User reviews

What must have started life as a pretty ordinary crime picture is dressed up for the box office with some of the popular flourishes of the day such as electronic gadgets and a mysterious criminal mastermind.

Karloff gives excellent value as villain's chief henchman and thankfully gets plenty of screen time.

Although director and cast were all well experienced in pictures, the performances tend to be on the dull side, particularly Jack Holt in the lead. The pace of individual scenes is a little slow too, almost as if everyone concerned were making a conscious effort to hold back from the excesses of the silent days.

No classic, but you could do worse.

Jack Holt escapes from prison and follow the advice of his friend Boris Karloff to go see a certain man if he wants to remain free and make lots of money. Holt does so and soon finds himself working for a mysterious Mr X, who is running a large criminal operation. Holt however is no cook, he is instead a federal agent seeking to break a drug ring.

Made prior to the release of Frankenstein this is a film with Boris Karloff in one of his henchmen supporting roles. He's good but a bit over active. The real star here is Jack Holt who was a big star in the silent days and who's career slowly faded once sound came in. I've always liked Holt and felt he was under appreciated by most people who know who he was (The problem is that most people have no idea at all who he was). Holt here is a rugged leading man and a nice man of action. He is in short the perfect hero.

The film itself is quite good. Going from big house, to country house to doctors office, this is a thriller that keeps you guessing and keeps you interested. Its nice to see a movie that isn't so formulaic that you can connect the dots and know who is doing what before you're told. The action when it comes is well done and there is generally a good amount of suspense, especially in the final moments as it is uncertain if or how out hero will escape the villains clutches.

Worth searching out and perfect for a nice double or triple feature on a dark and stormy night.

Ah, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned creepy & atmospheric horror tale from the early nineteen-thirties starring the almighty Boris Karloff! Be forewarned, however, that this "Behind the Mask" is not really a horror movie and that Karloff in fact only plays a supportive character – albeit quite a menacing one. Does that mean that the film isn't worth checking out? Nope, not at all, because "Behind the Mask" definitely does contain quite a few sinister twists and details in its overall very ambitious and compelling crime/mystery screenplay. A whole bunch of elite federal agents are trying to unravel a large-scaled drug smuggling network led by the nefarious Mr. X. Special agent Jack Hart takes the identity of small thug Quinn and goes undercover in a state prison where he meets Jim Henderson (Karloff); one of Mr. X's principal henchmen. The organization of Mr. X is most certainly evil, as the criminal mastermind also runs an unorthodox clinic where the patients are murdered and their coffins stuffed with narcotics. The script from the hand of Jo Swerling – also the writer of Hitchcock's "Lifeboat" – superficially seems extremely ambitious, but rather many elements are nevertheless tacky (like the forced love-story between the secret agent and one of the minions' daughter) and/or predictable (for example the identity of Mr. X is not really that secretive). Top-billed stars Boris Karloff and Jack Holt are decent enough, but the show is stolen by Edward Van Sloan in a fiendish double role, and by Bertha Mann! She depicts a creepy maid who's strategically put in the house of Dr. X's unreliable collaborators. She closely observes everyone in the house and reports to her employer via a radio installation in her room.

A macabre mystery with many elements of the supernatural/shudder scientific genres.

Boris Karloff plays a lead henchman in the service of a mysterious Mr. X. His performance does not suggest a red herring role, but he is sinister enough as a grim-faced gangster to keep one's interest throughout the picture. Early on, it seems possible that the sinister Dr. Steiner played by Edward van Sloan may seem to be a more likely candidate for Mr. X., but his performance raises enough doubts to keep the viewer in a constant state of suspense.

A very fine "B" feature for the night owl crowd.

7/10.

Dan Basinger

Hard boiled Jack Holt escapes from prison. His gangster contacts set him up with a job as chauffeur at the large estate of one of their associates who is getting a little nervous. Holt's job is to keep an eye on said associate - whose attractive daughter Constance Cummings already knows there is something fishy going on.

It doesn't take long before we discover that Holt is not a real crook but an undercover agent hoping to track down the smugglers' big boss, the mysterious Mr. X.

