THINK FAST, MR. MOTO

Director: Norman Foster

Stars: Peter Lorre, Thomas Beck, Virginia Field, Sig Ruman, Murray Kinnell, Lotus Long

Year: 1937

Rating: NR

When I was young, on WGN every Sunday at noon I grew to love the "mystery movie" channel 9 would show every week. Depending on what week, it would alternate between the old Universal Sherlock Holmes films featuring Basil Rathbone ... or the 20th Century Fox films of the 1930's and 1940's featuring the "great oriental detective" Charlie Chan.

It was only years later, as an adult, that I discovered Mr. Moto. As played by Peter Lorre (a Hungarian Jew of NO Asian descent), the Mr. Moto of the one film I'd seen in the series up to now (Mr. Moto's Last Warning) wouldn't exactly win any awards for political correctness today - but there was always something engaging about the short, bespectacled curio shop owner who sometimes played detective.

And besides - when isn't Peter Lorre a treat to watch on-screen?

I've been wanting to see all the films since learning they were out on DVD, and have started with the first in the series - Think Fast, Mr. Moto. In this one, Kentaro Moto (Lorre) is dealing with jewel and drug smugglers who've been somehow sneaking their cargos from China into San Francisco. When the son of the owner of the Hitchings shipping line, Robert Hitchings Jr. (Thomas Beck), boards an ocean liner bound for Shanghai - with a mysterious letter on him addressed to the head of his father's offices there - Moto books a stateroom near the young Hitchings and is determined to keep both him and the letter safe ... mostly from a crooked ship's steward that, in one cool scene, helps Mr. Moto keep his ju jitsu talents in order.

On board, things get further complicated when Bob Hitchings Jr. meets a glamorous young beauty named Gloria Danton (Virginia Field), and falls head over heels for a woman who might not be all she seems. As the ship docks in Shanghai and Bob's father's letter turns up missing, it's up to Mr. Moto to find the letter - catch the smuggler's - and maybe even kill a few bad guys in the process.

Lorre is great here as the Japanese detective who's an expert marksman, a master of disguise, and even an amateur magician. He gives Moto the right tone and nuances that make the character convincing and likable ... without straying too far into the parody or stereotype. The fight scenes are swift and fun, the story light and with a satisfying conclusion.

The bottom line is, Mr. Moto is very, very cool. And this first in the series, if you like classic films (and especially if you like the late, great Peter Lorre), should make you want to see the rest. *** - Reel Cool