La jugada de Mr. Moto

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is teaching a criminology course in New York when he gets involved with a murder case concerning boxers, gamblers, and poison. Also featuring Keye Luke as Lee Chan (Charlie Chan's #1 son).

The backstory of this movie is almost as interesting as the film itself. This started out as a Charlie Chan feature, and much of it was filmed, but star Warner Oland had some "issues" and left the set. He wouldn't return, and in fact would be dead a few months later. Fox felt too much had been spent already, so they took what they had, reshot a few scenes, and added a handful of new ones to make this into a Mr. Moto movie. Keye Luke's #1 son character was too integral, so they left him in, continuing to play the same character, establishing that Moto and Chan operate within the same cinematic world. Moto even has a line of dialogue where he says that he's been in contact with Charlie Chan about his son's schooling.

The end result movie is entertaining, although it bears more resemblance to the Oland/Chan films than to the two previous Moto features, which were more exotic, violent, and unpredictable. Moto still manages to toss a few people around like rag dolls, but he's more of the quiet center around whom the others gravitate. Maxie Rosenbloom is very amusing as a kleptomaniac who is taking Moto's detective course so that he can track down the people from whom he's stolen. Maxie and Keye Luke make for an unlikely but humorous duo.