MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) in disguise as an old guru

MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE (1938). Director: Norman Foster.

"If I was casting a horror picture I'd have him play the murderer." -- reference to Mr. Moto.

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is on an archaeological dig in Cambodia, which is under French rule, when who should drop in by parachute but Victoria Mason (Rochell Hudson), who was flying around the world until her plane caught fire. Among the other supporting characters are filmmakers Marty (Robert Kent of Who's Guilty?) and Chick (Chick Chandler of Circumstantial Evidence), who hope to photograph some of the forbidden royal temples. Objecting to this is Bokor (George Regas), the High Priest, who is in a power struggle with the portly and deceptively amusing Rajah Ali (J. Edward Bromberg of The Mark of Zorro). Then one of the Rajah's wives is murdered by poison dart. Half of the time Moto disguises himself as an elderly guru  who gives orders to the High Priest while spies are plotting and trying to kill each other -- and Moto -- everywhere. If this sounds interesting, be warned that Mr. Moto Takes a Chance is essentially a plot-less stew with a thrown-together script that just gets duller as it goes along until a fairly exciting climax in the temple. Peter Lorre gives his customary good performance but one senses he was mighty bored with the material, along with the audience.

Verdict: Where's Charlie Chan when you need him? **. 

THINK FAST, MR. MOTO

Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto

THINK FAST, MR. MOTO (1937). Director: Norman Foster.

"Half of the world spends its time laughing at the other half -- and both are fools." -- Mr. Moto.

"Strange people, these Americans." -- ditto.

On a liner heading for China, a mysterious Japanese man named Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) encounters a pleasant young fellow named Bob Hitchings (Thomas Beck), whose father owns the steamship company. Bob falls hard for another mysterious person, Gloria (Virginia Field), who is employed as a singer at the International Club in Shanghai. Gloria's employer, Nicolas Marloff (Sig Ruman) is up to some skulduggery and Mr. Moto seems to have an uncertain role in this. Is he good guy or bad? Although Think Fast, Mr. Moto, the first of the Mr. Moto films, has a workable script and a fast pace, its primarily the performances that put it over, with Lorre superb as the importer who dabbles in detective work as a sideline, especially where his own concerns are involved. Thomas Beck is quite appealing as Bob, and Virginia Field [Repeat Performance] offers another of her expert portrayals as the mystery woman who has, perhaps, gotten herself in too deep. John Rogers scores as ship's steward, Carson, who may be hiding a shiv under his likable exterior, and there are nice turns from J. Carrol Naish as an assassin; Murray Kinnell as a business associate of Bob's father; and Lotus Long [Mr. Wong in Chinatown] as a hotel switchboard operator who helps Moto and is nearly killed for her troubles. Thomas Beck and Murray Kinnell both appeared in Charlie Chan in Paris.

Verdict: Good, snappy introduction to the Mr. Moto series. ***.

THANK YOU MR. MOTO

Peter Lorre and Sig Ruman

THANK YOU, MR. MOTO (1937). Director: Norman Foster.

Charlie Chan had been appearing in motion pictures for some years when 20th Century-Fox and Monogram came out with competing series about Oriental sleuths. Boris Karloff's Mr. Wong appeared in films released by Monogram, while Mr. Moto had the more prestigious Fox at the wheel. Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is a "confidential investigator" but his real profession, he claims, is "importer." Another character describes Moto as "an adventurer, an explorer, a soldier of fortune." In any case, Moto never quite seems altogether on the up and up although in essence he's a good guy. In this second Mr. Moto film, he is in Peping when it develops that certain parties wish to obtain scrolls that will lead to the hidden tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi desert and all of its treasures. Prince Chung (Philip Ahn) and his mother Madame Chung (Pauline Frederick) own the scrolls and will not part with them at any price because they fear the Great Khan's (!) tomb will be desecrated. Assorted individuals are murdered for the scrolls by an unknown party, but Thank You, Mr. Moto is less a mystery than a film of action and intrigue. Characters include Colonel Chernov (Sig Ruman), who tries to purchase the scrolls from the prince; his wife, Madame Chernov (Nedda Harrigan of Charlie Chan at the Opera); Periera (John Carradine), an antique dealer who knows more than he's telling; and Eric Koerger (Sidney Blackmer of The House of Secrets). The romantic interest is supplied by Thomas Beck and Jayne Regan. Lorre is fine as Moto, and Blackmer, Ruman, Harrigan and Carradine are also notable. The best performances, however, come from Ahn as the prince and Frederick as his mother; there's an especially good scene when the prince tries to keep his mother from being tortured. Philip Ahn [Red Barry] was an extremely talented actor, one of those who graces every film he appears in. There is a moving conclusion as well.

