The Return of Mr. Moto (1965)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Mr. Moto (Henry Silva) goes undercover to find out who has been blowing up oil wells and trying to gain total control of all the oil leases from a petroleum-rich Middle Eastern country.The previous series of eight films was in the late 1930s and starred Peter Lorre, but Moto faded away for a number of reasons. The biggest probably being WWII. Was the character gone forever? Nope. Finally in the 1960s, director Ernest Morris brought the character back after his long absence. It was a one-off, but a decent one. Silva's Moto is very subtle compared to Lorre's in his speech and appearance, but it is still effective. Why a new series did not spring from this is unclear.

The Return of Mr. Moto is a Mr. Moto film in name only. There's no resemblance between this movie and the wonderfully entertaining films that Peter Lorre made almost 30 years prior. To begin with, the plot of The Return of Mr. Moto is pretty much a muddled mess. It has something to do with sabotaged oil wells in the Middle East and a meeting of world leaders to discuss oil and oil contracts. But really, none of it mattered much to me as I lost interest after about 20 minutes. A well-written post-WWII, "modern" Moto film might have been fun, but this one fails miserably. In addition to the lifeless plot, the movie is saddled with cheap looking sets, a ridiculous plot device involving Moto in disguise (there's no way putting on glasses and a goatee would have fooled anyone), and some less than stellar acting on the part of many in the supporting cast. To sum it up, The Return of Mr. Moto is one sad, drab, lifeless affair.And what's with Henry Silva playing Moto? By 1965, surely they could've come up with someone of Japanese descent to play the character. Don't get me wrong, I like Silva. He made some really cool movies in the 70s – particularly some of his Italian films. But Silva as Moto? I'm sorry but he's about as Japanese as I am – and that's not at all.

Once the viewer recovers from the shock that star Henry Silva plays Mr. Moto totally straight--no awful accent or taped eyelids here--the truth emerges: The Return of Mr. Moto is a boring quota quickie. Shot on the cheap in black and white by producer Robert Lippert, the only concessions to art are a few nice set ups by cinematographer Basil Emmott, who had been shooting British films since the early 1920s. The story involves oil concessions in the Mid-East (some things never change!) but the film looks and plays like one of the many West German Edgar Wallace krimis of the period, with lots of people skulking around shadowy corners. The only thing missing is Klaus Kinski.

The only film I've walked out from.