Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)

Director
James Tinling

Main cast
Peter Lorre; Keye Luke; Dick Baldwin; Lynn Bari; Douglas Fowley

Genres
Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Description
Celebrated as supersleuth, Mr. Moto comes out fighting when a brutal boxing match turns into cold-blooded murder! Assisted by detective-in-training Lee Chan, Moto sets out to track down the killer based on a single ominous clue: a poisoned boxing glove! But when Moto's hunch points to a corrupt gambling syndicate, he's forced to wager his very life to unmask the culprit—or go down for the count...permanently!


Similar movies

Mr. Moto 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.
All work and no play makes Mr. Moto a busy detective! Mr. Moto heads to Egypt to thwart a criminal mastermind determined to steal the priceless crown of the Queen of Sheba. But the action heats up and the suspense soars when the precious treasure begins its perilous journey to America and Mr. Moto must race against time to unmask a cunning thief who will stop at nothing—not even murder—to get what he wants!
Mr. Moto Heads to China on a quest for seven ancient scrolls that reveal the location of Genghis Khan's tomb—a crypt filled with fabulous treasure! But Moto isn't the only one stalking the scrolls—so is a shadowy band of thieves. But when his ruthless rivals go too far, the mild-mannered detective's quest for antiquities becomes a passion for vengeance—because if he can't bring these villains to justice... he'll bring them to their knees.
In the jungle near Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Mr. Moto poses as an ineffectual archaeologist and a venerable holy man with mystical powers to help foil two insurgencies against the government.
Danger has a special sparkle when Mr. Moto heads to Puerto Rico to put a stop to the glut of contraband diamonds that are flooding the world's jewel market! But his smuggling investigation quickly turns into a murder mystery when both an undercover government agent and a top political figure wind up dead—and Moto begins to suspect that he is going to need a gem of a plan... to put these crooks on ice!
A scientist uses his invention - the "Menger Sponge" - to capture the energy of a dead child's spirit in an old building. In trying to determine why the energy of the ghost does not dissipate, the team discovers the identity and the dramatic story of the boy.
A Japanese man claiming to be Mr. Moto, of the International Police, is abducted and murdered soon after disembarking from a ship at Port Said in Egypt. The real Mr. Moto is already in Port Said, investigating a conspiracy against the British and French governments.
Losing his memories of the last few days, neurologist Dr. Steele is told that his wife has been brutally murdered. Steele, aware of his conniving wife's infidelity, believes he may have been the killer and enlists the aid of his pretty nurse Stella to hypnotize him into recovering his lost memories.
This first film in the Columbia series was based on the radio serial, "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk." A detective tries to protect a man who has predicted his murder will take place in three days.
The first in a series of movies based on the popular radio drama.
A San Francisco airplane bound for South America crashes, and among the scorched debris is found a shrunken native human head, neatly packaged. The perplexed police contact a local anthropology museum about this unclaimed piece of grisly baggage, where they intersect with Jack and Doc, called there to meet a mysterious woman who had a case for them and wanted to meet in private.
Architect Walter Craig, seeking the possibility of some work at a country farmhouse, soon finds himself once again stuck in his recurring nightmare. Dreading the end of the dream that he knows is coming, he must first listen to all the assembled guests' own bizarre tales.
In "Awake," a psychological thriller that tells the story of a man undergoing heart surgery while experiencing a phenomenon called "anesthetic awareness," which leaves him awake but paralyzed throughout the operation. As various obstacles present themselves, his wife must make life-altering decisions while wrestling with her own personal drama.
A killer hides out in a small-town boarding house.
A scientist who is working on a cure for influenza is victimized by his unscrupulous boss, who releases the vaccine before it's ready, resulting in the death of the scientist's young son.
The Carter Case was the second and last Republic film based on the popular radio series Mister District Attorney. Like the first entry, this one is played mostly for laughs, with Radio's Mister District Attorney. James Ellison replacing Dennis O'Keefe as feckless assistant DA P. Cadwallader Jones. The publisher of a tony fashion magazine is murdered, requiring Jones to sift through a colorful array of suspects. He is helped (?) along by snoopy girl reporter Terry Parker (Virginia Gilmore), who by default is the brightest character in the picture.
Rie and Kishi runs a detective agency in Paris. Fallen flooding not directly and they supplement their budget with guiding Japanese tourists. This takes over when the crime boss Okuyama gives them the assignment to shadow his French mistress. Kishi falls head over heels for her while Okuyama has something weird in sight.
In the 7th film of the "Crime Doctor" series based on the radio program, Dr. Robert Ordway is summoned to take attend a diabetic, and gives an injection of insulin taken from a bottle in the patient's pocket. The man dies and Ordway discovers that what he thought was insulin was really poison. Oops! Two other people are murdered before Ordway discovers who replaced the insulin with poison and what the motive was
