Runtime: 67 minutes
Directed by: Norman Foster
Starring: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck, Sig Rugman, Murray Kinnell
From: 20th Century Fox
Why not watch Peter Lorre in yellowface beat people up and use judo throws?
Last night I was stumped as to what I should press “play” on; via a process I won’t elaborate on, this film on YouTube was the one selected. In the past a few Charlie Chan movies were experienced; they were fine amusing B-movies based on a literary character where a white actor donned yellowface as a stereotypical “Oriental” character who was a master detective.
The same studio (20th Century Fox) struck oil on a well immediately adjacent to that as another Oriental literary character-this time a Japanese secret agent-was in a series of films, albeit one that had a far shorter run. The debut of the character on celluloid was only the natural choice. Yes it was regrettable that little Peter Lorre was in the role for each of the eight motion pictures as a Japanese man but besides always enjoying his work, it WAS quite the hoot to watch him (or his stunt double) beat up multiple people and use martial arts on them. I HOWLED at the preposterous image of him military press slamming someone off an ocean liner as if he was The Ultimate Warrior!
The film itself, it was not as charming as the
Chan pictures yet was still an acceptable watch as Moto investigated a
diamond smuggling operation that started in San Francisco and via the
aforementioned ocean liner ended in Shanghai. He quickly becomes BFF’s
with the young adult son of the ship’s owner and I won’t spoil the rest
of the intrigue & even romance present. Lorre sporting what looked
like a hell of a tan was an awkward sight but he definitely was the
highlight.
Overall, this did satisfy my curiosity as to what this franchise was all about.
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