Mr Moto in Danger Island ** (1939, Peter Lorre, Jean Hersholt, Amanda Duff) – Classic Movie Review 11,990

Director Herbert I Leeds’s 1939 American mystery crime thriller Mr Moto in Danger Island is the seventh movie in the enjoyable 20th Century Fox casebook series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as the Japanese sleuth Mr Moto.

It runs 63 minutes.

The Mr Moto character is by John P Marquand but the film is based on the 1933 novel Murder in Trinidad by John W Vandercook, filmed in 1934 starring Nigel Bruce, but now changed to a murder in Puerto Rico, where Mr Moto arrives to investigate the murder of an American agent, Graham, and uncovers a murderous smuggling ring.

Filming started 25 November 1938 as Mr Moto in Puerto Rico.

It is one of the few films in the series not directed by Norman Foster.

It was planned as a Charlie Chan film, written by John Reinhardt in 1938 and called Chan in Trinidad.

Fox filmed the novel for a third time as The Caribbean Mystery (1945) with James Dunn, Sheila Ryan, and Edward Ryan.

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.

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

The cast are Peter Lorre as Mr Moto, Jean Hersholt as Sutter, Amanda Duff as Joan Castle, Warren Hymer as Twister McGurk, Richard Lane as Commissioner Gordon, Leon Ames as Commissioner Madero, Douglass Dumbrille as La Costa, Charles D. Brown as Col. Thomas Castle, Paul Harvey as Gov. John Bentley, Robert Lowery as Lt. George Bentley, Eddie Marr as Capt. Dahlen, Harry Woods as Grant, Ray Walker as Ambulance Intern, and Ward Bond as wrestler Sailor Sam.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,990

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