Mr. Moto

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For the professional wrestler, see Tor Kamata.

Mr. I. A. Moto is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand. Moto's name is apparently an alias (it was a part of a Japanese name as in Hashimoto, Yamamoto, etc), and he is better known simply as Mr. Moto. Marquand originally created Moto for the Saturday Evening Post, which encouraged him to write Asian-flavored mystery stories after the death of Charlie Chan's creator, Earl Derr Biggers.

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[edit] Profile

Moto is small in stature but strong and an expert in judo. He was the title character of a series of books, beginning with No Hero (1935; British title: Mr Moto Takes a Hand, reprint title: Your Turn, Mr. Moto), and of eight films between 1937 and 1939, in which he was portrayed by Peter Lorre. With the beginning of World War II, Mr. Moto fell out of favor with Americans, and no new books or movies about him appeared between 1942 and 1957.

A dedicated and cold-blooded spy for Imperial Japan, Moto is not a conventional hero. He does not look for opportunities to commit violence but has no problem with killing people who obstruct his plans, and he would not hesitate to take his own life if necessary. But he is a master of concealing his true nature while under cover, and usually appears dull, naive, utterly harmless. He does not try to correct the bigoted attitudes of Westerners toward him and other Asians, and is not above encouraging such condescension. It often works to his advantage, leading Westerners to ignore or underestimate him.

Moto usually appears only at critical points in the novels, the real protagonists being disillusioned expatriate Americans or British men caught up unknowingly in international intrigue. Much of the books' appeal is that the protagonists regain their ideals and enthusiasm for life through the harrowing experiences, but this is incidental to Mr. Moto, who is not primarily concerned with their well-being.

The last Mr. Moto novel, Stopover: Tokyo in the mid-1950s, is a considerable departure in style from the books of years before. Now middle-aged and back in Japan working as a senior intelligence official, Moto is caught up in Cold War intrigues, and becomes a somewhat reluctant mentor to American agents as they battle a Soviet espionage ring in Tokyo.

"Stopover: Tokyo" is noticeably darker in tone than earlier Moto works. This time there are no hapless amateurs who get involved with foreign agents, but instead all the main characters are "in the business." According to Marquand biographer Millicent Bell, the novelist knew this might be his last Moto story, and he wanted it to convey some of the actual grimness of spy work. At the end of the story, Mr. Moto blames himself because some things have gone tragically wrong, and he reflects that it may be time to retire. Nevertheless, the story is not an indictment of the immorality of spying or of war. Marquand seems to regard them as necessary evils in an imperfect world.

The Mr. Moto films gave Moto the first name of "Kentaro" and softened his character. Moto as played by Peter Lorre was not a steely, morally ambiguous Japanese agent, but instead a rather exotic member of InterPol. Many have erroneously used the description "yellowface" in describing Lorre's performances; "yellowface" is the playing of an Asian character by a white actor. Peter Lorre gave such depth to his performances- done without makeup of any kind other than standard cinematic makeup- that many who were not familiar with Lorre thought he was Japanese. This included many Japanese who saw the films. Lorre, who managed to do many of his own stunts, was able to re-darken the Moto character from the restricted script-writing. Yet he was also able at times to convey an almost priest-like serenity. Lorre himself was very angry at having to play such a role, which he regarded as cheap and unchallenging. He had no idea he would be admired in the future as the first cinema martial arts hero.

In 1957, the film version of Stopover: Tokyo eliminated Moto's character altogether, a remarkable but understandable gesture of no confidence in a formerly bankable character. The movie, which also disregarded Marquand's plot, was not a commercial or critical success. In the 1960s, Mr. Moto's character was briefly revived in a low-budget movie starring Henry Silva.

[edit] Mr. Moto novels

Mr. Moto's Three Aces reprints the first three books; Mr. Moto: Four Complete Novels reprints "Your Turn," "Think Fast," "So Sorry" and "Right You Are."

A comic book miniseries "Welcome Back, Mr. Moto" was published by Moonstone Books in 2003.

[edit] Mr. Moto films

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links