Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)

On Christmas Eve, 1937, the second Mr. Moto film, Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) staring Peter Lorre, debuted. International Agent Mr. Moto strives to protect Chinese cultural treasures from international criminals. The Seven Scrolls will reveal the hiding place for the Tomb of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan’s warriors reportedly buried great treasure with their dead leader.

Mr. Moto’s friend Prince Chun has inherited the responsibility for guarding The Seven Scrolls. Chun’s family has protected the scrolls for centuries. Prince Chun must maintain control of the Seven Scrolls or disgrace his ancestors.

Mr. Moto must help his friend fight off the foreign agents. Mr. Moto is an expert in the Japanese martial art of Ju-Jitsu and often uses these grappling skills to defeat the criminals that he is tracking. Almost all the Mr. Moto films have scenes of the diminutive Mr. Moto tossing much bigger attackers around with Judo and Ju-Jitsu.

Surprisingly, Mr. Moto also actually kills a couple people in this film. He knifes a Mongolian agent of the foreign criminals out in the Gobi Desert besides shooting other criminals.

I found Peter Lorre’s performance as Mr. Moto in this film much more watchable than some of his later performances as Mr. Moto. Lorre used more of the “pigeon English” stereotype in some of the other films. While it was ploy to fool criminals, it is still distasteful. Peter Lorre made eight Mr. Moto films between 1937 and 1939, when World War II killed any chance for a Japanese hero in American films.

Think Fast, Mr. Moto is about 67 minutes long. Let me know what you think of this film, Peter Lorre or the series in the show notes. Enjoy the movies.

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