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John Phillips
Marquand (1893-1960) was an American writer of
some note, winner of the Pulitzer prize for
fiction in 1938 for the novel The Late George
Apley. He was a prolific and successful
writer, winning both critial acclaim and
commerical success. Critics consider him the
foremost American novelest of manners of the mid
twentieth century. Between his serious works he
continued to produce a popular series of spy
thrillers featuring the singular Mr. Moto, a
secret agent of Imperial Japan.
Twentieth Century
Fox released eight Mr Moto films starring Peter
Lorre. Except for "Thank You, Mr.
Moto", the films bear little resemblence to
the books in terms of plot or character. This
webpage is dedicated to promoting the
appreciation of Mr. Moto books, and not the
films. |
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| Mr Moto is short
slender man of indeterminate age who speaks
perfect English as well as numerous Chinese
dialects. He seems to have questionable taste in
clothes (checked golfing suits on train rides,
for example) has noticable gold fillings in his
front teeth and keeps his hair in a
"Prussian Brush Cut" (an
example). He has a proficiency with firearms,
jujitstu, and is unfailingly polite. He seldom
(if ever) resorts to disguises - he seldom seeks
to disquise his presence in a particular theatre
of intrigue; which may be good thing, considering
his rather unique appearance. He is never the
main protagonist of the story - rather he appears
at strategic points in the story, a catalyst for
action. "Moto", by the way, is not a
proper Japanese surname. |
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The Orient is portrayed as an
unknowable enviroment to the American
protagonists. Even when they are longtime
residents (Tom Nelson of Thank You, Mr. Moto
even speaks fluent Chinese) they discover that
this cultural opacity means that an American will
just never feel comfortable in the East. Marquand
is able to evoke an atmosphere of mystery and
fascination.. |
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Moto, was, after
all, an agent of Imperial Japan - a country that
conquered so many Asian nations and treated their
citizens so hideously. Marquand portrays Moto as
a "moderate" in political bent. He
represents those factions within Japan that
advocate the slower expansion of their influence.
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The
passage of time allows for a more disspassionate
view of things - Japan's expansion ran up against
the expansions of Imperialist European powers in
Asia (Britain, France and the U.S. in the
Phillipines). It seems blatently unfair to judge
the Japanese as an "evil empire" when
it was, perhaps, merely Japan's turn to play
conquerer. Interestingly enough, Moto himself
uses the term "Manifest Destiny" (the
American justification of the conquest of the
Native American) as the justification for his
country's own ambitions. Does
Marquand stereotype asians as
"inscrutable"? Yes, he does - but he is
writing of an Asia that is long gone and from the
point of view of isolated Americans of a type who
(also hopefully) no longer exist.
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Thank You, Mr. Moto - The
best book in the series.
Dust Jacket from a
1987 British edition.
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He is not speaking of Americanized Asian
immigrants to the U.S., he writes of warlords
from the countryside, dissipated relatives of the
Chinese Imperial family, Manchurian freedom
fighters, and fanatical-to-the-point-of-suicide
Japanese military zeolots. To an American of
those times, dealing with these people are not
the same as a going to Denny's to meet with Uncle
George and Aunt Zoe just in from Boise. (And,
apparently you still need a book on Japanese
business ettiquite to eat out with that
semiconductor client of yours -
"scrutability" books are available now,
but they weren't then.)
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| Below is a
listing of the Mr. Moto books, along with
summaries. The summaries are written in the mode
of jacket blurbs (and some of them actually are
jacket blurbs) so that you will get a general
idea of the plot, but will not have the plot
spoiled for you. This isn't meant to be a
collector's bibliography of the various physical
editions, but I have listed the variant titles so
that you will be able to avoid buying duplicate
books under different titles. |
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Cover from a
1985 paperback
edition from Little, Brown |
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Your Turn, Mr. Moto (1935)
Original title: No Hero; originally published in
serial form in the Saturday Evening Post, 1935
under the title of No Hero. Also Published as Mr.
Moto Takes a Hand (British Edition). Caught in a
web of Asian intrique and espionage, American World War I
ace Casey Lee and the beautiful but dangerous White
Russian refugee he has fallen in love with stumble into
the way of the Japanese Emporer's expansionist plans for
his country. Only Mr. Moto, number one secret agent for
the Japanese Government, can extricate them, and yet his
duty to his emperor must come first.
(Blurb from a 1985 Little, Brown paperback
edition.)
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Cover from a
1985 paperback
edition from Little, Brown: note
the resemblance to Peter Lorre.
And is that Alan Ladd there, too?
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Thank You, Mr. Moto (1936)
Originally published in serial form in the Saturday
Evening Post, 1936. Cynical American expatriate
Tom Nelson has "gone native" in the fabled
ancient city of Peking. He is stirred out of his
complacency when he is caught up in events involving a
ruthless Chinese Warlord from the north, the expansionist
Japanese Empire, stolen Chinese art masterpieces, and
Eleanor Joyce, a lovely American on a secret mission. Add
to this mix the implacable, ever polite Mr. Moto: will
Tom Nelson find his way out of all this?
Note: This is my personal favorite of all of the
novels. Marquand's portrayal of mood and atmosphere of
Peking is superb.
