Mr. Moto
Encyclopedia : M : MR : MRM : Mr. Moto
Mr. I. O. Moto is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand and not much like the fictional Chinese detective Charlie Chan (a much more benevolent and likeable character). He is better known simply as Mr. Moto. Marquand originally created Moto for the Saturday Evening Post, which encouraged him to write Asian-flavored mystery stories after the death of Charlie Chan's creator, Earl Derr Biggers.
Moto is small in stature but strong and an expert in judo. He was the title character of a series of books, beginning with No Hero (1935; British title: Mr. Moto Takes a Hand, reprint title: Your Turn, Mr. Moto), and of eight films between 1937 and 1939, in which he was portrayed by Peter Lorre. With the beginning of World War II, Mr. Moto fell out of favor with Americans, and no new books or movies about him appeared between 1942 and 1957.
A dedicated and cold-blooded spy for Imperial Japan, Moto is not a conventional hero. He does not look for opportunities to commit violence but has no problem with killing people who obstruct his plans, and he would not hesitate to take his own life if necessary. He does not try to correct the bigoted attitudes of Westerners toward him and other Asians. These attitudes often work to his advantage, leading Westerners to ignore or underestimate him. Moto usually appears only at critical points in the novels, the real protagonists being disillusioned expatriate Americans or British men caught up unknowingly in international intrigue. Much of the books' appeal is that the protagonists regain their ideals and enthusiasm for life through the harrowing experiences, but this is incidental to Mr. Moto, who is not primarily concerned with their well-being.
The Mr. Moto films of the 1930s are considered to be inferior to the books but are undoubtedly familiar to more people today. They softened the character considerably. Moto, played by Lorre, was not a steely, morally ambiguous Japanese agent, but instead a rather offbeat member of the "international police" (whatever that may be). In 1957, the film version of the last Moto novel, "Stopover: Tokyo," eliminated Moto's character altogether, surely the ultimate insult in a Hollywood adaptation. In the 1960s, the character was briefly revived in a low-budget movie starring Henry Silva.
Mr. Moto novels
- No Hero (aka Mr. Moto Takes a Hand and Your Turn, Mr. Moto) (1935)
- Thank You, Mr. Moto (1936)
- Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
- Mr. Moto Is So Sorry (1938)
- Last Laugh, Mr. Moto (aka Mercator Island) (1942)
- Right You Are, Mr. Moto (aka The Last of Mr. Moto, Stopover: Tokyo and Rendezvous in Tokyo) (1957)
A comic book miniseries "Welcome Back, Mr. Moto" was published by Moonstone Books in 2003.
Mr. Moto films
- Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
- Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
- Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938)
- Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)
- Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
- Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939)
- Danger Island (1939)
- Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)
- The Return of Mr. Moto (1965)
External links
- [The Mr. Moto Novels]
- [Dr Hermes Reviews] - reviews of all six Mr. Moto books
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.