NR | 1h 11m | Mystery, Romance, Thriller | 1938
Having recently reviewed Alfred Hitchcock’s “Foreign Correspondent” (1940), I found myself back among sneaky spies, false identities, and nefarious characters trying to shove Europe into global war with this more obscure film.
This time, the calendar had rolled backward, as director Norman Foster’s “Mr. Moto’s Last Warning” reached American theaters in January 1939, more than seven months before Germany invaded Poland and World War II erupted in Europe.
Nobody watching the news in early 1939 needed much help sensing where things were headed. Britain and France had spent much of 1938 trying to prevent another European war, while Hitler kept making that job increasingly difficult.
Into that atmosphere came the sixth of eight Peter Lorre films about Kentaro Moto, the Japanese detective and international agent created by novelist John P. Marquand. The setting is Port Said, Egypt, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, where the British Navy is preparing for exercises with the French fleet.
Rumors of sabotage soon draw Moto into a circle of spies, performers, sailors, and other figures whose true loyalties are far from clear.
Moto Goes Undercover
Fabian the Great (Ricardo Cortez) makes his living by throwing his voice around a theater, and apparently that leaves him with enough free time for international sabotage. Behind the stage act, he oversees a crew working around Port Said, including the polished Eric Norvel (George Sanders). Norvel has already helped dispose of a man traveling under Mr. Moto’s name, which would have been a fine day’s work if he’d killed the right man.
The real Mr. Moto (Lorre) has let his enemies believe he’s been killed while he operates nearby as Mr. Kuroki, an antique dealer with considerably more interest in the docks than old curios. His search brings him into contact with Danforth (John Carradine), a member of Fabian’s circle with some murky business of his own. Meanwhile, Connie Porter (Virginia Field), Fabian’s girlfriend, is beginning to see pieces of a life he hasn’t bothered explaining to her.
The conspirators are planning something far bigger than another murder; they intend to attack the approaching French fleet in Port Said and arrange things so Britain will take the blame, potentially setting the two countries against each other. Moto follows the trail through Port Said. Fabian’s theater, the waterfront, and a salvage vessel called the Vulcan give him plenty of places to get into trouble before the fleet arrives.
A Busy 71 Minutes
Don’t let this movie’s short running time fool you. Ventriloquism, waterfront dives, undercover agents, naval mines, a salvage vessel, jiu-jitsu, and even a pet monkey all get squeezed into 71 minutes. Foster somehow keeps the convoluted collection of characters and circumstances moving without turning the whole thing into mulch.
Foster gets a lot of mileage out of some pretty confined spaces. The shipboard scenes are packed with pipes, ladders, and all sorts of narrow compartments and machinery, while Fabian’s theatrical world has its own cheap show-business flavor. The lower budget occasionally shows when the action tries to get ambitious, although the movie usually finds some clever visual idea to keep things interesting.
Lorre seems to be enjoying himself throughout the entire movie. Moto’s politeness has a sly quality when nearly everyone around him is lying through his teeth. The different scenes give him several chances to get physical.
Cortez makes Fabian an entertainingly theatrical crook. Sanders looks perfectly at home wearing a monocle and behaving badly, and Carradine only needs a few lines to make his presence felt. Field also gets some good material as Connie, who gradually realizes that Fabian’s extracurricular activities go considerably beyond anything she signed up for.
A few jokes miss, and some of the disguises look a tad shoddy. However, Foster always manages to find another trap, escape, or bit of skullduggery before the pace has much chance to sag.
With Sanders popping up on the other side of the spy game, it functions as an amusing companion piece to “Foreign Correspondent.” “Mr. Moto’s Last Warning” may be a compact studio programmer, but it packs a surprising amount of invention into its short running time.
“Mr. Moto’s Last Warning” is available on GanJingWorld.
‘Mr. Moto’s Last Warning’
Director: Norman Foster
Starring: Peter Lorre, Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Field
Not Rated
Running time: 1 hour, 11 minutes
Release Date: Jan. 20, 1939
Rated: 3 1/2 stars out of 5
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