Mr Moto’s Last Warning ** (1939, Peter Lorre, Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Field, John Carradine, George Sanders, Joan Carroll, Robert Coote) – Classic Movie Review 11,988

Director Norman Foster’s 1939 20th Century Fox thriller Mr Moto’s Last Warning is the sixth movie in a series of eight films in Peter Lorre’s enjoyable casebook as Mr Moto. It also stars Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Field, John Carradine, George Sanders, Joan Carroll, and Robert Coote.

The script is an original story by Norman Foster and Philip MacDonald, based on the character created by John P Marquand. Mr Moto battles agents trying to stir an international crisis by mining the entrance to the Suez Canal and blaming the British.

It runs 71 minutes.

It is the only Peter Lorre Moto film in the public domain, and is available free at the Internet Archive.

The previous Moto film, Mysterious Mr Moto, finished shooting in April 1938, this one was announced in April 1938, and filming started in June 1938.

Virginia Field appeared in the first film Think Fast, Mr Moto and John Carradine appeared in Thank You, Mr Moto.

Ricardo Cortez announced he was retiring from acting and had signed with 20th Century Fox as a director.

The cast are Peter Lorre as Mr. Kentaro Moto, Ricardo Cortez as Fabian the Great, Virginia Field as Connie Porter, John Carradine as Danforth, George Sanders as Eric Norvel, Joan Carroll as Marie Delacour, Robert Coote as Rollo Venables, Margaret Irving as Madame Delacour, Leyland Hodgson as Captain Bert Hawkins, John Davidson as Hakim, and Teru Shimada as the Fake Mr. Moto.

It was released with Mr. Moto in Danger Island, Mr. Moto’s Gamble, Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation and (as a DVD extra) The Return of Mr. Moto, on DVD in 2007 by 20th Century Fox as The Mr Moto Collection, Volume Two.

The films in the series are Think Fast, Mr Moto (1937), Thank You, Mr Moto (1937), Mr Moto’s Gamble (1938), Mr Moto Takes a Chance (1938), Mysterious Mr Moto (1938), Mr Moto’s Last Warning (1939), Mr Moto in Danger Island (1939), and Mr Moto Takes a Vacation (1939).

There was a further film in 1965, The Return of Mr Moto.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,988

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