8/10
The Most Action-Full of the Moto Movies!
22 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This entry would more aptly be titled Mr Moto of London's Limehouse. Aside from the opening escape and the thrilling climax, most of the movie is set in an exuberantly realized Limehouse, peopled with a truly multitudinous collection of colorful Dickensian characters, who swiftly break into one of the most extraordinary mêlées ever captured in any movie, "A" or "B". The credit for the jaw-dropping handling of these vigorous action sequences belongs squarely to director Norman Foster, who has made the most of a somewhat faulty plot by moving it along with such action-full abandon, there is little time to reflect on the holes.

Given half a chance, we might also notice that five of the twelve principal characters are both rather weakly written and portrayed: Mary Maguire, Henry Wilcoxon, Erik Rhodes, Leon Ames and Fred Vogeding do little to inspire audience applause. It's Peter Lorre, the ever-reliable John Rogers, the lovely Karen Sorrell, delightfully sinister Cecil Weston, enthusiastic Forrester Harvey, old-school-tie Lester Matthews, and would you believe a remarkably subdued Harold Huber, who do all the running.

All Lorre's Moto excursions are well worth viewing. This one rates high on my list, though my personal favorite is Mr Moto's Last Warning.
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