The Return of Mr. Moto (1965)

Henry Silva as Mr. Moto?, 16 May 2009

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.

3/10