On a freighter going from San Francisco to Shanghai, Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) solves mysteries caused by a gang of smugglers. First of the series.Director Norman Foster was given this B-movie assignment, but it is probably better remembered today than many of the A pictures that came out at the time. With Peter Lorre, a strong (if under-appreciated) actor taking the lead, this was guaranteed to be something special.Say what you will about the racism, sexism, or anything else of this nature. Such things have to be overlooked sometimes, and this is one of those times. The film is just too clever to be faulted.

Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) *** (out of 4)San Francisco's Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) finds himself on a ship for Shanghai where he meets a young man (Thomas Beck) whose father owns the ship. Once in China we start to uncover a smuggling ring and a mysterious woman (Virginia Field) who has started a fling with the young man. The first film in Fox's series is a winning film even though the middle of the movie seems to lose focus on the actual story as we get a tad bit too much romance. For the most part the film moves at a very quick pace and delivers some fun performances. I found the middle of the film to get too bogged down with the romance between Beck and Field but other than that this film is a pretty good success. What works best of all is Lorre and his wonderful characterization of Moto. I'm sure some might be offended by Lorre playing an Asian but we have to remember when the film was made and this type of movie did show him in a very positive light. Lorre has some perfect mannerisms and really has the style of Moto down. I loved seeing Lorre during the fighting sequences because he was very believable even with his short size. Field and Beck were also good in their roles as was Sig Ruman and Lotus Long. J. Carrol Naish has a small supporting role as well.

Mr. Moto, at least for me, is a surprise. The Hollywood caricatures of other races -- the foot- shuffling and eye-rolling of black males, the "Ah-so'ing,' "honorable son" and awful pseudo- Confucianism of Charlie Chan -- is not much present with Kentaro Moto (Peter Lorre), executive director of an import-export firm "with a hobby for magic." Sure, this being Hollywood Lorre wears glasses but they're not thick. He uses a dental appliance with slightly protuberant and poorly spaced choppers, but it's only a slight exaggeration. There's some overly polite dialogue for Lorre, but Lorre's distinctive Hungarian accent makes it more piquant that demeaning. Mr. Moto also is an expert at hand-to-hand combat, an occasional detective and good at disguises. He's smart and clever. It also helps at times that Mr. Moto is ruthless, and seems more amused than anything else when he causes the death of a bad guy. He doesn't seem perturbed in the slightest when one night he tosses a man off the side of a passenger liner in the middle of the Pacific. The next morning he even inquires about the missing man's health. Peter Lorre, short and innocent looking, with the hint of something that might be disturbing just below the surface, is excellent. Think Fast, Mr. Moto is the first of the Moto series. For a low-budget movie supervised by a Twentieth Century Fox B-movie producer and directed by a man with little experience, the movie is fast-paced, well constructed and a lot of fun. It's no more than what it is, and what it is was put together in a craftsman-like way. The story has to do with the smuggling of gems and drugs between Shanghai and the States. A passenger line is being used in this dangerous game, and most of the movie takes place either on the high seas or in Shanghai. There are a lot of people about either in evening dress or pulling rickshaws. Among the well-groomed are the young, handsome scion of the cruise ship firm and the beautiful and mysterious young woman who won't discuss her past. We'll also meet her White Russian protector who is based in Shanghai and is almost as good at cards as Mr. Moto. And, of course, there's Mr. Moto, himself, who smiles a lot, asks innocent questions and can deal decisively with a man holding a switchblade. The movie is so fast- paced that in the first six minutes of this hour-and-three-minute film we will encounter a Chinese New Year's dragon parade in San Francisco, a wondrous jewel, clever bargaining, gunplay, oriental treasures and curios, a man in disguise, a corpse in a basket, most of the main characters...and a letter to Wilkie. The letter proves to be as important as the jewels. It's no spoiler to say that Mr. Moto solves the case and traps the villains. We expect that the young couple will enjoy a happy and wealthy relationship. I watched the movie with a smile.

This was the first of the eight Mr. Moto movies but not necessarily the best of the early group, although not bad. I thought the second and third ones were the best of the first grouping of four. This got bogged down a little too much early on with Thomas Beck's infatuation with Virginia Field ("Gloria Danton"). In subsequent Moto movies, the romance angle was lesser and Moto featured more, which is better. However, some of the sappy guy's lust for his girl turns out to tie in with the head crook, so all is not lost in having to sit through the dull romance spots. (Dull because the dialog was affected, especially Beck's as "Bob Hitchings," the son of the shipping magnate and the man pursuing Gloria.When the script featured the crime angle (smuggling), as in the beginning and in the last 25 minutes, it's interesting and gets involving. The long break in the middle of the film makes it easy for the viewer to lose track what exactly is going on here: who is smuggling what. We have to piece things together again when the action re-gains in the last third of the film. There is an interesting twist near the end and we hear Mr. Moto sum everything up a la Charlie Chan.The exotic setting is Shanghai and viewers can enjoy the hectic sets with lots of people running to and fro; obnoxious British and Americans making racist statements to the locals, treating them as insignificant young kids and, of course, all the Asians played by the Anglos. That was part of '30s Hollywood, and you just accept it.The last 40 percent of this movie makes up for any shortcomings and makes the viewing worthwhile. Mr. Moto is definitely one cool guy, who seems to have it all - except height. Peter Lorre was just great playing this role and I hope I get the opportunity to see all eight feature films in the series. I always enjoy his disguises, too, even though they don't fool us for a minute!