Blackie is arrested when retrieving stolen gems from a safety deposit box for a friend.
The Caribbean Mystery is a remake of Mr. Moto on Danger Island (1939)-which in turn was a remake of Murder in Trinidad. James Dunn stars as Mr. Smith, a Columbo-like Brooklyn detective who pops up on a tropical island to track down some missing geologists.
A murder is committed during the auction of a valuable statue. The prime suspect is Boston Blackie, whose reputation for living on the edge of the law makes him an easy target for the police. When the body disappears, Blackie must find it to prove his innocence.
Blackie is seen leaving a Chinese laundry where the proprietor has been murdered, and must track down the real killer in Chinatown.
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, California where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang. This is the first English film by Takeshi Kitano.
Two car manufacturers spy on each other to try to find out details and prices of a new sports car each is about to launch.
An FBI undercover agent infilitrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
Leona Stevenson is confined to bed and uses her telephone to keep in contact with the outside world. One day she overhears a murder plot on the telephone and is desperate to find out who is the intended victim.
Japan sinks! Proving once again that Japan will never cease to find inventive ways to destroy itself on screen, this summer's blockbuster Sinking of Japan brings apocalypse through tectonics. Based on Sakyo Komatsu's best-selling novel, Sinking of Japan was first put on the big screen in Moritani Shiro's 1973 classic. In 2006, director Higuchi Shinji remakes the disaster movie, taking the story to
A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Mark Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion.
Two homicide detectives try to find just the facts behind a mobster"s brutal murder.
Shamoto runs a small tropical fish shop. When his daughter Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a grocery store a man named Murata steps in to settle things between the girl and the store manager. Murata also runs a tropical fish shop and he and Shamoto soon become friendly. However Murata hides many dark secrets behind his friendly face.
When a western Pennsylvania auto plant is acquired by a Japanese company, brokering auto worker Hunt Stevenson faces the tricky challenge of mediating the assimilation of two clashing corporate cultures. At one end is the Japanese plant manager and the sycophant who is angling for his position. At the other, a number of disgruntled long-time union members struggle with the new exigencies of Japanese quality control.
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s.
Paradise Road is a 1997 film which tells the story of a group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women who are imprisoned in Sumatra during World War II. It was directed by Bruce Beresford and stars Glenn Close as beatific Adrienne Pargiter, Frances McDormand as the brash Dr. Verstak, Pauline Collins as missionary Margaret Drummond (based on missionary Margaret Dryburgh), Julianna Margulies as American socialite Topsy Merritt, Jennifer Ehle as British doyenne and model Rosemary Leighton Jones, Cate Blanchett as Australian nurse Susan McCarthy and Elizabeth Spriggs as dowager Imogene Roberts. Basing his picture on real events, Bruce Beresford tells the story of a vocal orchestra created by the women in a Japanese P.O.W. camp, a classic survivors' tale extolling women's ability to survive hardship and atrocity through perseverance, solidarity and creativity.
A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren, and a host of others hold court
Naomi Shimizu is a young career woman working for Enrico Dandolo, an Italian fashion house. That is until one day the company declares bankruptcy. Accustomed to living in luxury she tries to make a run for it with the last remaining company asset, a red Alpha Romeo sports car. Unfortunately she recklessly collides with an bicycle messenger. Lacking any funds to pay for a settlement, she end up having to work as a bicycle messenger.
A moving, nostalgic portrait of the men behind the golden age of chanbara (sword-fighting dramas and films) that goes behind the scenes of the distinctive film genre for which Japan is most famous, with dominant performance by real-life kirare-yaku Seizo Fukumoto.
A Japanese-American fisherman may have killed his neighbor Carl at sea. In the 1950's, race figures in the trial. So does reporter Ishmael.
While searching for his fiancee Ritsuko, Sakutarou rediscovers through flashbacks the void deep within him caused by the events from his high school days.
The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
The moment he's released from prison, the honorable gangster Miyamoto recovers the stolen diamonds he had stashed before getting pinched. When he returns to his haunt to make good by friend who took a bullet for him, he is diverted by the greedy boss Oyane and his insatiable taste for Miyamoto's precious stones. Replete with film noir style, "Underworld Beauty" is one of Suzuki's best nods to the American gangster genre.
Two teenage best pals attracted to the same boy end up scrambling his life after he walks into a door and is knocked unconscious.
George Clooney’s fact-based drama about the famous radio journalist Edward R Murrow's stand against Senator McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
The remake of Yoshikawa's novel continues with the second installment in which Takezo, soon to be Miyamoto Musashi, emerges from the Himeji Castle after three years of intense contemplation and philosophical study and starting on his epic quest to complete his skill in the Way.
