MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE (1938) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: James Tinling
Peter Lorre, Keye Luke, Lynn Bari,
Maxie Rosenbloom, Ward Bond, Harold Huber,
Douglas Fowley, Jayne Reagan, Lon Chaney Jr.
Peter Lorre was one of the screen's most distinctive character actors, a gnome-like figure who alternated between leads and supporting roles throughout his career. In the late 1930s, he got to play the impeccably smooth-mannered detective Mr. Moto, in a series of mysteries based on the novels of John P. Marquand. In this entry, Mr. Moto takes on the case of a boxer killed in the ring. It's a lively B-movie whodunit, and while Lorre was Hungarian and Marquand's sleuth is Japanese, you wouldn't want anybody else to play Mr. Moto. It started shooting as a Charlie Chan film, and went over to Mr. Moto when Warner Oland, who played Charlie Chan, backed out. Which explains why Keye Luke, Charlie Chan's #1 son, shows up here, too, doing broad comic relief with ex-pug Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom.
