cult film freak: May 2026

Written by James M. Tate / 5/14/2026 / No comments / england , espionage , franchise , harold huber , henry wilcoxon , leon ames , lotus long , mary maguire , mr moto , norman foster , peter lorre , thirties

PETER LORRE ESCAPES NORMAN FOSTER'S 'MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFojs59kvtjc3rp9x5CGqOQSfWdSb_IC5Ds8eucquuxn1GPepXSXMotN_9D_2Dz-auFogPNcmQ4wNdI9fOe_a04Tb9s443T3KzF6M4tYoZ8JP71mjPXCGRrH90S8qc8kl2X5womToUm_FaO35rktRtlHAK5g8NwRWOvK_GlYwsUXofoIX5y0wYKv-Oryyu/s1698/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-14%20at%2011.56.53%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFojs59kvtjc3rp9x5CGqOQSfWdSb_IC5Ds8eucquuxn1GPepXSXMotN_9D_2Dz-auFogPNcmQ4wNdI9fOe_a04Tb9s443T3KzF6M4tYoZ8JP71mjPXCGRrH90S8qc8kl2X5womToUm_FaO35rktRtlHAK5g8NwRWOvK_GlYwsUXofoIX5y0wYKv-Oryyu/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-14%20at%2011.56.53%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO Year: 1938 Rating: *** </td></tr></tbody></table>After Norman Foster's lackluster Asian-set MR MOTO TAKES A CHANCE, the b-director springs forward with more action, right off the bat... as Moto and a French prisoner are escaping from Devil's Island... Sadly, all this happens too fast, during and right after the opening credits... had MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO spent some time on the island before the escape, fleshing-out this fellow convict he'd later follow around to nab all his mobster cronies, it wouldn't feel like walking into a picture ten minutes late...

england, espionage, franchise, harold huber, henry wilcoxon, leon ames, lotus long, mary maguire, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, thirties

PETER LORRE ESCAPES NORMAN FOSTER'S 'MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO'

Title: MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO Year: 1938 Rating: *** After Norman Foster's lackluster Asian-set MR MOTO TAKES A CHANCE, the b-director sprin...

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAmQiOhV68csmuM6qJvtquvvCqsignDrkiuPqSzFS9xh30yLXU1j4UZ_45Yb01cAlgvcn7NkdeMe7AAjcygLExoawIZWwGpNsiqBT0w2N8-F2YmO47yw1OAvbSYXN0drUe_oD3_IE1yPt6-WWYhvma6_J_tMt4J9BYsf5gtlWwiJX37H2UFk7mNzVYyuG/s1688/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-12%20at%203.29.34%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1688" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAmQiOhV68csmuM6qJvtquvvCqsignDrkiuPqSzFS9xh30yLXU1j4UZ_45Yb01cAlgvcn7NkdeMe7AAjcygLExoawIZWwGpNsiqBT0w2N8-F2YmO47yw1OAvbSYXN0drUe_oD3_IE1yPt6-WWYhvma6_J_tMt4J9BYsf5gtlWwiJX37H2UFk7mNzVYyuG/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-12%20at%203.29.34%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Lorre and Rochelle Hudson in ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN Year: 1940 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>The pulpy tagline to the 1940 thriller ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN is "Women shuddering at his cruel caress" despite the fact only one woman, the wife of evil slave-master Peter Lorre, is on the titular island: and within their balmy plantation villa interior, he hardly touches or even speaks to her at all... As classic beauty Rochelle Hudson quickly and understandably falls for handsome, dark-haired buried-lead Robert Wilcox, whose initial wrong-man story-line fits more into a deliberately-complicated film-noir beyond what's often mistaken as a horror flick (the plot heavily infused into Lawrence Tierney's jungle-traipsing <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/KOBK.html">KILL OR BE KILLED</a>)...

forties, george e. stone, kenneth macdonald, peter lorre, prison, robert wilcox, rochelle hudson, thriller

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN'

Peter Lorre and Rochelle Hudson in ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN Year: 1940 Rating: ***1/2 The pulpy tagline to the 1940 thriller ISLAND OF DOOMED ME...

