GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #37

MR. MOTO

The soft-spoken, overly polite Mr. I. O. Moto is Japan's number one secret service agent.  His diminutive stature belies great physical strength which, combined with expertise in judo, makes him capable of killing an adversary with little difficulty.  Mr. Moto's impeccable English is spoken softly, his s's hissing through shiny, gold-filled teeth.  He says, "I can do many, many things.  I can mix drinks and wait on tables and I am a very good valet.  I can navigate and manage small boats.  I have studied at two foreign universities.  I also know carpentry and surveying and five Chinese dialects.  So very many things come in useful..."

Mr. Moto was created by author John P. Marquand at the request of The Saturday Evening Post who was seeking stories with an Asian hero after the death of Charlie Chan's creator Earl Derr Biggers.  Marquand (1893-1960) was born in Wilmington, Delaware, graduated from Harvard in 1915 and took a job as a reporter for the Boston Transcript.  After serving as an officer in WWI he worked for the New York Tribune and then wrote advertising copy.  For many years The Saturday Evening Post published his short stories as well as the Mr. Moto novels.  Although most of his works were mysteries he won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for "The Late George Apley", a cynical appraisal of the New England social scene of which he was a part.  He also wrote the bestselling novels "H.M. Pulham, Esquire", "B.F.'s Daughter", and "Melville Goodwin, U.S.A."

In his first case "Your Turn, Mr. Moto" (1935) Moto assists Commander James Driscoll, a young American flier in the Far East who holds the balance of power in the Pacific in his hands.  When the Second World War began the Mr. Moto stories ended.  It is not difficult to understand why the adventures of an espionage agent whose sympathies lay with the Japanese were terminated after 1941.  Mr. Moto would resurface in "Stopover: Tokyo" (1957) which deals with the struggle for political supremacy in postwar Japan.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1935 "Your Turn, Mr. Moto" (Saturday Evening Post Mar 30 - May 4, 1935)/  1936 "Thank You, Mr. Moto" (Saturday Evening Post Feb 8 - Mar 14, 1936)/  1937 "Think Fast, Mr. Moto" (Saturday Evening Post Sept 12 - Oct 17, 1936)/  1938 "Mr. Moto Is So Sorry" (Saturday Evening Post July 2 - Aug 13, 1938)/  1942 "Last Laugh, Mr. Moto"/  1957 "Stopover: Tokyo" (Saturday Evening Post Nov 24, 1956 - Jan 12, 1957).

FILMS

The unobtrusive Japanese secret agent was portrayed brilliantly by Peter Lorre in eight films during a two-year period.  With very little facial change beyond thick glasses and flattened hair, the Hungarian Lorre was able to suggest the pleasant and subservient, but secretive and cunning, Moto perfectly.

"Think Fast, Mr. Moto" 20th Century Fox, 1937.  Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck, Lotus Long.  Director: Norman Foster.  Alone, Moto travels from San Francisco's Chinatown across the Pacific (on a steamer from which he throws an adversary overboard) to Shanghai, in pursuit of a gang of diamond smugglers.

"Thank You, Mr. Moto" 20th Century Fox, 1937.  Lorre, Beck, Pauline Frederick, Jayne Regan, Sidney Blackmer.  Director: Foster.  A Chinese prince kills himself when the dowager queen is murdered by enemies of the throne who are looking for some ancient scrolls that show the location of Genghis Khan's treasure.  There are other deaths and Moto dispatches two of the villains himself, before he manages to burn the scrolls.

"Mr. Moto's Gamble" 20th Century Fox, 1938.  Lorre, Keye luke, Lynn Bari, Harold Huber.  Director: James Tinling.  This film was begun as a Charlie Chan film but was changed when Warner Oland, who portrayed Chan, died.  Moto attends a prize fight after which the loser dies of poison.  Moto is aided in his investigation by Charlie Chan's son Lee (Luke).

"Mr. Moto Takes a Chance" 20th Century Fox, 1938.  Lorre, Rochelle Hudson, Robert Kent, J. Edward Bromberg.  Director: Foster.  A famous aviatrix on a round-the-world solo flight crashes in an Asian jungle - deliberately - in order to spy on a politically ambitious Rajah.  Moto is there too, pretending to be an archaeologist, and often disguised as a white-bearded hermit priest who lives in a jungle temple.

"Mysterious Mr. Moto" 20th Century Fox, 1938.  Lorre, Henry Wilcoxon, Mary Maguire, Erik Rhodes, Leon Ames.  Director: Foster.  Moto "escapes" from Devil's Island in order to penetrate an international league of assassins and unmask its leader.  In London's murky Limehouse, Moto saves the life of a fragile Oriental girl and, disguised as a sputtering German art critic, attends a gallery opening so that he can rescue a young millionaire marked for death.

"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" 20th Century Fox, 1939.  Lorre, Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Field, John Carradine, George Sanders, Robert Coote.  Director: Foster.  In Port Said, international conspirators, plotting to blow up both the English and French fleets, put Moto into a sack and toss him off a dock - he cuts himself loose under water.

"Mr. Moto in Danger Island" 20th Century Fox, 1939.  Lorre, Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff, Warren Hymer.  Director: Herbert I. Leeds.  Based on "Murder in Trinidad" (1933) by John W. Vandercook.  The Danger Island of the title is Puerto Rico, and it proves to be exceedingly dangerous for Moto as he journeys there on the trail of diamond smugglers.

"Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation" 20th Century Fox, 1939.  Lorre, Joseph Schildkraut, Lionell Atwill, Virginia Field, John King.  Director: Foster.  In the East, a young archaeologist unearths the legendary crown of the Queen of Sheba, and Moto, apparently on a holiday, declares that he will accompany the find back to the United States.  The crown is placed on display in a burglar-proof museum, but Moto senses the presence of a master jewel thief, long thought dead, who is preparing a final great coup.

This was the last film in the series as the unpopular feeling toward japan was growing, and put an end to the films and books.  An older, more communicative Moto returned in the 1957 novel "Stopover: Tokyo", but the movie of the same year eliminated the character completely.

"The Return of Mr. Moto" 20th Century Fox, 1965.  Henry Silva (Moto), Suzanne lloyd, Terrence Longdon.  Director: Ernest Morris.  In this attempt to revive Moto, in the wake of the James Bond thrillers, he is young and muscular, a member of Interpol, and much more aggressive.  He follows a trail of murders from London to the Middle East  and oil intrigue.

RADIO

Peter Lorre would play Mr. Moto in satirical roles on various radio programs over the years.

"Camel Caravan" CBS, October 24, 1938.  Host: Eddie Cantor.  As Moto, Lorre investigates the disappearance of guest Martha Raye.

"Royal Gelatin Hour" NBC, August 10, 1939.  Host: Rudy Vallee.  Lorre as Moto in mystery sketch.

"George Jessel's Celebrity Program" NBC, August 16, 1939.  Lorre as Moto in mystery sketch.

"Texaco Star Theatre" CBS, October 4, 1939.  Host: Ken Murray.  Lorre as Moto in mystery sketch.

"Texaco Star Theatre" CBS, January 3, 1943.  Host: Fred Allen.  Lorre as Moto in "The Missing Shot, or, Who Killed Balsam Beamish?"

"Texaco Star Theatre" CBS, June 4, 1944.  Host: Fred Allen.  Lorre in "More Murder on the fred Allen Program".

"Mr. Moto" NBC radio drama, with James Monk in the lead role as an American of Japanese descent born in San Francisco but an international secret agent.  May 20, 1951 - October 20, 1951.  23 half-hour episodes.