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A poster over at HTF just posted this:

MR. MOTO COLLECTION - Volume One (Four Disc Set) Release Date: August 1, 2006. Peter Lorre and the best character actors oft he 1930s star in the Mr. Moto series. The first volume here will includet he following great features: MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE (1938), THE MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO (1938), THANK YOU MR. MOTO (1937) and THINK FAST MR. MOTO (1937)! (Fox DVD Box Set/List Price 59.98

Very good news! This series, along with the early Charlie Chans, are the restored versions some of which were shown on the Fox Channel and look fabulous. I do wish they would rethink their pricing structure on the classic boxes though. Amazon already has it up for preorder.

The longest of these movies is 70 minutes. This should have been a 2-disc set at (at least) half the price. Fox is really beginning to annoy me with these outrageously priced box sets. Only the most avid Peter Lorre and serial detective movie fans are going to buy this at that price.

Very nice artwork!

We should be grateful these things are coming out at all !

It's worth the price for the work they will put into it, FINALLY, HOPEFULLY, superceding the public domain mess that's out there !

Buttery Jeb, do you have any info on extras for this set?

A bit more on the extras for the Moto set but nothing too specific:

Mr. Moto Collection: Volume 1 Four-disc set with four "Mr. Moto" films starring Peter Lorre: "Think Fast, Mr. Moto" (1937), "Thank You. Mr. Moto" (1937), "Mr. Moto Takes a Chance" (1938) and "Mysterious Mr. Moto" (1938); $59.98. Extras: Profiles of Lorre, "Mr. Moto" director Norman Foster, producer Sol Wurtzel and stuntman Harvey Parry. (Fox).

These will probably resemble the featurettes found on the Charlie Chan set. BTW, I picked that set up today and it is great - and at $35 at Costco, it's not all that expensive! Charming flyer for the Moto set was included, too.

Love the cover art on each individual case - can't wait to pick this up!

here's another.

Dave Kehr's weekly DVD column for the NY Times has a nice review of this set, especially for persons like myself who are mostly unfamiliar with the series.

[quote] By DAVE KEHR
Published: August 1, 2006
THE MR. MOTO COLLECTION, VOLUME ONE

Fox Home Video
Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto, “an adventurer, explorer, soldier of fortune.â€

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40% off at Amazon.

Volume 2 is being released February 13th.

This outstanding collection includes four favorite Mr. Moto hits, all starring the inimitable Peter Lorre as the world famous sleuth. And as a special bonus, the 1965 feature film The Return Of Mr. Moto starring Henry Silva is included!

Sign me up... love these blasted things. Like reading a talking, moving comic book. And even with the different getups, you still have to cross your own eyes to keep both on both of Lorre's eyes.. Like eye gym.

Volume 2 announcement.

More details on extras at DVDTimes.

Extras include:
* Meet Mr. Moto featurette
* Mr. Moto Meets Mr. Chan – the Making of Mr. Moto's Gamble featurette
* Mr. Moto's Creator – the late John P. Marquand featurette
* Mr. Moto is Missing featurette
* Mr. Moto trailers
* Commentary by Henry Silva on The Return of Mr. Moto

This commentary should be interesting.

I purchased this on Saturday. It continues the craftmanship and appreciation for these films we saw in the first box set. There are several interesting featurettes: The Making of Mr. Moto's Gamble which explains how a film that was intended to be a vehicle for Charlie Chan became a Moto film, The Life of John P. Marquand which briefly provides the history of the writer of the Moto novels and how his own experiences shaped the creation of the Moto series in novels.
The films themselves though are the gem of the set. Each of these films illustrate that while telling entertaining stories at a rapid pace, filled with action and intrigue there is also an element of social critique especially the looming specter of WW II in Mr. Moto's Last Warning. These four films are definitely worth purchasing. It is a shame that the Moto series had to come to such an abrupt end, but with the growing fear of the Japanese and the troubles in China I suppose that the public's fascination with Asian detectives had disappeared.

DVD Talk reviews Volume 2.

So both of these boxed sets just went OOP and I wanted to put in a strong recommendation for 'em. After slogging through some of the Charlie Chan pics I picked up on sale last year, I wasn't expecting much from this series, but these films are like bizarro world inverses of that series. Peter Lorre's titular Japanese jack-of-all-trades constantly outpaces and outsmarts all those around him, both "good" and "bad" guys, in the service of whatever ultimate goal he's working towards. It's also interesting how cavalier Lorre's Moto is allowed to be with regards to executing his enemies-- I can't think of any non-war Hollywood product that allowed its hero to kill so many antagonists and get sanctioned for it! I consumed all four films in the first set in one afternoon and even the weakest of the four (whichever one took place in the jungle) was still pretty good, and at least one was actually great (the one with the league of assassins who staged hits to look like accidents). The films move at movie serial pace, have good humor and strong direction (all are directed and most co-written by Norman Foster, so there's a unified vision at work here), and even at reduced budget the obvious studio backlot sets and bit players are used advantageously. Highly recommend picking these up before they take on Joan Collins box-level prices on the Marketplace.

David, you and I share a favourite Moto. I remember wishing it had the length of an A picture, when usually what I appreciate about the series is the brevity of each movie.

This is indeed a really entertaining series. One of my favourite moments (I forget from what entry) is when Moto decides to escape detection by acting 'Japanese' for a few white characters, and puts on a whole bunch of racial stereotypes for their benefit, only to shoot them a contemptuous glance when they leave. It's such a weird, semi-self aware moment--it's brilliant.

Thank You Mr Moto also has one of Moto's most convincing guises-- he looks like late period Charles Foster Kane! Though truly he is a master of disguise if he could keep the bald cap on during days of travel in the sweltering desert! Though I do like his disgruntled German art patron in Mysterious Mr Moto who angrily decries the paintings on special exhibition at a gallery in favor of schmaltzy mass produced cute poster prints he just happens to have on hand (I think it's a girl and her dog) and the hapless security guard can't kick him out because "Well, he bought a ticket!"