AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Hitchcoc Peter Lorre shines from the outset as Mr. Moto, the Japanese trader in artifacts and hobby detective. Here he helps a young man and woman. He is the son of a rich shipping tycoon and she is a mysterious woman who is helping some smugglers. Moto makes their acquaintance on board an ocean liner, the Marco Polo, headed for Shanghai. He must deal with spies on board and reveals himself to be quite proficient in killing when necessary. The show begins with one of the best scenes as he transforms himself from a street peddler to his real identity during the Chinese New Year celebration in San Francisco. He is adept at martial arts and knowledge of using the strengths of others against themselves. Like so many mysteries of the time, we are given numerous suspects. There's no question who the basic bad guys are, but we know that there are some surprises. Moto is so cool as he wanders in his white coat, always drawing attention.

John T. Ryan WITH THE SUCCESS and high popularity of the CHARLIE CHAN Series of movies, the logical next step was for some one to bring us another outstanding sleuth of Oriental extraction. There would be inevitable comparisons and "copycat" accusations. Certainly there is some similarity and there are some definite signs of, if not stealing, at least borrowing from the established CHAN franchise.BUT THAT IS where the similarities end. For Moto is much more of a solitary operator; even though he does employ some operatives in this, the first movie in the series. Also, Moto's deducting appears to be much more introspective, silent and quietly disarming to friend and adversary alike.THAT THE CHARACTER proved to be popular enough to have his own series of seven more entries into the series was largely due to the performance of the former Laszlo Lowenstein; now known to the world as Peter Lorre.BUT THIS STAR'S tour de force, excellent production values, talented & ample supporting cast and memorable musical score wasn't enough to carry the series for more that its three years and eight movies. For the year was 1937 and the Imperial Japanese war machine was already conducting a war of conquest against China; after having conquered Manchuria in 1931.THE ATROCITIES OF Pearl Harbor, Manila and Singapore, among others, would soon follow. The days of a Japanese super sleuth on our movie screens were numbered.

gavin6942 On a freighter going from San Francisco to Shanghai, Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) solves mysteries caused by a gang of smugglers. First of the series.Director Norman Foster was given this B-movie assignment, but it is probably better remembered today than many of the A pictures that came out at the time. With Peter Lorre, a strong (if under-appreciated) actor taking the lead, this was guaranteed to be something special.Say what you will about the racism, sexism, or anything else of this nature. Such things have to be overlooked sometimes, and this is one of those times. The film is just too clever to be faulted.

BaronBl00d Ah! the 1930's! A time when it was generally perceived that anything that came out of the Orient was a threat. The Yellow Peril loomed over all of Western Europe and America, so it was to be believed, with the likes of Fu Manchu and his minions and other deadly men out to take over the world. Despite this generalized, popular stereotype, Hollywood made strings of films with Oriental detectives that, while still unfortunately maintaining certain Oriental prejudices and mannerisms, bucked this trend with the likes of the wise, sententious Charlie Chan, the inimitable Mr. Wong, and Mr. Moto of course. None of the series used Oriental actors, but the films gave the likes of Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre jobs. The Mr. Moto series, based on the works of John Marquand, began with Think Fast, Mr. Moto. The film is somewhat confusing in spots, but generally a rousing success of creating an endearing screen character that went on to make several more films. Mr. Moto, unlike Chan or Wong, is Oriental yet very Western in many ways. He is quiet, circumspect, wearing very small rounded glasses. Lorre captured his character wonderfully. The story details how Moto is following the workings of a smuggling ring in Singapore. He travels from San Francisco to the Orient on a luxury liner, where he meets the son of the tycoon that owns the boat and who also may have information that can lead Moto to the smugglers. A pretty good mystery that was not real hard to figure out at the end. It's Lorre's portrayal that gives the film real life, and definitely has set me out to see the other films in the series. By the way, great character actor Sig Ruman plays the heavy...quite nicely!