I thought this was pretty good. It takes place in Puerto Rico where a gang of diamond smugglers are at work. On the way over, Moto meets a professional wrestler who tags along with him (perhaps we could call them a tag team). Once they arrive, the military man in charge is under scrutiny for allowing things to occur under his watch. As is usually the case in these types of films, there are all kinds of suspects. Peter Lorre is at his best in this one as he must play roles in order to keep everyone off their game. A question I've been pondering has to do with how many white suits Moto has. Once again, as I've said at other times, "How is it that the bad guys can fire a hundred shots and not hit any of the good guys?" There are plot problems like over the place as well. But still it's pretty entertaining as are most of these films.

Herbert I. Leeds directs Peter Lorre in this episode of the Mr. Moto series. Diamond smugglers in Puerto Rico murder a lead investigator; this forces the U.S. Government to call upon super sleuth Kentaro Moto(Lorre)to further investigate and break up the suspected criminal ring. As always when summoned, Moto's powers of reason prove flawless when dealing with dim-bulb hoodlums. With martial arts and mental prowess, the unassuming and mild mannered Mr. Moto is victorious in meeting the challenge. Deadpan humor is not lost in the crime and drama. The supporting cast features: Jean Hersholt, Richard Lane, Amanda Duff, Leon Ames, Paul Harvey and Warren Hymer, as Twister McGurk.

***SPOILERS*** Mr. Moto, Peter Lorre, is sent to the island of Puerto Rico to check out a diamond smuggling ring that's responsible for the murder of a Government Agent, Rodney Graham, who had infiltrated it. Faking an appendicitis attack Mr. Moto and his good friend and bodyguard, as if he needs one, professional wrestler Twister McGurk, Warren Hymen, is kidnapped by the smugglers on his way to the hospital only to lead the local police straight to them. In what was a wild brawl the leader of the group Capt.Dahlen, Eddie Marr, escaped to the Puerto Ricen swamps where his smugging operation originates from. Now again faking that he in fact is not Mr. Motto Mister Motto gets himself, together with Twister McGurk, recruited into the diamond smuggling ring using the allies of wanted and on the lamb hood Yoko Simura.Not one of the better Mr. Moto movies with the fearless and martial arts expert Mr. Motto getting his nice clean and pressed white suit and pants wet and dirtied with mud in the swamps where the diamond smugglers are operating out of. It takes a while for Mr. Moto to find out who's really behind this diamond smuggling ring that has already murdered two people including the Governor of the Island John Bentley, Paul Harvey, who had uncovered his identity. It's when Capt. Dahlen is caught in his attempted escape,on a motor boat, from the law that Mr. Moto devises a fool proof plan to get the head of this diamond smuggling ring to come out in the open. That in him trying to murder the seriously injured Capt. Dahlen before he comes out of his coma and talks to the police!***SPOILERS**** As the saying goes "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and that also goes for Capt. Dahlen. He was dead all the time but the clever Mr. Moto kept that from the person who was to eventually "murder" him to keep him from talking. A neat trick on Mr. Moto's part in having him expose himself by killing Capt. Dahlen a second time, he in fact died in a shoot out with the police on the high seas, in him not knowing that he was dead already!

Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939) *** (out of 4)Seventh film in the series finds Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) tracking down a diamond smuggling ring working from South America through Puerto Rico. Along the way various murders begin to happen with a wide range of suspects. I've read that this was originally intended to be an entry in Fox's Charlie Chan series but it works well as a Moto movie. The movie has a nice pace to it, a great supporting cast and overall nice story, which makes this here another winner. What works the best is the cast and the lead performance by Lorre. He certainly never struck me as looking Japanese but he certainly digs deep into the character and delivers all the goods in terms of manor isms and various gestures that he does throughout. Warren Hymer adds a lot of nice comic touches in his role as the dimwitted wrestler who befriends Moto early on in the film and refuses to leave his side. Richard Lane, from the Boston Blackie series, does a very good job in his role of the Commissioner and we also get nice turns by Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff, Leon Ames and Paul Harvey. Even though the film is set in Puerto Rico, you really can't tell that but the stuff in the swamp contains some nice atmosphere. The movie is certainly one of the better entries in the series and makes for a nice, fast paced entertainment.