American archeologist Howard Stevens recovers the ancient crown of the Queen of Sheba; the priceless artifact is shipped to the San Francisco Museum.
Ostensibly on vacation, Mr. Moto shows up to guard the crown from a notorious master thief, whom everyone assumes is dead.
Using a variety of disguises, the very-much-alive thief succeeds in pilfering the crown-only to discover that Moto has remained three steps ahead of him throughout the film.
"[9] The Monthly Film Bulletin said it was "lifted out of the rut by the clever acting of Peter Lorre".
In December 1938, Fox announced they would not give Lorre a new contract but that he still had four Moto films to make.