Mr. Moto’s seventh cinematic outing finds him in Puerto Rico searching for diamond smugglers.  The governor’s circle of top officials and businessmen all seem to be suspects and Mr. Moto, after faking an illness to entrap at least one member of the elite, spends time among them trying to determine the culprit.  He pretends to be a criminal, gets captured, and eventually identifies the ring leader, all the while accompanied by his wrestling companion Twister (Warren Hymer).

The longest entry in the series thus far, Danger Island (as it may have been known originally) is the strongest entry since Thank You, Mr. Moto.  The action sequences are often exciting and more happens around Mr. Moto in this film than in most of the other episodes.  Lorre is particularly good and seems to have more to do than usual.  There are two major problems with the film.  One is the comic relief in the person of Twister.  Earlier entries hadn’t felt the need for the slapstick, moronic element that Twister adds, and in the end it takes away from the suspense and interest.  The other problem is that there are too many interchangeable suspects in the governor’s inner circle.  Many of them look the same, and by the end of the film it was too much work to remember what each of them did.  More effort to distinguish (or limit) the various characters and their potential motives would have greatly improved the mystery.  Still, this probably ranks in the top half of the series so far and is engaging enough to recommend to Moto fans and mystery hounds.  ✰ ✰ ½.

MJM  01-26-2012