover” in the Rudolph Valentino mold. As he grew older, he found work as the slick villain in many films like Mr. Moto’s Last Warning. In the 1940s, Ricardo went into semi-retirement and became a wealthy Wall Street broker. Ricardo’s filmography contained 102 credits mostly before 1944. Ricardo Cortez passed away in New York City on April 28, 1977 at 76 years of age.

The film runs approximately 70 minutes. It is one of the better films (affiliate link) in the series. Let me know what you think of the film.

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