The Return of Mr. Moto (1965)

Brilliant and touching

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It's called The Return of Mr. Moto (1965) Henry Silva. "Last full length feature of Ian Fleming". Perhaps, but it's not our Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre). Filmed at Shepperton Studios, which might give you a hint to the boredom ahead.In this one Mr. Moto works for Interpol, investigating an oil mogul murder. The setting is international, ala Bond. Very dry. Tedious. Moto (actually calls himself "Mr. Tugura" so there is no reason for the movie title) goes into disguise eventually as a Japanese who's doing a Charlie Chan impression.It's not that it's cheesy. It's just boring. No camp. No charm. As a "Mystery/Thriller" it wasn't mysterious or thrilling. And I actually like Henry Silva… usually.

After saying goodbye to Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto over 25 yrs ago; are the Moto fans jaded or does this movie just suck? I side with the latter. The low budget is obvious, the story drags on and acting is atrocious. Henry Silva as Moto...unacceptable. Any attempt to have Silva appear oriental fails badly. Moto goes undercover as a Japanese oil businessman to find out who is setting fire to Middle Eastern oil wells and trying to garner valuable control of petroleum leases and future exports. The detective is aided by a pretty oil company secretary(Suzanne Lloyd)and police inspector Halliday(Stanley Morgan). The cast also features: Terence Longdon, Marne Maitland, Gordon Tanner and Martin Wyldeck.

I'm not one of the reviewers who apparently lined up to bash this movie; I think that 20th Century-Fox guaranteed it a hostile reception by inviting comparison with the fondly-remembered Peter Lorre series of thirty years before. On its own it's a efficiently-produced crime thriller that moves along briskly and offers some genuine surprises and suspense to open-minded viewers. It's been suggested by some (including Henry Silva himself, in the DVD's audio commentary) that Silva is physically unsuited to play an oriental, but the same could be said of the Hungarian Peter Lorre in the earlier series, or the Swedish Warner Oland who became the definitive Charlie Chan. And it's worth mentioning that Henry Silva has convincingly played characters of various nationality over the years.A beautiful letterboxed transfer of this film can be found as an extra on the final disc of the Peter Lorre/Moto DVD series; I found it well worth seeing for its entertainment value as well as Henry Silva's fascinating audio commentary.

The only film I've walked out from.