Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)

Director:

Norman Foster

Writers:

Lou Breslow (writer)
Wyllis Cooper (story)
(more)

Release Date:

24 June 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

Plot:

In the jungle near Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Mr. Moto poses as an ineffectual archaeologist and a venerable holy man with mystical powers to help foil two insurgencies against the government.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Sequel | Beautiful Woman | Fourth Part | Character Name In Title

Cast

Peter Lorre	...	Mr. Moto
Rochelle Hudson	...	Victoria 'Vicki' Mason
Robert Kent	...	Marty Weston
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Rajah Ali
Chick Chandler	...	Chick Davis
George Regas	...	Bokor
Frederick Vogeding	...	Capt. Zimmerman (as Frederik Vogeding)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
H.W. Gim	...	Rajah Ali retainer (uncredited)
Al Kikume	...	Yao (uncredited)
James B. Leong	...	Man (uncredited)
Gloria Roy	...	Keema - Ali's Wife (uncredited)
Victor Sen Yung	...	Khmer soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Norman Foster

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lou Breslow		writer
Wyllis Cooper		story (as Willis Cooper)
Norman Foster		story
John P. Marquand		character (as J.P. Marquand)
John Patrick		writer

Produced by
Sol M. Wurtzel	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Virgil Miller

Film Editing by
Nick DeMaggio

Art Direction by
Albert Hogsett

Costume Design by
Herschel McCoy		(as Herschel)

Makeup Department
Bill Cooley	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Ed Ebele	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Dudley	....	assistant director (uncredited)
William Eckhardt	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Joe Behm	....	props (uncredited)
Ansel Whitlow	....	assistant props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
L.B. Dix	....	assistant sound (uncredited)
P. Kelly	....	cable person (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Bohny	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Eddie Garvin	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Fred Hall	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Steve McNulty	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Roger Murphy	....	grip (uncredited)
Irving Rosenberg	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Samuel Kaylin	....	musical director
Samuel Kaylin	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1938) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Look Out, Mr. Moto (USA) (pre-release title)

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #3842)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Released as the fourth film in the Moto series, this was actually the second one filmed. 20th Century Fox thought that Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) was a stronger follow up to Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) than this and, as a result, ‘Takes a Chance’ was ultimately released in the summer of 1938 following _Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938)_.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the movie Mr. Moto begins a fight with Bokor's bodyguard. The bodyguard lunges at Mr. Moto and takes the first swing with the sword. The bodyguard's sword breaks in half, but in the next shot they they continue this sword fight, but with no broken swords.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)

The Good & Bad Of 'Mr. Moto Takes A Chance'

The characters are what make this movie intriguing, and stupid.....at the same time! One is never quite sure who is what except we know Mr. Moto is a good guy and the two cameramen are innocent but too goofy. This, the fourth in the Peter Lorre-starred series of Moto films, re minded me of the Monogram latter-day Charlie Chan films, with Mantan Moreland, in which some silliness sometimes overtook the crime story. It also reminded me a bit of some old Tarzan films where you see stock footage of animals.

The mystery starts right in the beginning when we see "Victoria Mason," a Amelia Earheart- type female who flying solo around the world, suddenly sabotaging her plane and parachuting to safety. We never find out until the end what that was all about. The pretty and nicely- shaped Rochelle Hudson plays Victoria.

Anyway, to summarize briefly, the story is about a few Cambodian revolutionaries and a secret tomb- like cache for munitions. Along the way, we see Lorre in another one of his disguises, this one as an old "guru" with magical powers. I do enjoy Moto's disguises even though they fool everyone but us, the audience.

The story is fair, nothing super, but the characters in here are odd, which is good because it keeps our interest in the film. The silliness is supplied by a two-man American two-man film crew working the jungles of Cambodia. Robert Kent and Chick Chandler play "Marty" and "Chick," respectively. Yes, an actor named Chick playing a guy named Chick!.They are more like Abbott and Costello than documentary filmmakers, and their lines are really dumb most of the time.

What looked even more unrealistic but, in reality, wasn't as much as I thought, were the two main characters of from the host country in this story. They are George Regas, who plays the villain "Bokar" and J. Edward Bromberg who plays "Rajah Ali." Both these guys look and sound American, especially Bromber but Regas, who looks like comedian Henny Youngman, is from Greece and Bromberg is from Hungary/Romania! Go figure!

Hudson was an attractive actress whom I remember from the 1935 Shirley Temple movie "Curly Top," in which she was only 19 but looked more mature. When this film was shot, she was 22 or 23 and still could have passed for a good-looking 30-year-old. Sadly, this actress died of pneumonia while only in her 50s.

Anyway, if you don't mind some of the sappy dialog and you still enjoy Lorre and his disguises, this Moto episode should be worth your time checking out. It's a pretty fast-moving story and these restored editions out on DVD offer outstanding transfers. They really look good!