Anyone brave enough to try Mr. Moto's morning-after concoction?
If so, let me know if it works.
... J. Spurlin
LOL!!!
Good one :-)
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Wasn't that drink hideous?
... Justin
Yes and quite funny. The best scene in the film, I think. :-)
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You may be right; I saw the movie a couple of months ago, and I still remember it.
Have you seen any of the other Moto films?
... Justin
I'm just going through them now. I also saw Thank you Mr. Moto. It was quite good. The plot reminded me of Indiana Jones :-)
By the way, did you find this film racist, as many people have said? I just did not see it.
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No. Racism is such a vague and overused term that it hardly has any meaning anyway.
I don't care if a movie employs stereotypes (as Bill Maher says, "Stereotypes are true"). But I do care if it condescends to someone. I just watched the first half-hour of a 1950s movie called Battle Cry. Couldn't get through any more, it was so phony and dull. Anyway, in one scene a practical joker gives an American Indian the hotfoot as he sleeps. The man wakes up and starts whooping as if he were giving a war cry. Ho, ho. And this character talks of nothing but smoke signals and teepees.
Mr. Moto is not condescended to. In fact, he's admirable.
... Justin
"Mr. Moto is not condescended to. In fact, he's admirable."
That's what I thought too. I thought he came out much better than most the "white" people in the film.
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And even if he were villainous, or not wholly admirable, that wouldn't necessarily be "racist."
Modern critics often criticize the movies for featuring a white man playing an Asian one. How that's objectionable, I don't know.
Hollywood generally seemed to commit sins of omission, not commission. An exception would be the example I cited in Battle Cry. That's a sin of commission: the character is defined by the superficial things we think we know about American Indians.
... Justin
Another exception would be The Son of the Sheik (1926). One of the most racist film I have ever seen, even more than Birth of a Nation. I have not seen Battle Cry, but it sounds bad.
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Leonard Maltin gives Battle Cry three out of four stars. So maybe the next two hours are better than the first thirty minutes. But I wasn't willing to risk suffering through any more of it. ...
Birth of a Nation is unbearable. The "rousing" climax is frightening. ...
What makes Son of a Sheik so bad? I haven't seen it. ...
... Justin
The way it portrays Arabs (as crazy, ignorant and immoral barbarians). It was bad enough in The Sheik but it is ten times worse in the Son of a Sheik. I'm sure it would be just as infamous as Birth of a Nation if the Arabs had been African-Americans.
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Yow, sounds bad. That's Douglas Fairbanks, right? I don't think I've seen any of his movies. I'll have to work on that.
So you said you just saw the second Mr. Moto, right? And it was good? I might pick that up. I love Peter Lorre anyway. From M to The Maltese Falcon to Silk Stockings, he's just so damn good.
... Justin
No this is Rudolph Valentino, the one and only :-) And yes, you have to see Fairbanks. I love his films! You can get a nice box set from Kino Video with his film.
I thought Mr. Moto 2 was just as good as the first one, and Peter Lorre is really great in it. He even has better lines in this one :-)
If I where to make a new Indiana Jones film, then I would use this film as the spring board. It's all about ancient treasure and hidden maps.
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That sounds fun. Are you going to watch the others?
... Justin
Yes. I bought both of the box sets so I kind of have to (I try to see everything I buy). It would be fun if we would both watch them and chat about them on the boards afterwards. :-)
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That would be fun. I'll see if my public library has them all. I know they have the second one because I've seen it there. I'll come back to this thread if I can get them.
I have to catch up with you since you've already seen number two.
... Justin
I'll be waiting! :-)
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No return as yet. Can't wait to see there will be no answer.
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
Yes, I'm still waiting :)
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Sounds like I'm in good company here. Being a huge Lorre fan and recently having read the excellent biography 'The Lost One' I finally got myself a region free DVD player and sent away for the region 1 Mr Moto Box set.
I already had a region free copy of Mr Moto's Last Warning. So..last night I watched the first in the series, Think Fast, Mr Moto.
Even though I find the idea of a Hungarian born, German speaking Jew playing a Japanese quite ludicrous...somehow Lorre manages to pull it off!
As with many of these films the 'low lifes' and 'henchman' are usually 'Cor blimey' c0ckney types (like the Steward in TFMM) and Lorre's 'Jiu-Jitsu' (even though it's not him) looks hokey and clumsy compared to martial arts we see today. All this notwithstanding there is an almost magnetic attraction to Lorre and even though he knew he was simply cashing in on the Charlie Chan movies' popularity he still gives a superb performance. I'm looking forward to the other four films in the set before I send off for vol 2.
Getting back to the OP question regarding MM's hangover cure. I was quite prepared to drink it ( I was even going to jot down the ingredients) up to the point he put in Absynthe and then filled it up with gin!!!! I should think one sip of that would do you more damage than whatever you'd been drinking to get hung over in the first place.