Think Fast, Mr Moto
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''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' is a 1937 American
mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...
directed by
Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...
and featuring a mysterious Japanese detective named Mr. Moto. It is the first of eight films in the Mr. Moto series, all based on the character Mr. Moto created by
John P. Marquand John Phillips Marquand (November 10, 1893 – July 16, 1960) was an American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a Pulitzer Prize for '' T ...
. The film stars
Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...
as the title character (at the time, it was customary for Westerners to portray Asians on the screen),
Virginia Field Virginia Field (born Margaret St. John Field (sometimes mis-transcribed Margaret Cynthia Field); 4 November 1917 – 2 January 1992) was a British-born film actress. Early years Virginia was an only child, born in London. Her father was Sir J ...
, Thomas Beck and
Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...
. Mr. Moto works to stop a secret smuggling operation.


Plot

The film opens with Mr. Moto in disguise as a street salesmen and selling goods to passers-by. He sees a man leaving a shop with a tattoo of the
British Flag The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in p ...
on his arm. Moto enters the shop to sell a rare diamond to the owner. However, Moto sees a body stuffed into a wicker basket in the store, and using his mastery of
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
takes down the shopkeeper. Later, he reserves a berth on a
passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
headed for
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
. Also on the liner is Bob Hitchings Jr., son of the owner of the shipping line. Before leaving, Hitchings Sr. gives his son a confidential letter for the head of the Shanghai branch of the company. Hitchings and Moto become friends (Moto notices the letter), and Moto helps Hitchings cure a
hangover A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol (beverage), alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than ...
. Hitchings complains to Moto that he has not met any beautiful women on board. After a stop in
Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, a beautiful woman named Gloria Danton (her real name - Tanya Barova) boards the ship, and she and Hitchings fall in love. But Gloria is a spy for Nicolas Marloff, who runs a smuggling operation out of Shanghai. She periodically sends him notes and leaves without saying goodbye to Hitchings. Moto finds a steward looking for Hitchings’ letter and confronts him, knowing he was the person who killed the man in the wicker basket, as he wears the tattoo. Moto throws the man overboard and takes the letter. At Shanghai, Hitchings meets with Joseph B. Wilkie and gives him the letter, but later learns that it is a blank sheet of paper. He calls his father, who tells him the letter said to watch out for smugglers. Hitchings is determined to find Gloria, and he learns from an unknown person that she is at the "international club". Both he and Wilkie go there, as well as Moto and his date, Lela Liu. Hitchings finds Gloria performing at the club and goes to her dressing room. However, the club owner Marloff discovers them together and, knowing that Hitchings knows too much, locks them both up. Moto tells Lela to call the police, and seeks out Marloff. Posing as a fellow smuggler, he tricks Marloff into leading him to Gloria and Hitchings. Lela is shot while contacting the police, but manages to tell them where she is. Wilkie finds Marloff, and demands that Gloria and Hitchings be released. Marloff finds out that Moto is not a smuggler, then Moto apprehends him. Moto tells Wilkie to get Marloff's gun, the gun explodes as Wilkie tries to grab it, killing Marloff. Police storm the building, and Moto tells them the Wilkie headed the smuggling operation. Wilkie replaced the letter and shot Lela. Moto gave Wilkie the opportunity to kill Marloff, who knew he was in on the plot, and he did. Wilkie is arrested, and things go back to normal.


Cast

*
Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...
as Mr. Moto * Thomas Beck as Bob Hitchings Jr. *
Virginia Field Virginia Field (born Margaret St. John Field (sometimes mis-transcribed Margaret Cynthia Field); 4 November 1917 – 2 January 1992) was a British-born film actress. Early years Virginia was an only child, born in London. Her father was Sir J ...
as Gloria Danton/Tanya Barova *
Murray Kinnell Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He began acting on the English stage in 1907, toured in the United States from 1912 ...
as Joseph B. Wilkie *
Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...
as Nicolas Marloff * John Rogers as Carson * George Cooper as Muggs Blake *
Lotus Long Lotus Long (born Lotus Pearl Shibata, July 18, 1909 – September 14, 1990) was an Asian-American film actress. Early life Long was born in New Jersey to Ishiro Shibata and Blanche Leleu. She came to Southern California during the 1920s to a ...
as Lela Liu *
J. Carrol Naish Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He became a dialect specialist, and was called upon to play character roles of many na ...
as Adram


Original novel

''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' was the third novel in the Moto series. Film rights to the novel were bought in July 1936. It was originally a story ''That Girl and Mr Moto''. The novel was not published until May 1937.


