Peter Lorre Starred in Eight “Mr. Moto” Films

This 1987 video of MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING (1939)
doesn't come close to the quality of the DVD version.
Peter Lorre leads a rather distinguished cast.
> BUY the DVD version

By today's standards, the “Mr. Moto” series that cast the Austrian Peter Lorre as the Japanese detective known as Mr. Moto violates several standards of political correctness. But in the 1930s Lorre's portrayal of an Asian with an Austrian accent was not considered unusual. The “Mr. Moto” series proved to be successful enough for Twentieth Century Fox to produce eight films featuring the Asian detective between 1937 and 1939.

Inspired by the success of the studio's films with the Chinese detective Charlie Chan, Twentieth Century Fox adapted the Moto mystery series from the novels of John P. Marquand. As with Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan characterization, the movie Mr. Moto bears little resemblance to Marquand's literary creation. In the novels, Mr. Moto speaks unaccented American English. The cinematic Mr. Moto is more of a stereotypical Japanese with a definite accent that is more Austrian than Asian. Of course, even the literary Mr. Moto has a few flaws, including the fact that his last name, “Moto,” is not really a Japanese family name, but only part of a surname such as Yamamoto ("mountain"+"origin") or Matsumoto (or a boy's first name).

Directed by former actor Norman Foster (born Norman Hoeffer), the Mr. Moto series usually managed to rise above average, despite a relatively low B-picture budget. Foster originally wanted to use an Asian actor for the Japanese role, but Fox decided to cast Lorre as Moto, one of many times that Hollywood would fail to fully utilize the Austrian actor's talents. Lorre was having both career and drug problems at the time, so he was in no position to bargain. When called for, stuntman Harvey Parry, a close match in appearance, filled in for Lorre in action scenes. But it was Lorre who made the Moto films successful, with a two-year run from 1937 to 1939, when Lorre moved to Warner Bros. and got some better parts in classics such as The maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and Arsenic and Old Lace.

See more about Lorre's other films on the next page.

WEB > A Guide to the Mr. Moto Films from Classic Images

N E X T > Lorre Films

M O R E > Peter Lorre

ALSO SEE > Casablanca and Lorre's role in that film

Copyright © 2005 Hyde Flippo