Very disappointed :(

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Pretty Good

A Masterpiece!

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) investigates a murder during a boxing match, with unwanted help from Charlie's Chan's "Number One Son" Lee (Keye Luke). Most people probably know this, but originally this was intended to be a Charlie Chan film. But when troubled Chan star Warner Oland walked off the set, they reworked the story and turned it into a Moto movie. This explains the appearance of Lee Chan. It also explains why Mr. Moto is less edgy than in his first two films. Here he resemble a more traditional detective like Charlie Chan.While I love Charlie Chan, Peter Lorre is kind of wasted in this type of role. He's better suited to roles with a little menace to them. Keye Luke is fine but the chemistry and rapport he had with Warner Oland is missing. Also appearing are Harold Huber, Douglas Fowley, and beautiful Lynn Bari -- each no stranger to the Charlie Chan series. In addition, there's Ward Bond, George E. Stone, and Maxie Rosenbloom. Lon Chaney, Jr. has a small part. Given the troubled backstory behind the movie, I'm surprised it turns out as well as it does. But a good cast goes a long way with these old detective movies.

Big problems here. As others have pointed out, this film started out as a Charlie Chan film, but he proved unavailable, so the studio rewrote it as a Mr. Moto caper; it even has Chan's "No. 1 Son" in a supporting role. Watching the picture, it's very easy to imagine Charlie Chan doing and saying everything that Mr. Moto says. This film lacks the martial arts and international intrigue of the better Mr. Moto titles, thus it is not a Mr. Moto film. If you are looking for a real Mr. Moto film, get a different movie. This one is a Charlie Chan movie, starring Mr. Moto. Most unfortunate. Charlie Chan is Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto is Mr. Moto; this film blurs the distinctions and should be shunned by all lovers of either detective.

In the first two Mr. Moto films, Moto was a complex and rather amoral man. If someone tried to kill him, often Moto killed that person instead. Additionally, you weren't always sure who Moto worked for or his motivations. I liked this, as it made his character a bit mysterious and quite a bit unlike the studio's other Asian crime fighter, Charlie Chan. However, with MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE the transition to a Charlie Chan clone has occurred. Why? Well the answer is that this film originally WAS a Charlie Chan film and shortly into shooting it was obvious that Warner Oland (Chan) was not emotionally fit enough to finish the film. So, instead of scrapping the film, they just altered it slightly to make it a Moto film.So was this a successful move by the studio? Well, in some ways definitely not. The comic relief for the film was provided by Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom--playing a guy even more annoying and unrealistic than Mantan Moreland would play in the later Charlie Chan films. Frankly, I hated Rosenbloom in the film because he detracted from the mystery with his antics. Additionally, it seemed very strange for the Japanese detective to be teamed with Charlie's #1 Son, Lee Chan (Keye Luke). In fact, you will probably notice that Moto treats Lee pretty much the way Charlie did and it just feels odd. And, since Moto was essentially playing Chan, he had much less to do in this film than in previous ones. Like Chan, he was NOT the focal point of the film and aside from a couple judo flips, you'd barely notice him in the film. In essence, Mr. Moto was dead.Despite this obviously being a Chan film (and second-rate due to the dominant presence of Rosenbloom), the film is still pretty good--provided you don't mind that it's not a Moto movie. The mystery itself isn't bad (though the squirt gun angle was pretty dumb) and the film worked pretty well. While the mechanical gun at the end was overly complex, how Moto used this was pretty neat. Overall, I give it a 6. It's interesting and fun but suffers a severe case of too much Rosenbloom and multiple personality disorder! By the way, there are some famous faces buried within the film. Ward Bond (famous for his many appearances in support of John Wayne) plays the Champion, George E. Stone ('Runt' from the Boston Blackie films) and a young Lon Chaney, Jr. is in a bit role.For more on how this film came to be, watch the DVD extra included along with MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE. MR. MOTO MEETS MR. CHAN is indispensable for die-hard fans like myself to understand the very troubled process through which this film was made.

Due to the illness of Chan star Warner Oland, this film's script had to be turned into a Mr. Moto movie. I feel this is the weakest entry in the Fox Moto series with Peter Lorre. The film is set in the New York boxing world. I've never been a fan of boxing--so the atmosphere did nothing for me. Lorre is his usual great self. That can't be taken away. And the film has the bonus of Keye Luke reprising his role as Charlie's Number One Son, Lee Chan, for the last time at 20th Century Fox. (He would play the Lee role twice more in the last two Monogram Chans.) But even with Lorre and Luke, this one is a bit weak. It might have been better if filmed with Mr. Oland as an actual Charlie Chan film. Still--it is worth seeing.