Mysterious Mr. Moto, the fifth film in the Fox series, opens in the jungles of the south Caribbean as two men escape from notorious Devil’s Island.  In other films that would be the whole story, but here it is simply a prelude to a mystery set in London concerning a “League of Assassins” who has assembled to carry out one of their missions.  Mr. Moto, one of the prison escapees, has infiltrated the League, but once he informs Scotland Yard of his presence both the police and the gang are out to get him.  Can Mr. Moto identify the target and help capture the criminals?

London makes for a less exciting setting than many of the other Moto films and in general this is a lesser entry in the series.  Peter Lorre is still interesting and graceful as Mr. Moto but the plotting and mise en scene are not as interesting as in some of the earlier entries.  The film moves slowly at times and thus robs the series of one of its prime attributes.  One special treat is the appearance of Lotus Long as Mr. Moto’s girlfriend.  She is appealing and a fine actress, and, believe it or not, is actually Asian!  The casual racism of the series is still prominent, but the real sins of this episode are the slow pace and the plot holes.  ✰ ✰.

MJM  01-19-2012