The Return of Mr. Moto (1965) User Reviews

Bring Back the Moto!

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 8 July 2014]

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.

Dull spy caper

[JohnSeal · 4/10 · 15 January 2003]

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.

Robert Lippert production

[phlbrq · 5/10 · 8 November 2021]

Any mst3k fan knows what Lippert means. Super cheap, lots of car driving, stock footage and talk rather than show. Moto character is unrecognizable to 30's Moto. For 1965 the plot to control oil is the most interesting aspect of this bore. The 5 is for sharp b&w photography.

Warning, this isn't OUR Mr. Moto

[RemiFasolati-881-771882 · 3/10 · 31 December 2013]

It's called The Return of Mr. Moto (1965) Henry Silva. "Last full length feature of Ian Fleming". Perhaps, but it's not our Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre). Filmed at Shepperton Studios, which might give you a hint to the boredom ahead.

In this one Mr. Moto works for Interpol, investigating an oil mogul murder. The setting is international, ala Bond. Very dry. Tedious. Moto (actually calls himself "Mr. Tugura" so there is no reason for the movie title) goes into disguise eventually as a Japanese who's doing a Charlie Chan impression.

It's not that it's cheesy. It's just boring. No camp. No charm. As a "Mystery/Thriller" it wasn't mysterious or thrilling. And I actually like Henry Silva… usually.

Should have left Mr. Moto rest in peace.

[tvrogersjr-1 · 2/10 · 9 December 2007]

One of the interesting things (looking back) about the original Mr. Moto series is its timing relative to WWII. It was also quite well written and, like many classics, provides some good commentary on society of that time. I think a post-WWII Moto film would be a good idea, but not this one. Poorly written and poorly acted, this film certainly does not do justice to a fine old classic. With the original Mr. Moto played by a German and Charlie Chan by a Swede, one would think that our enlightened 1960's society would at least come up with a proper Japanese-descent actor to play Moto. They certainly didn't pay a lot for the script and even less for sets. The feeble attempt with two folding screens and a cheap print of a Geisha on the Moto's wall didn't quite make us believe Moto's "orientalness". I hope someone takes another, better, stab at bringing back Mr. Moto.

Henry Silva as Mr. Moto?

[bensonmum2 · 3/10 · 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.

"I dislike killing the wrong person. Professional pride,"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 9 August 2020]

Well Henry Silva isn't Peter Lorre so the former's version of the Mr. Moto character was bound to be different and interesting an actor as Mr. Silva usually is he doesn't really fit the role. He's more adept at playing the villain. Peter Lorre played Mr. Moto as a sweet and charming gentleman but who also had that strong ruthless streak. Mr. Silva comes off as something in between.

Having said that the story of the film concerning oil field concessions moves along logically and there are several good British character actors to keep one's attention. The revelation of the last villain actually surprised me. A fair enough film but as was proved, not one to inspire a new series of Mr. Moto movies. The Peter Lorre ones are indeed the best.

Disappointing return of Mr. Moto.

[michaelRokeefe · 2/10 · 28 June 2011]

After saying goodbye to Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto over 25 yrs ago; are the Moto fans jaded or does this movie just suck? I side with the latter. The low budget is obvious, the story drags on and acting is atrocious. Henry Silva as Moto...unacceptable. Any attempt to have Silva appear oriental fails badly. Moto goes undercover as a Japanese oil businessman to find out who is setting fire to Middle Eastern oil wells and trying to garner valuable control of petroleum leases and future exports. The detective is aided by a pretty oil company secretary(Suzanne Lloyd)and police inspector Halliday(Stanley Morgan). The cast also features: Terence Longdon, Marne Maitland, Gordon Tanner and Martin Wyldeck.

Total rubbish

[t-bones · 1/10 · 2 November 1998]

The only film I've walked out from.

No classic but lots of fun; you be the judge!

