Mr. Moto's Last Warning

Mr. Moto’s Last Warning
Directed by	Norman Foster
Produced by	Sol M. Wurtzel
Written by	John P. Marquand (character) Philip MacDonald Norman Foster
Starring	Peter Lorre Ricardo Cortez Virginia Field John Carradine
Release date(s)	January 20, 1939 (1939-01-20)
Running time	71 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Mr. Moto’s Last Warning is the sixth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. The film is an original story featuring a character created by John P. Marquand.

Plot

The British Navy in Port Said is making plans for naval maneuvers with the French fleet. Plans are delayed because the British Secret Service has been warned about possible sabotage.

On a ship docking in Port Said is Madame Delacour (Margaret Irving) the wife of the French naval admiral. Delacour and her daughter Marie (Joan Carroll) are befriended on board by the charming Eric Norvel (George Sanders), the goofy Rollo Venables (Robert Coote), and someone posing as Mr. Moto (Teru Shimada). Norvel reveals his true nature when the ship docks and he lures Mr. Moto to his death. This “fake” Mr. Moto turns out to be a fellow agent of the real Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) who is posing as a curio dealer Mr. Kuroki.

Norvel takes Delacour and Venables to a variety show which features Fabian the Great (Ricardo Cortez), a ventriloquist. Fabian is the leader of the gang of saboteurs which includes Hakim (John Davidson), Captain Hawkins (Leyland Hodgson), Danforth (John Carradine), and Norvel. Danforth is actually a British Secret Service agent named Burke. Moto listens in on their conversation and is almost captured, but Burke helps him escape. Norvel is given the task of finding out from Delacour when the French fleet is due at Port Said.

Fabian is staying at a bar called “Connie’s Place” run by a British expatriate named Connie Porter (Virginia Field). Porter had been smuggled out of Britain by Fabian when she was on the run from the police but she doesn't know Fabian's true occupation. She thinks he is in a smuggling racket. The bar is across the street from Kuroki’s (Moto's) curio shop where Venables purchases a scarab ring. Venables is then mugged in the street only to be saved by Moto’s judo skills.

The suspicious Fabian thinks that Kuroki is actually Moto and so enlists Connie to follow him the next day. She sees Moto visit the Port Commandant's office where he learns about the salvage ship "The Vulcan" which is captained by Hawkins.

Fabian also discovers that Danforth is the secret agent, Burke. Fabian lures Burke to "The Vulcan" and reveals his plan to blow up the French fleet and blame it on the British. He then kills Burke by trapping him in a diving bell. Norvel gets the information that is needed and tells Fabian at the theater. Connie overhears the conversation and threatens to call the Port Commandant, but Fabian convinces her to go along with him.

Hakim tries to kill Moto with a bomb, but Moto escapes the explosion and follows Hakim to a warehouse. Moto enlists Venables to help but Venables is tricked by Norvel. After a fight, Moto and Venables are tied up in sacks and thrown into the ocean but not before Moto tricks Hawkins and grabs a piece of sharp metal. Connie can't bear to see such violence and goes to call the police. Fabian knocks her out and proceeds with his plans.

Moto escapes underwater and frees Venables who goes to inform the police. Norvel dives down to await a signal from Fabian but Moto overpowers him and prematurely detonates the explosives that were meant to destroy the French fleet. Resurfacing, Moto fights with Fabian but Connie shows up and shoots Fabian. Moto discovers the saboteur's plans in Fabian's dummy but never reveals to the audience what country tried to engineer a war between France and England.

Production notes

This is the only Peter Lorre Moto film which is in the public domain. It is available at the Internet Archive^[1]

Cast

• Peter Lorre as Mr. Kentaro Moto
• Ricardo Cortez as Fabian the Great
• Virginia Field as Connie Porter
• John Carradine as Danforth - aka Richard Burke
• George Sanders as Eric Norvel
• Joan Carroll as Mary 'Marie' Delacour (as Joan Carol)
• Robert Coote as Rollo Venables
• Margaret Irving as Madame Delacour
• Leyland Hodgson as Captain Bert Hawkins
• John Davidson as Hakim
• Teru Shimada as the Fake Mr. Moto

Further reading

• Wires, Richard (1990). John P. Marquand and Mr. Moto: Spy Adventures and Detective Films. Ball State University. ISBN 0937994170. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937994170. 

• Berlin, Howard (2005). The Complete Mr. Moto Film Phile: A Casebook. Wildside Press. ISBN 0809511290. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0809511290. 

References

1. ^ Internet Archive page for Mr. Moto's Last Warning

External links

• Mr. Moto's Last Warning at the Internet Movie Database
• Mr. Moto's Last Warning at the TCM Movie Database
• Mr. Moto's Last Warning at AllRovi