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Cover of a
1956 Bantam
paperback edition.
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Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
Originally published in serial form in the Saturday
Evening Post, 1936. Young Wilson Hitchings is
ready to take his place in the vernerable family firm of
"Hitchings Brothers, Bankers and Commission
Merchants: Honolulu, Shanghai, Canton". His first
real assignment is to travel to Hawaii and deal with the
"Hitchings Plantation" a gambling house started
by a black sheep of the family and maintained after his
death by his lovely daughter, Eva Hitchings. Wilson's
orders are to shut the place down before it does further
damage to the staid family firm's image. Little does he
realize that the plantation is the center of
international financial intrigue involving Mr. Moto (of
course).
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Cover from a
1963 Berkeley
Medallion paperback edition;
notice the narrow lapelled suit
of the early 1960's. |
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Mr. Moto Is So Sorry (1938)
Originally published in serial form in the Saturday
Evening Post, 1938. Running from his past,
American Calvin Gates is on his way by rail through
northern China to Inner Mongolia to join up with an
archeological expedition. The trip through Japanese
controlled China involves his accidental involvement in
coded secrets, the attractive American archeological
artist Shirley Galloway, conflicting factions within the
Japanese Empire and of course, Mr. Moto.
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Cover of a 1977
Popular
Library paperback edition. |
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Last Laugh, Mr. Moto (1942)
Originally published in serial form in Colliers,
1941 under the title of Mercator Island. Disillusioned
ex-Navy pilot Bob Bolles' carefree, alcohol soaked days
of drifting from port to port in the Caribbean come to an
abrupt halt when he takes on paying passengers on his
sailboat. The rich American tourist and his beautiful
wife may not be who they seem to be, and their
"Swedish" servant seems more like a rough and
ready sailor than a butler. Why are they headed for the
uninteresting and remote Mercator Island? Mr. Moto steps
in when the action gets going, but will he come out of it
with what he wants?
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Cover from a
1963 Berkeley
Medallion paperback
edition: is the foreground figure
Mr. Moto, about to stab a
second victim?
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Right You Are, Mr. Moto (1957)
Original title: Stopover: Tokyo; also called The
Last of Mr. Moto. Originally published in serial form
in the Saturday Evening Post, 1956/57 under the
title of Rendezvous in Tokyo. Marquand's
suave, smiling little expert on top level foreign
intrigue is waiting at the airport for the American
Intelligence agents Jack Rhyce and Ruth Bogart, when they
land in Tokyo on a secret mission. The wily Mr. Moto
joins the chase after an internally clever and dangerous
international spy ring.
(Blurb from a 1985 Little, Brown paperback edition.)
Critic C. Hugh Holman considers this book to be the
finest in the series.
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Dust Jacket for
Avenel's
Mr. Moto Four Complete
Novels; at least he doesn't
look like Pete Lorre.... |
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Mr. Moto's Three Aces (Thank You,
Mr. Moto; Think Fast, Mr. Moto and Mr. Moto Is So Sorry)
Little, Brown. 1938, 1956 and possibly other imprints. Mr.
Moto Four Complete Novels (Your Turn, Mr. Moto; Think
Fast, Mr. Moto; Mr. Moto Is So Sorry; and Right You Are,
Mr. Moto). Avenel 1983.
(If you get both collections, you still
have to procure Last Laugh, Mr. Moto separately to
read all of the books.)
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- Baird, James. "John P.
Marquand," in Critical Survey of
Mystery and Detective Fiction, vol 3,
Edited by Frank N. Magill. Pasadena:
Salem Press 1988.
- Carlton, Paul H, "John P(hillips)
Marquand," in Dictionary of
Literary Biography, Volume 102: American
Short-Story Writers, 1910-1945, Second
Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book.
Edited by Bobby Ellen Kimbel,
Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz
Campus. The Gale Group, 1991, pp.
208-216.
- Holman, C. Hugh "John Phillips
Marquand," in American Writers,
1974, 3:50-73.
- Holman, C. Hugh "John P(hillips)
Marquand," in Dictionary of
Literary Biography, Volume 9: American
Novelists, 1910-1945. A Bruccoli
Clark Layman Book. Edited by James J.
Martine, Saint Bonaventure University.
The Gale Group, 1981, pp. 194-199.
- "John P(hillips) Marquand," in Contemporary
Authors Online. The Gale Group,
2000.
- Nicol, Charles. Frank Lloyd Wright and
Mr. Moto. Para-doxa 1995, 1:2,
224-30.
- Penzler, Otto. "Mr. Moto," in The
Private Lives of Private Eyes, Spies,
Crime Fighters, and Other Good
Guys, 1977.
- Rausch, George J. "John P. Marquand
and Espionage Fiction." The
Armchair Detective, 1972, V: 194-198.
- Suter, Jon M. Mr. Moto and the Pulps. Dime-Novel-Roundup.
1994 Dec, 63:6 (630), 107-16.
- "Why did Mr. Moto Disappear?" Newsweek
21 January 1957, p. 106.
- Wires, Richard. John P. Marquand and
Mr. Moto: Spy Adventures and Detective
Films. Muncie, Ind: Ball State
University, 1990.
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Dust Jacket from
the 1957 first edition
from Little, Brown. |
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