Verdict: Creditable if imperfect Moto vehicle. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA

Kane Richmond and Jean Rogers

CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA (1940). Director: Norman Foster. 

Charlie (Sidey Toler) and number two son (Victor Sen Yung) are in Panama, which is a nest of secret agents. A man is about to tell Charlie (who is in disguise as hat seller Fu Yen) the true identity of the spy named "Reiner," when this contact suddenly dies from smoking a poisoned cigarette. Charlie learns that the mysterious Reiner is out to sabotage the fleet going through the Panama canal. Suspects include Dr. Grosser (Lionel Royce), who keeps plague-carrying rats; Richard Cabot (Kane Richmond), who works in the nearby plant; Kathi Lenesch (Jean Rogers of Secret Agent X-9),  a dancer who catches Cabot's eye; Manolo (Jack La Rue of The Story of Temple Drake), who owns the club where Kathi dances; the somehow- sinister Compton (Lionel Atwill of The Devil is a Woman); school teacher Jennie Finch (Mary Nash); and others. There's a creepy scene in a cemetery with a dank tomb and a hidden room, and the climax has all of the suspects held captive by a bomb about to go off. 

Verdict: Lots of fun. ***. 

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO

Cute couple: [Victor] Sen Yung and Iris Wong

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO (1939). Director: Norman Foster.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives in "the biggest little city in the world" after a hateful woman named Jeanne Bently (Louise Henry) is murdered in a hotel occupied by ladies awaiting their divorces. Sheriff Fletcher (Slim Summerville) is convinced that the culprit is Mary Whitman (Pauline Moore), whose husband, Curtis (Kane Richmond) ,was dumping her for Jeanne; Curtis knows Charlie and importunes him to intervene. Suspects and others involved in the case include Mrs. Russell (Kay Linaker), who owns the hotel; Dr. Ainsley (Ricardo Cortez of The Big Shakedown), who is the hotel's doctor; Wally Burke (Robert Lowery), who was jilted by Jeanne; Chief of Police King (Charles D. Brown); Vivian Wells (Phyllis Brooks), who despised Jeanne; a talkative cab driver (Eddie Collins); and the victim's ex-husband, Bently (Morgan Conway of Dick Tracy), who is hiding out in a ghost town. Meanwhile number two son Jimmy (Victor Yen Sung) is investigating/screwing up with the help of the dead woman's pretty maid Choy (Iris Wong). Toler, Yung and most of the cast are very adept, Summerville is terrific, and the movie is fun, if not necessarily one of the better Chan mysteries. This was followed by the excellent Charlie Chan at Treasure Island.

Verdict: Chan and company always amuse. **1/2.

KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS

KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS (1948). Director: Norman Foster.

In post-WW2 England Bill Saunders (Burt Lancaster) -- who thinks with his fists -- lashes out at a middle-aged bar owner simply because he says it's closing time and inadvertently kills the man. He runs off -- and hides out in the apartment of lady doctor Jane Wharton (Joan Fontaine). Jane tries to resist her attraction to Bill, but gets drawn deeper into his unsavory life, and winds up committing an act  of violence herself. Does this screwed-up couple have any hope? Frankly, it's hard to care about this romance of two unsympathetic people. Jane makes dumb excuses for Bill, and Bill never gives a thought to the man he killed or his family. Thrown into the mix is a creepy guy named Harry (Robert Newton of Obsession) who wants to get Bill involved in criminal activities, but whose chief purpose is to introduce someone Bill can feel morally superior to. It's as if the film is telling the audience: "See, Bill isn't so bad. Now this guy is a rotter." [But as far as we know Harry was never responsible for anyone's death.] Then there's the casting. Joan Fontaine can certainly play a woman who is obsessed with one man -- witness Letter from an Unknown Woman -- but she simply seems too intelligent to fall so hard for this loser, the vagaries of love notwithstanding. Lancaster also gives a good performance, by Hollywood standards at least, getting across the man's violence but not necessarily the aspects that make him a love object for Jane. Although only 80 minutes long the movie eventually becomes tedious, which is a shame because it has atmospheric photography by Russell Metty [The Omega Man], a nice score by Miklos Rozsa, adroit direction and editing -- but, sadly, a script that is lacking, to say the least. Norman Foster also directed the film noir Woman on the Run and many others.

