Mr. Moto Takes a Chance

Peter Lorre stars in "Mr. Moto Takes a Chance," in this 1938 entry into the series. Lorre, of course, as Moto is the main reason for watching this film, but the rest of the cast here is very good: Rochelle Hudson, J. Edward Bromberg, Robert Kent, and Chick Chandler.

Working for the government, Moto is on assignment in French Cambodia to defuse two antigovernment plots, one lead by a holy man, Bokor against the local leader, Rajah Ali, and the other plot, led by Rajah Ali, who wants to start war against French rule. Parachuting into all this is Victoria Mason, aviatrix, an Amelia Earhart type but awfully pretty, flirtatious, and glamorous for someone whose plane just caught on fire. There are also two goofy newsreel photographers who keep getting into trouble.

Moto plays a double role here, that of Moto and an elderly mystic who looks like he could be over 150. Lorre gives that role just the right touch - he's not fooling the audience and he knows it. Petite Rochelle Hudson is very pretty and vivacious.

This film was the second Moto film but held back because it was thought to be not as strong as Thank You, Mr. Moto, to follow the first film. Like another poster, I'm not buying it, so the holdup remains a mystery. It's highly unlikely that Darryl Zanuck wasted five minutes thinking about the Mr. Moto series, except, of course, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Then he thought about the series long enough to pull it.

In the jungle near Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) poses as an ineffectual archaeologist and a venerable holy man with mystical powers to help foil two insurgencies against the government.

When one of the characters say this of Lorre, you know the film is a winner: "If I was casting a horror picture, I'd have him playing the murderer." Just a brilliant nod to Lorre's career at that point, with such notable films as "M" and "Mad Love" under his belt.

One cannot deny the excellent makeup, which remains creepy even close up. Although uncredited, the work seems to have been done by Bill Cooley, a largely unknown figure. Of the mere twelve makeup jobs IMDb lists for him, only three were actually credited on screen. How much other work did he do and go unrecognized?

Another reviewer has disparaged this film, indicating that P. L. has a small part and that HE is the sole reason to watch it.

Not true.

Rochelle Hudson is an important addition to this film. Her performance in this Mr. Moto movie is well worth watching. She is also one of the most beautiful actresses you're ever likely to see.

If this movie ever becomes available on DVD, I hope I learn of it--I would gladly purchase same.

On the basis chiefly of Rochelle Hudson's contributions, I would rate this film 3 1/2 stars out of 5--or 7 out of 10. Viewers who are real Rochelle Hudson fans might well give it a 9 or a 10.

The characters are what make this movie intriguing, and stupid.....at the same time! One is never quite sure who is what except we know Mr. Moto is a good guy and the two cameramen are innocent but too goofy. This, the fourth in the Peter Lorre-starred series of Moto films, re minded me of the Monogram latter-day Charlie Chan films, with Mantan Moreland, in which some silliness sometimes overtook the crime story. It also reminded me a bit of some old Tarzan films where you see stock footage of animals.

The mystery starts right in the beginning when we see "Victoria Mason," a Amelia Earheart- type female who flying solo around the world, suddenly sabotaging her plane and parachuting to safety. We never find out until the end what that was all about. The pretty and nicely- shaped Rochelle Hudson plays Victoria.

Anyway, to summarize briefly, the story is about a few Cambodian revolutionaries and a secret tomb- like cache for munitions. Along the way, we see Lorre in another one of his disguises, this one as an old "guru" with magical powers. I do enjoy Moto's disguises even though they fool everyone but us, the audience.

The story is fair, nothing super, but the characters in here are odd, which is good because it keeps our interest in the film. The silliness is supplied by a two-man American two-man film crew working the jungles of Cambodia. Robert Kent and Chick Chandler play "Marty" and "Chick," respectively. Yes, an actor named Chick playing a guy named Chick!.They are more like Abbott and Costello than documentary filmmakers, and their lines are really dumb most of the time.

What looked even more unrealistic but, in reality, wasn't as much as I thought, were the two main characters of from the host country in this story. They are George Regas, who plays the villain "Bokar" and J. Edward Bromberg who plays "Rajah Ali." Both these guys look and sound American, especially Bromber but Regas, who looks like comedian Henny Youngman, is from Greece and Bromberg is from Hungary/Romania! Go figure!

Hudson was an attractive actress whom I remember from the 1935 Shirley Temple movie "Curly Top," in which she was only 19 but looked more mature. When this film was shot, she was 22 or 23 and still could have passed for a good-looking 30-year-old. Sadly, this actress died of pneumonia while only in her 50s.

Anyway, if you don't mind some of the sappy dialog and you still enjoy Lorre and his disguises, this Moto episode should be worth your time checking out. It's a pretty fast-moving story and these restored editions out on DVD offer outstanding transfers. They really look good!

A watchable Moto entry, though it takes a little time to get going, but once it does you're engaged. The final is especially a cracker.