Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Norman Foster

Writers:

Norman Foster (writer)
Philip MacDonald (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

7 July 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Disguised as a German archaeologist, Moto helps unearth the priceless crown of the legendary Queen of Sheba and sans disguise defends it from a variety of thugs and criminals.

Plot Keywords:

Queen Of Sheba | Disguise | Museum | Chinatown | Detective Series

Cast

Peter Lorre	...	Mr. Moto
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Hendrik Manderson
Lionel Atwill	...	Prof. Hildebrand
Virginia Field	...	Eleanore Kirke
John 'Dusty' King	...	Howard Stevens (as John King)
Iva Stewart	...	Susan French
G.P. Huntley	...	Archibald Featherstone (as George P. Huntley Jr.)
Victor Varconi	...	Paul Borodoff
John Bleifer	...	Wendling
Honorable Wu	...	Wong
Morgan Wallace	...	David Perez
Anthony Warde	...	Joe Rubla
Harry Strang	...	O'Hara, Museum Guard
John Davidson	...	Prince Suleid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Abdo	...	Arabian Officer (uncredited)
Jimmy Aubrey	...	Bum (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Gangster (uncredited)
Willie Best	...	Driver (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Ship's Captain (uncredited)
George Chandler	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Jack Clifford	...	Sergeant on Motorcycle (uncredited)
Chick Collins	...	Driver of Armored Car (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Ship Passenger (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Museum Exhibit Attendee (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Police Guard (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Museum Exhibit Attendee (uncredited)
William Gould	...	Police Captain (uncredited)
Bobby Hale	...	Steward (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Professor (uncredited)
Sam Hayes	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Ship's Waiter (uncredited)
Sydney Jarvis	...	Museum Exhibit Attendee (uncredited)
Isabel La Mal	...	Matronly Woman (uncredited)
Hank Mann	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Museum Exhibit Attendee (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Reporter (uncredited)
David Newell	...	Museum Exhibit Attendee (uncredited)
Tom O'Grady	...	Husband (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley	...	Police Guard (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Police Guard (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Museum Exhibit Attendee (uncredited)
Jay Ward	...	Benny - the Bellhop (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Archaeology Professor (uncredited)
Robert Winkler	...	Boy on Ship (uncredited)
Beal Wong	...	Chinese Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Iris Wong	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Jadine Wong	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Victor Wong	...	Proprietor (uncredited)

Directed by
Norman Foster

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Norman Foster		writer
Philip MacDonald		writer
John P. Marquand		story

Produced by
Sol M. Wurtzel	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Samuel Kaylin		(uncredited)
Paul Van Loan		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles G. Clarke		(as Charles Clarke)

Film Editing by
Norman Colbert

Art Direction by
Haldane Douglas		(uncredited)
Bernard Herzbrun		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Herschel McCoy		(as Herschel)

Sound Department
William H. Anderson	....	sound
Alfred Bruzlin	....	sound

Music Department
Samuel Kaylin	....	musical director
Gene Rose	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #4649) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Eighth and last of the original Moto series.

Quotes:

Archibald Featherstone: I'll stay here and reconnoiter.
Driver: Don't get hurt doin' it.
Archibald Featherstone: You go and fetch the bobbies.
Driver: Yeah, I'll get the police too!

Movie Connections:

Follows Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)

Final is Killed by Comedy

Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)

** (out of 4)

Eighth and final entry in Fox's original series once again finds Peter Lorre in the role of Mr. Moto. This time he must fight off countless bad guys who are trying to steal a priceless crowd previously owned by the Queen of Sheba. This final entry isn't the weakest of the series but it might be the most disappointing. I was highly disappointed in this one because it features a pretty good cast but there's really nothing that works overly well here. The movie certainly a long way from being bad but at the same time there's just not enough good stuff here to make the film worth viewing. The actual story is a fairly interesting set up but not enough is done with it as we pretty much get cardboard bad guys popping up at various spots and doing something bad. There's really no heart or soul behind any of the writing and in the end the movie just comes off as a low grade "B" movie rather than something unique like a lot of the films in this series. Lorre finds himself giving another good performance and we've also got decent work by Joseph Schildkraut, Virginia Field and Lionel Atwill. Atwill is pretty much wasted in the film but it's always nice seeing him. G.P. Huntley plays the comic relief here and his awful character really brings the film down several notches. I'm not sure who the director thought would find this performance funny. Black character actor Willie Best also appears briefly. Fans of the series will certainly want to check this one out but it's doubtful many others will find any type of entertainment here.