Verdict: At least it has a good -- if kind of gross -- title. **. 

WOMAN ON THE RUN

WOMAN ON THE RUN (1950). Director: Norman Foster.

"I'm not a bad guy when you get to know me. A little obnoxious, but pleasant."

Police contact a bitter woman, Eleanor Johnson (Ann Sheridan), when her husband, Frank (Ross Elliott), witnesses a murder in San Francisco and runs off instead of going into protective custody. Eleanor learns that Frank, who is a painter and sculptor, has a heart condition and needs medicine, and tries to track him down with the help of a reporter, Dan Legget (Dennis O'Keefe) and without alerting the cops, who want to find him. As they search for him in various places, Eleanor begins to realize that maybe her husband still loves her, and she him. But Dan has a secret of his own. Well directed and edited, this is an entertaining, fast-paced little "B" film with snappy performances from Sheridan and O'Keefe, and fine support from Robert Keith as Inspector Ferris. One could argue that it's hard to sympathize with Frank, and by extension Eleanor, when the couple refuse to do their civic duty, although their fear is nevertheless understandable. There's a nice climax at an amusement park. A good scene has Eleanor remarking that Ferris and Legget seem to think they know more about her husband than the woman who was married to him for years. Unusual storyline helps put this over and it's rather well-done all told.

Verdict: Highly interesting film noir that just misses being really special, but is still solid. ***.   

CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND

CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND (1939). Director: Norman Foster.

Writer Paul Essex (Louis Jean Heydt) is found dead on a flight to California upon which Charlie Chan is also aboard. Did Paul commit suicide or was it murder? He could be the latest victim in a rash of suicides instigated by a mysterious blackmailer known as Zodiac. Could this be the new sensation in magical circles, Dr. Zodiac, whom some people think is a big fake? Chief among these is his competitor, Rhadini (Cesar Romero), who goes with Chan to confront and question the man. Strangely, Chan enlists the aid of a psychic, Eve Cairo (Pauline Moore), whose esp abilities he seems to believe in. Douglas Fowley (Scared to Death; Desire in the Dust) plays a reporter and Trevor Bardette is a Turkish servant. As usual, Sidney Toler makes a terrific Chan, and Victor Sen Young is fine as his son, Jimmy; Romero is also notable. This one is a lot of fun and has a clever wind-up as well. [The events are loosely tied to the world's fair that was occurring in California on the title island during this time.] Director Norman Foster started out in Hollywood as an actor in 1929.

Verdict: One of the best and most suspenseful of the Chan films. ***.

STRANGE JUSTICE

STRANGE JUSTICE (1932). Director: Victor Schertzinger.

The lives of two very different men -- Henry Judson (Reginald Denny) and Wally Baker (Norman Foster, pictured) -- intersect in an unexpected way after Baker gives Judson a sock for trying to make time with his girl, Rose (Marian Marsh), at a party. Judson has been embezzling from his bank and finds himself in dire straits while Baker has trouble with money until he wins a lottery, then out of the blue winds up arrested for murder. This plea against capitol punishment is an okay time passer but little more. The predictable race-against-time climax generates few thrills. The acting isn't bad, however, and the film moves at a fast clip.

Verdict: One you can easily miss. **.

RACHEL AND THE STRANGER

RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948). Director: Norman Foster. Screenplay by Howard Fast and Waldo Salt.

After his beloved wife dies, Ohio rancher Dave (William Holden) buys and marries a bond servant named Rachel (Loretta Young) to look after his young son Davey (Gary Gray) and help with the chores. Unfortunately, his grief makes it impossible for him to act like a real husband with the woman. A wandering friend named Jim (Robert Mitchum) sees the problem and decides that Rachel should marry him. This lovely film features one of Holden's best performances as the widower who tries too hard to remain faithful to his dead wife. One might not see Loretta Young in the deglamorized role of Rachel, but she is also excellent. Robert Mitchum fails to get across his character's internal emotions, but is otherwise competent. Gary Gray is quite good as young Davey. The theme of loneliness resonates throughout the movie.

Verdict: This is a “little” picture but a memorable one. ***.