Production


Development

Mr Moto had been introduced to readers in the 1935 novel ''No Hero''. It was popular and was followed by ''Thank You, Mr Moto'' in 1936 and then ''Think Fast, Mr Moto'' in 1937. Twentieth Century Fox had three film series at the time –
Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan ...
, the Jones Family, and the Jeeves movies with
Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher, Jr. ( ; 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P. G. Wodehouse ...
– and thought Mr Moto would make an ideal hero of a film series along the lines of Charlie Chan. In July 1936 Fox bought the film rights to ''Think Fast, Mr Moto''. As
Kenneth MacGowan Kenneth Macgowan (November 30, 1888 – April 27, 1963) was an American film producer. He won an Academy Award for Best Color Short Film for ''La Cucaracha'' (1934), the first live-action short film made in the three-color Technicolor process. Bi ...
, the intended producer, refused the job, the film became a "B" movie. In January 1937 Fox cast
Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...
as Moto and Virginia Field as co-star. Lorre had just signed with Fox and made two films, '' Crack-Up'' and ''
Nancy Steele Is Missing! ''Nancy Steele Is Missing!'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by George Marshall and Otto Preminger and starring Victor McLaglen, Walter Connolly and Peter Lorre. It was produced and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox. The film's sets ...
'' He said he accepted the role because it gave him a rare chance to play a hero. In February Thomas Beck signed as the male romantic lead. Norman Foster was assigned to direct. He was given a script by Howard Smith and rewrote it extensively. The film is very different from the novel although it uses some of the same names.


Shooting

Filming started February 11, 1937.


Series

''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' was well liked at Fox and in April 1937 (several months before the film had been released to the public) the studio decided to make five more Moto movies, The studio vowed to provide good production values "to make them first string entertainment." starting with ''Thank You Mr Moto'' and ''Mr Moto's Gamble''. In the end, Lorre played Moto eight times: * ''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' (1937) * '' Thank You, Mr. Moto'' (1937) * '' Mr. Moto's Gamble'' (1938) * '' Mr. Moto Takes a Chance'' (1938) * ''
Mysterious Mr. Moto ''Mysterious Mr. Moto'', produced in 1938 by Twentieth Century Fox, is the fifth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand, from an original screenpla ...
'' (1938) * ''
Mr. Moto's Last Warning ''Mr. Moto's Last Warning'' is the sixth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. The film is an original story featuring the character created by John P. Marquand. ''Mr. Moto's Last Warning'' is the only Mr. Moto film in the ...
'' (1939) * '' Mr. Moto in Danger Island'' (1939) * '' Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation'' (1939) The novel ''Think Fast Mr Moto'' was not published until May 1937. In June 1937 Marquand reportedly sold four unwritten Moto stories to Fox at $8,000 each. In July 1937 it was announced Lorre and
Rochelle Hudson Rochelle Hudson (born Rachael Elizabeth Hudson; March 6, 1916 – January 17, 1972) was an American film actress from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Acclaim

The film is recognized by
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
in these lists: * 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: ** Mr. Moto – Nominated Hero


Home media

This film, along with '' Thank You, Mr. Moto'', '' Mr. Moto Takes a Chance'' and ''
Mysterious Mr. Moto ''Mysterious Mr. Moto'', produced in 1938 by Twentieth Century Fox, is the fifth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand, from an original screenpla ...
'', was released on DVD in 2006 by 20th Century Fox as part of ''The Mr. Moto Collection, Volume One''.


References


External links

*
Complete novel
at Project Gutenberg * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Think Fast, Mister Moto 1937 films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American mystery films Films directed by Norman Foster Films produced by Sol M. Wurtzel 1930s mystery films Films scored by Samuel Kaylin 1930s American films