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAyMa2vs8sKypIuoVkYoV3XkkSHhliSZ5srj_0BMPWXR_9o-cLfZnJOFD6VrQbBDz-RGErB9zvduClIEdW-Ak2jbp0AtjBtoxjjPn1kh_0UW2PzCu_Y5v72ZAq3yqr9op_VWUFO22JvMdFA-u1GXtsg-XYsa5JPd4fzVEIvezITOGWHRtFUCSPyKheoGz/s1794/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAyMa2vs8sKypIuoVkYoV3XkkSHhliSZ5srj_0BMPWXR_9o-cLfZnJOFD6VrQbBDz-RGErB9zvduClIEdW-Ak2jbp0AtjBtoxjjPn1kh_0UW2PzCu_Y5v72ZAq3yqr9op_VWUFO22JvMdFA-u1GXtsg-XYsa5JPd4fzVEIvezITOGWHRtFUCSPyKheoGz/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rochelle Hudson in MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE Year: 1938 Rating: **1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>A hybrid of Bette Davis and Fay Wray, gorgeous little b-starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/11/isledoomed.html">Rochelle Hudson</a>, who crash-lands her cross-country plane into the jungle location near Siam, is the best thing going in the fourth overall MR. MOTO film, TAKES A CHANCE, which is the third directed by Norman Foster... Back in an enigmatic locale after MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE takes on American boxing, Peter Lorre's titular character returns to disguise (as an ancient monk), secretly helping two token white guys...

adventure, franchise, jungle, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, rochelle hudson, thirties

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE'

Rochelle Hudson in MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE Year: 1938 Rating: **1/2 A hybrid of Bette Davis and Fay Wray, gorgeous little b-starlet Rochelle...

PETER LORRE IN NORMAN FOSTER'S FIRST TWO 'MR. MOTO' FILMS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDYdZpyFR5-bc-p9L913fxBpqoM93pSIlJai_-Gu3B2riLbgibEfL7cE6wGd11hG6fTKEgVy4yneCu0-1jbCAnhfi2Uz77HbmkMjI6eSY9qpDBXiNsR9kqIcQ9TAK6ArdAOUoeATKNPDleBCPXS8vmdAP03UNmkvLQ4mTNaRNezNEcpp-b-4pofJFd60W/s1630/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-10%20at%201.17.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDYdZpyFR5-bc-p9L913fxBpqoM93pSIlJai_-Gu3B2riLbgibEfL7cE6wGd11hG6fTKEgVy4yneCu0-1jbCAnhfi2Uz77HbmkMjI6eSY9qpDBXiNsR9kqIcQ9TAK6ArdAOUoeATKNPDleBCPXS8vmdAP03UNmkvLQ4mTNaRNezNEcpp-b-4pofJFd60W/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-10%20at%201.17.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>THINK FAST, MR. MOTO: Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret agent who's both 
underrated and unappreciated... But he'll surprise you with a karate 
kick sending non-believers flying across the room. 
 
Here
 we begin with Moto in street peddler disguise, including a pointy beard
 and ragged clothing. He clumsily meanders into a store to sell a rug, 
and then a diamond, to an impatient proprietor who’s got a dead body 
semi-hidden in a wicker basket. This brings Moto on board a big ship 
where an important letter to a rich man’s son, Bob, has been stolen and 
replaced.

action, adventure, franchise, jayne regan, lotus long, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, sequel, sidney blackmer, spy, suspense, thirties, thriller

PETER LORRE IN NORMAN FOSTER'S FIRST TWO 'MR. MOTO' FILMS

year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2 THINK FAST, MR. MOTO : Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret a...

PETER LORRE IN 'MR. MOTTO'S GAMBLE' WITH DOUGLAS FOWLEY

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5umb5u2DRFwFj2Tgcgz-jYvAhWo3XaZsIMrmKltwsIGMW17vq2fPhnA5cJeIaTiEhXbWkORiJ8Wo1YbytJrTeu5kKYSNGZHEGKA5aVl1ipzacFE7IYW2Oq5JsBzfTCvXbwGNSQFdKErTEr_hgaxnMNFTy9eHI6tL1yuNWxvfkO-xIg5Y0TlBXe0Ixgf/s1898/0%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5umb5u2DRFwFj2Tgcgz-jYvAhWo3XaZsIMrmKltwsIGMW17vq2fPhnA5cJeIaTiEhXbWkORiJ8Wo1YbytJrTeu5kKYSNGZHEGKA5aVl1ipzacFE7IYW2Oq5JsBzfTCvXbwGNSQFdKErTEr_hgaxnMNFTy9eHI6tL1yuNWxvfkO-xIg5Y0TlBXe0Ixgf/s16000/0%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>The third MR. MOTO film, which was a franchise starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese secret agent/crime-fighter, wasn't directed by Norman Foster, and had a noirish potboiler plot that was supposed to be inserted into a Charlie Chan picture, involving the always crooked and mysterious boxing syndicate... Motto sporadically investigates a heavyweight contender's enigmatic death while teaching a class on crime, the case involves various thuggy gangsters straight from the previous decade including Douglas Fowley and George S. Stone, MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE is one of the more conventional MOTO programmers: despite the titular character seeming more like a special guest star throughout.