[pmsusana · 8/10 · 16 August 2008]

I'm not one of the reviewers who apparently lined up to bash this movie; I think that 20th Century-Fox guaranteed it a hostile reception by inviting comparison with the fondly-remembered Peter Lorre series of thirty years before. On its own it's a efficiently-produced crime thriller that moves along briskly and offers some genuine surprises and suspense to open-minded viewers. It's been suggested by some (including Henry Silva himself, in the DVD's audio commentary) that Silva is physically unsuited to play an oriental, but the same could be said of the Hungarian Peter Lorre in the earlier series, or the Swedish Warner Oland who became the definitive Charlie Chan. And it's worth mentioning that Henry Silva has convincingly played characters of various nationality over the years.

A beautiful letterboxed transfer of this film can be found as an extra on the final disc of the Peter Lorre/Moto DVD series; I found it well worth seeing for its entertainment value as well as Henry Silva's fascinating audio commentary.

Slow moving, with a few fairly good moments

[shakspryn · 5/10 · 3 October 2022]

I saw this film, as many probably do, because it is included as an extra on the Fox release of "Mr. Moto Takes A Vacation." The dvd print is fairly sharp' the 1965 film is in black and white.

The best moments of the film are a couple of action scenes, which are handled pretty well. Otherwise, it's just not very engaging. To me, that has two main causes: the film has virtually zero humor, and in Henry Silva's characterization, Mr. Moto seems a totally American person. There aren't even any little moments to indicate he's Japanese! Not in his taste in food, or dress, or habits, or manners, anything!

So, it seems like we're watching an American agent, who for some reason is named Moto, and who, rather oddly, everyone talks about as being Japanese. As for the plot of the film, it's like one of those early episodes of the Saint: frankly, it's a yawn.

Henry Silva's Moto is sort of likeable, but he's also super serious nearly all the time. His Moto just doesn't have much charm, which Peter Lorre always had in ample supply. I guess it comes down to, this movie is very much about the plot, and the plot has been done so many times on old TV shows that it's dull, and there's no humor to keep one engaged.

Suzanne Lloyd as the attractive woman character is good; I wish she had been in more scenes. Martin Wyldeck, who played the bad guy assassin, was very good; that part of the movie, involving him, was fine, but the film is a vehicle for Moto, and in that regard, the film is flat and under-powered. I'd say, it's OK to watch once if you have the Fox dvd.

A very entertaining return!

[Dr_Nikola · 10/10 · 5 May 2019]

I first saw The Return of Mr. Moto on TV many years ago, and found it fascinating. I was a huge fan of the Mr. Moto movies starring Peter Lorre, and had no idea that Henry Silva had played the role. I enjoyed it then, and was thrilled to see the film included in one of the DVD collections of the Mr. Moto films starring Lorre. The movie looks better than ever, is every bit as fascinating as I remember, and the DVD commentary by Henry Silva is a blast! When all is said and done, I found The Return of Mr Moto to be a very entertaining film that is well worth watching, and collecting.

Subtle and passable peformance of Mr. Silva

[thomas-korn · 8/10 · 4 November 2020]

Whoever got the rights to "Mr. Moto" in 1965 did a decent job bringing back this odd character. Henry Silva did not need to have his eyes taped back to give a slanted look. Nor did they have to "Yellowize" him with makeup. What impressed me most about Mr. Silva's performance is that he did not succumb to a grossly characterized Asian accent. Heck, they barely mentioned him being Asian at all until he had to go in disguise as a Japanese ambassador. All these elements of how Mr. Silva (and the director) should show that his race is not always relevant.

While the script was not overly clever.. it was decent enough not to wallow into a parody of itself or the 007 franchise. They tried to make their own secret agent . I have to say, Donger (the former Nazi assassin) was rather brutal and straight forward. The pacing and plot are decent and entertaining enough.

What does bring the movie down for me is not allowing for the audience to unravel the mystery along with the main character. There are one too many times the film/script reveals too much. There are enough "Red Herrings' to keep one distracted,. Even so, We should have the story unravel as if we were solving the mystery along with Mr. Moto.