gavin6942 The U.S. government asks Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) to go to Puerto Rico to investigate diamond smuggling after an earlier investigator is murdered.This was the final film of Mr. Moto, at least until his very brief revival decades later (with mixed results). As much as Peter Lorre excelled in the role, it ran its course and few have probably mourned the loss.The script was initially a Charlie Chan story, but quickly turned into a Moto tale. What does this say about the two that they could be interchangeably altered so easily? What is interesting is that for all the concerns of racism this series may provoke (with a German portraying a Japanese man), the possibly more racist portrayal is the black boat captain. Looking back today, it is often surprising how few black actors their were in mainstream films, and those that were present were treated as comic relief.

drystyx This is a murder mystery, with Mr. Moto, for those of you who don't know, as the crafty man investigating the case. Like Charlie Chan, he's a private investigator.Peter Lorre had a "cool" charisma about him, much like Basil Rathbone, Humphrey Bogart, and others who played such roles.Films like this either take one or a combination of two of the following: 1. Mystery with clues that the audience can use. 2. Mystery with atmosphere and humor 3. Mystery with a twist.Just about none have all three. One may cite "Chinatown" as a possibility, but the atmosphere isn't what I would call strong in that one. Atmosphere and humor come either without twists or without clues.This film uses the first two elements. It would be far fetched to say there is a twist. There is an abundance of atmosphere and humor, and many clues. We know very soon who the killer is. At first it isn't easy, because all of the suspects look alike, middle aged white men with mustaches, but once we tell them apart, and once the atmosphere is established, we do know which one it is.That doesn't take away from the adventure, though. Lots of good elements make this an enjoyable film.

Anne_Sharp Not one of the brighter entries in the wildly uneven Peter Lorre-Sol Wurtzel Moto series, this one sets our hero on the trail of the obligatory jewel smugglers in glamorous, exotic PUERTO RICO, where he encounters a snippy library clerk and a tippy rowboat among other perils.

admjtk1701 This is one of the later Moto pictures and not as good as the earlier ones. Peter Lorre is his usual great self. And, there is a great nostalgic sense of the time and setting. But it doesn't have as much life as the previous entries in the series. It is still worth seeing. Just don't expect to see Moto at his best. It is better than "Mr. Moto's Gamble" and far better than the 60's attempt at reviving the character, "The Return of Mr. Moto". This was based on the novel, "Murder in Trinidad" which did not feature Moto and was filmed before and since. For this film the locale was changed to Puerto Rico. At one time this was slated to be filmed as a Charlie Chan film, "Charlie Chan in Trinidad".