classic gangster, crime, douglas fowley, franchise, george e. stone, jayne regan, lynn bari, mr moto, peter lorre, thirties, ward bond

PETER LORRE IN 'MR. MOTTO'S GAMBLE' WITH DOUGLAS FOWLEY

Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2 The third MR. MOTO film, which was a franchise starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese secret agent/crime-fighter, wasn...

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN SURVIVE 'THE THIRD MAN'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oCNiwVUAf2-1HtIaI1ebf2ckaOjHaWyP8XeW26P9n2pfT7QMoO8QYxiHeyOXQSea2H4tEkRneaZPBEuFiAKKfWh53RkElWHKZNxxtNtDbtaxLP5OOMtGcWwhrbc00EQpKidd19NIXPHJmjg7or83upEnlgt6RzpdzualfWAPimaV5WSkrkX_ZrYdVaR1/s2094/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%201.57.39%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="2094" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oCNiwVUAf2-1HtIaI1ebf2ckaOjHaWyP8XeW26P9n2pfT7QMoO8QYxiHeyOXQSea2H4tEkRneaZPBEuFiAKKfWh53RkElWHKZNxxtNtDbtaxLP5OOMtGcWwhrbc00EQpKidd19NIXPHJmjg7or83upEnlgt6RzpdzualfWAPimaV5WSkrkX_ZrYdVaR1/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%201.57.39%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jospeh Cotten and Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN Year: 1949 Rating: *****</td></tr></tbody></table>It's not really that big a deal that Orson Welles turns up over fifty-minutes into THE THIRD MAN, being that audiences awaited KING KONG for about the same period of time... The term best describing Welles's Harry Lime is anticipated antagonist, and yet all his criminal activity is refuted by best friend Joseph Cotten as cheap novelette
 Western writer Holly Martins, and especially heartbroken 
stage-actress-girlfriend Alida Valli, who Cotten attempts subtly 
romancing... but can't compete with the ghost...

alida valli, bernard lee, british film noir, carol reed, forties, joseph cotten, mystery, orson welles, thriller, trevor howard

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN SURVIVE 'THE THIRD MAN'

Jospeh Cotten and Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN Year: 1949 Rating: ***** It's not really that big a deal that Orson Welles turns up over...

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN IN 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguor00zaLn8rcQF8pCjcOACGQEReXaWzBZ0a3V_jFZ9cSA8qu47pgYhL8pkxqcEX714-nQJw1MNqE8IcCpYP6qbz05xxau_EWS4eFsVKXdp15o9fBY9vTUh-fJ4tk6T7ogivvUpv7LPQ08b31Tyo_yMktiet64bAvcJLuj5rFi8KcSYPoKss0CRMgL8DCc/s1882/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%2011.00.48%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguor00zaLn8rcQF8pCjcOACGQEReXaWzBZ0a3V_jFZ9cSA8qu47pgYhL8pkxqcEX714-nQJw1MNqE8IcCpYP6qbz05xxau_EWS4eFsVKXdp15o9fBY9vTUh-fJ4tk6T7ogivvUpv7LPQ08b31Tyo_yMktiet64bAvcJLuj5rFi8KcSYPoKss0CRMgL8DCc/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%2011.00.48%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year: 1943 Rating: **** </td></tr></tbody></table>An entertaining, lightweight crime yarn about a married and very 
passive arms dealer... who ironically has never fired a gun... stuck 
on a cargo ship where there lurks a clandestine Nazi out to kill him... 
 
Joseph
 Cotten stars as the hunted pawn who, having left loyal wife Ruth 
Warrick ashore, is reluctantly sent aboard with dancer Dolores Del Rio and meets 
various passengers including a Turkish tobacco dealer, a slick gambler and a German businessman. It's not hard
 figuring out who the main heavy is, but it doesn't matter...