Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Herbert I. Leeds

Writers:

John W. Vandercook (novel) and
John P. Marquand (character) ...

Release Date:

7 April 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

HUNTED BY THE POLICE!...STALKED BY A KILLER! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

the U.S. government asks Mr. Moto to go to Puerto Rico to investigate diamond smuggling after an earlier investigator is murdered.

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Puerto Rico | Telegram | Martial Arts | Contraband

Cast

Peter Lorre	...	Kentaro Moto
Jean Hersholt	...	Mr. Sutter
Amanda Duff	...	Joan Castle
Warren Hymer	...	Twister McGurk
Richard Lane	...	Commissioner Gordon
Leon Ames	...	Commissioner Madero
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Cmdr. La Costa (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Charles D. Brown	...	Col. Tom Castle
Paul Harvey	...	Governor John Bentley
Robert Lowery	...	Lt. George Bentley
Eddie Marr	...	Capt. Dahlen
Harry Woods	...	Grant - Pirate Henchman

Also Known As:

Charlie Chan in Trinidad (USA) (original script title)
Danger Island
Mr. Moto in Puerto Rico (USA) (working title)
Mr. Moto in Trinidad (USA) (original script title)
Mr. Moto on Danger Island (UK)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #4939) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original script was a Charlie Chan murder mystery titled 'Charlie Chan at Trinidad' to star Warner Oland. But due to Oland's untimely death, the entire script was re-written in only a few weeks to star Peter Lorre as a Mr. Moto series movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: Keep an eye on the scenes involving Moto's second trip into the swamp in the latter half of the film. The lower half of Mr. Moto's pants are alternately muddy and clean in scenes that take place at the villains' camp.

Quotes:

Kentaro Moto: The art of professional wrestling consists of two parts groan, two parts acting, and but one little part of skill.

Movie Connections:

Follows Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)

Another Winning Entry

Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Seventh film in the series finds Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) tracking down a diamond smuggling ring working from South America through Puerto Rico. Along the way various murders begin to happen with a wide range of suspects. I've read that this was originally intended to be an entry in Fox's Charlie Chan series but it works well as a Moto movie. The movie has a nice pace to it, a great supporting cast and overall nice story, which makes this here another winner. What works the best is the cast and the lead performance by Lorre. He certainly never struck me as looking Japanese but he certainly digs deep into the character and delivers all the goods in terms of manor isms and various gestures that he does throughout. Warren Hymer adds a lot of nice comic touches in his role as the dimwitted wrestler who befriends Moto early on in the film and refuses to leave his side. Richard Lane, from the Boston Blackie series, does a very good job in his role of the Commissioner and we also get nice turns by Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff, Leon Ames and Paul Harvey. Even though the film is set in Puerto Rico, you really can't tell that but the stuff in the swamp contains some nice atmosphere. The movie is certainly one of the better entries in the series and makes for a nice, fast paced entertainment.