Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is out to find ancient scrolls that, when put together, will create a map to the tomb of Genghis Khan. He must contend with nefarious Sidney Blackmer & co. Second in the Mr. Moto detective series is quite possibly the best. Nice cast that includes Sig Ruman and Thomas Beck, who were both in Think Fast, Mr. Moto. John Carradine plays a disreputable antiquities dealer. Sidney Blackmer was born with a permanent scowl on his face that made him an easy choice to play the villain in movies like this. Philip Ahn gives a sensitive, dignified performance as Prince Chung. He really steals the show from the more well-known supporting actors.The interesting thing about Mr. Moto was that he was not above breaking the law or even killing. He even makes jokes about it. I'm not sure how they got away with this in a picture made after the Code was in full force. It's one of the (many) things that separates this series from Charlie Chan. But it's also one of the drawbacks as you never really feel any emotional connection to Moto as you do with Chan. Still, it's a fun series and this is probably the best of the lot.

This is a fairly typical Mr. Moto film from the superb B-unit at Twentieth Century Fox, but I was quite surprised by certain elements of depth in the film. There are moments of brutality that exceed what was standard in films, especially B-films, of the time. But more interesting was the emotional factor. One scene, the last scene between Peter Lorre's Moto and Philip Ahn's Prince Chung, is really amazing for its humanity and poignant quality, something not readily found in 67-minute programmers of the period. The Moto films, like the Charlie Chans Fox made, are all splendidly made little pictures. This one is better than most.

Unlike most B-mysteries of the 1930s and 40s, this one stands out because the lead actually kills. Granted, the killings were all justified, but you never would have seen Charlie Chan or Sherlock Holmes kill three men in a single film--let alone in all their films! Moto is simply a one-man killing machine as he works to uncover the mystery behind a group of desperate criminals who will stop at nothing to steal seven scrolls--which, together, will lead them to the treasure of Genghis Khan. While this is definitely true of the first two Moto films, later they softened his image and made him more like Charlie Chan--and as a result the later films were a bit more bland.In addition to Moto being such a dangerous man, I also appreciated the film because for a long time it was unclear who Moto was working for--the police, insurance companies or just himself. This lack of clarity and rather amoral tone of the film made it a unique viewing experience! Watch this one and see one of the better examples of the genre.The only negative was having a German guy playing Moto--I'm sure many Asian-Americans would have given their souls to play this part!

This was the 2nd of the 8 Fox Moto's, and like its predecessor Think Fast, was a fast paced action/detective film with high production values and a fine cast of goodies and baddies.It starts out in the Gobi Desert with Moto in possession of something valuable, stabbing an attacker to death and burying him without a pause – all becomes clear an hour later. Back in civilised China he and a bunch of gangsters are after 7 linen scrolls which indicate the whereabouts of Genghis Khan's fortune – Moto has one, nouveau poor Prince Chung and his rigid mother have the others … for the time being. When Moto finally gets to see them his monotone evaluation of their beauty: "The harmony of line and colour – this is truly a voiceless poem" – always makes me think of John Wayne's immortal line in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Non-Oriental Austrian Peter Lorre again plays the importer and detective with class, vim and believably if you understand you're using up your time watching a work of fantasy. Thomas Beck's in here playing handsome devil to glamorous Jayne Regan this time; both had short movie careers. And from the collection of baddies nasty Sidney Blackmer especially stood out, but even he didn't get to kill as many as Moto did! There's a chase sequence near the end which is brought to a rather dramatic conclusion – attention recommended!Great stuff as usual for the enlightened, nothing here for the serious. You watch this, you savvy?