Mr. Moto and the treasure hunt that never quite ends

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s detective yarns and don't mind some really dated production design, sure. It’s a breezy watch. People who hate black-and-white studio films or get annoyed by the 'white guy in heavy makeup' trope will want to skip this one entirely. It’s a product of its era, for better and worse.

Peter Lorre is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. He’s got that soft, slightly menacing voice that makes every line sound like a secret. It’s honestly the only reason I kept watching when the plot started spinning its wheels around those seven maps. Seriously, how many maps does one guy need?

The pacing is a bit of a mess. One minute we're in a high-stakes auction, and the next we’re watching characters wander around dusty rooms for ten minutes straight. It feels like the director was trying to cram an epic journey into a runtime that barely lets you catch your breath. It reminds me a bit of the frantic, uneven energy in The Broken Wing, where things just sort of happen until the credits roll.

There is this one scene involving a radio transmission that goes on for way too long. The silence in the room feels like the actors forgot their next line. You can almost see the gears turning in their heads as they wait for the cue to start talking again.

The sets look like they were built out of cardboard and hope. I found myself staring at the background extras more than the leads. Half of them look like they’d rather be anywhere else, just sort of shuffling their feet while the main cast tries to deliver lines about ancient Mongolian gold. Classic studio stuff.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it doesn't try to be. It’s just a detective movie that knows it has an hour to kill before the next feature starts. It lacks the punch of something like A Fool There Was, but there’s a weird, lopsided charm to it.

Lorre is the glue. Without him, this would just be another pile of dusty props and confusing geography. He plays Moto with this strange, polite intensity that is honestly kind of hypnotic. 🕵️‍♂️

Random notes from the couch:

• The lighting in the final act is so dark I had to squint at my laptop.
• I’m pretty sure I saw the same background curtain in three different rooms.
• The way they handle the 'treasure' reveal is laughably abrupt.
• Is it just me, or does everyone in this movie smoke way too many cigarettes?