A budding gangster enthralls a freeloading young woman, soon taking advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class, middle-aged men.
Story of the last three days in the life of Sakamoto Ryoma (1836-1867), imperial loyalist who tried to unite the Choshu and Satsuma clans and prepared the way for the Meiji Restoration (1868).
In the post-war Gion district of Kyoto, the geisha Miyoharu agrees to apprentice the 16 year-old Eiko, whose mother was a former geisha who had just died. After a year of training they have to find a large sum of money before Eiko can debut. Miyoharu borrows the money from the tea-house owner, Okimi, who in turn obtains the money from the businessman Kusuda. Kusuda fancies Eiko himself and wants to give Miyoharu to Kanzaki in order to close a large business deal. However both geishas have minds of their own and, going against tradition, want to be able to say no to clients. Written by Will Gilbert
Seven friends gather at a party in Kyoto to celebrate Masamichi's entry to graduate school. Maki & her boyfriend Nakazawa join the party and get drunk easily after the friendship reunion. Kate has a crush on one of the cute guy who doesn't have any interests on her though. The cheerful and unforgettable night is full of joy while the whales and the thief incidents also attract the attention of them. Before the sunrise, seven friends meet again on the beach so as to witness the fade of youth days.
Akemi is a laboratory technician who spends her evenings spying on her gangster neighbor as he makes love to his stripper girlfriend. The objects of Akemi's voyeuristic attentions learn of her interests and suggest that she would make a fine prostitute. Not surprisingly Akemi agrees and channels her interests into this more lucrative occupation.
As children, the introverted Smile was being bullied by a gang of kids until the brash Peco comes by and chases all of them them away. Peco then takes Smile under his wings and teaches him how to play the game of ping pong. From there a life long best friend relationship comes into existence between these two polar opposite kids. Fast forward a decade later, these two best friends try to deal with their own inner turmoils, as they move further and further into the regional ping pong tournament. Peco has to overcome a knee injury while trying to rediscover the fun aspects of the game of Ping Pong. Meanwhile, Smile now seems to have gained the killer instinct by going through a rigorous training regiment instilled by his high school coach. As the tournament progresses it becomes more likely that these two best friends will face off against each in the final match.
A retired actress whose husband has recently died visits her summer home. There she has encounters with old friends and acquaintances who bring various stories and news of death and the past
An eight-year-old boy is willing to do whatever it takes to end World War II so he can bring his father home. The story reveals the indescribable love a father has for his little boy and the love a son has for his father.
The fourth movie in the highly sucessful Eko Eko Azarak series. Following the events of the second movie, Misa (this time played by TOEI poster child and Battle Royale II starlette, Natsuki Kato) discovers, along with the rest of Japan, the strength of her newly acquired powers when she and her friends are attacked in the woods…
A bored Japanese accountant sees a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves ballroom dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.
A Himalayan legend of a love struggling against the inevitability of death, an astonishing tale spanning from the early 19th century mountain existence, to hectic, bustling modern day Tokyo.
Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mothers trade in the late days of Geisha. But Otsuta will not give up. This film portraits the day time life of geisha when not entertaining customers.
A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skilful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.
Natsuko is a woman of 20 who feels entrapped in her long-running relationship with another man—she wants out of a "nowhere" life and into something better. To that end, she hooks up with a photographer and poses for him in the nude—if only to break away from her restricted existence for awhile. Soon the photographer leads her to a relationship with an open-minded man who helps her along the path of individual choice and freedom. Her next relationship is with a well-known actor who is able to introduce her to an acting job—an intimation that perhaps Natsuko's life will change after all. Given enough time and men, could she eventually run for Prime Minister?
Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, ‘The Great Passage.’ In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems. Will ‘The Great Passage’ ever be completed?
The story of 16-year-old Riyo who journeys to Hawaii in 1918 to marry a man she has never met, except through photographs and letters they have exchanged. Hoping to escape a troubled past and to start anew, Riyo is bitterly disappointed upon her arrival: her husband is twice her age and Hawaii is not the paradise she expected. As Riyo comes to terms with her new home, she discovers a land full of hardship, struggle--and unexpected joy.
The story begins with Sekiuchi, boss of the Sannokai, a huge organized crime syndicate controlling the entire Kanto region, issuing a stern warning to his lieutenant Kato and right-hand man Ikemoto, head of the Ikemoto-gumi. Kato orders Ikemoto to bring the unassociated Murase-gumi gang in line, and he immediately passes the task on to his subordinate Otomo, who runs his own crew. The tricky jobs that no-one wants to do always end up in Otomo’s lap.

© Valossa 2015–2024