Boris Karloff is fun as the loyal but not too bright henchman who does Mr. X's dirty jobs. Edward Van Sloan is a bit creepy as a suspicious-looking doctor running a very shady hospital. There's also a nurse named Bertha Mann at the house who spies on the family and phones in reports which she leaves on a very cool answering machine in an unknown location.

Constance Cummings has a good role as the daughter who is not content to sit back and let Holt chase the bad guys. Cummings and Holt are an effective pair of heroes in this fast-paced crime drama that offers few surprises but does feature some suspenseful moments, including an exciting climactic scene in the hospital.

This film was made during the same period as "The Criminal Code" by the same studio. It also used some of the same sets and film footage. During this period,"Frankenstein" was released and Columbia decided to play up Karloff's name and the picture's horror aspects in the advertising. But technically, it is not a horror film. It is exploited as another horror picture, this doesn't horrify sufficiently to class with preceding baby-scarers. The scare stuff seems tossed in regardless of where it fits, but it gets results because KARLOFF's threatening pan makes him a natural for his part.

1932's "Behind the Mask" was the earliest Columbia title included in the hugely successful SON OF SHOCK television package of the late 1950s, reteaming Boris Karloff and Edward Van Sloan following the just-completed "Frankenstein" (shooting wrapped Nov 21 1931). Headlining is the studio's top workhorse, Jack Holt (father of Tim), playing an undercover FBI agent posing as a convict, pumping information from Jim Henderson (Karloff), part of the dope smuggling ring run by a mysterious 'Mr. X.' The somewhat dim Henderson hardly taxes Boris, who virtually disappears at the midway point (we later learn of his offscreen capture); the real revelation is seeing Edward Van Sloan in dual roles- he looks like himself in two scenes as Dr. Alec Munsell, involved in the FBI investigation, but is unrecognizable in heavy beard and glasses as Dr. August Steiner, chewing the scenery with great relish. It's a juicy, scene stealing villain, sounding very much like an evil Van Helsing, able to lawfully dispose of enemies through surgery on the operating table, rather than wielding a knife in the street, which would only attract attention. Lovely Constance Cummings finishes her third film opposite Karloff, following "The Criminal Code" and "The Guilty Generation," while Thomas Jackson, shortly after his successful pursuit of Edward G. Robinson's "Little Caesar," surprisingly comes to a bad end. Jack Holt went on to work with Bela Lugosi in a later Columbia, 1935's "The Best Man Wins" (and with John Carradine in 1942's MGM "Northwest Rangers"). Many viewers, particularly Karloff fans, grouse that it's not really a horror film, but there's certainly enough horrific touches to qualify for SON OF SHOCK, a solid pre-code melding of crime and chills. "Behind the Mask" made one appearance on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, July 8 1967 (followed by 1961's Mexican "Bring Me The Vampire").

This is a nice, efficient mystery/thriller, enlivened by the presence of Boris Karloff and Edward van Sloane. Karloff is fine in this non-monster role, as a cocky, bowler wearing, cigar smoking crook. His presence (in retrospect) also provides a cachet of horror to the mix. This movie, after all, was shooting just as Frankenstein was released. The rest of the cast is very good and the direction is no-nonsense, straight ahead story telling (if a bit improbable). Things keep moving so quickly you don't really have time to question the plot's realism. But the real kick and revelation is Edward van Sloane in a dual/triple role -- in particular, his portrayal of Dr. Steiner, with his crackling electronic gear, his google-eye specs, his trilling foreign accent -- apparently having the time of his life as an sinister, conniving doctor masterminding a dope ring. His sadistic banter during the film's climax is convincing enough to rank with the best of Lionel Atwill's or Bela Lugosi's incarnations of mad doctors at the height of their madness.

BEHIND THE MASK (Columbia, 1932), directed by John Francis Dillon, with its Halloween sounding title and Boris Karloff in the cast, one should be expecting a horror movie. Released a little after his overnight success as The Monster in FRANKENSTEIN (Universal, 1931), naturally the Karloff name was its selling point, even if Karloff assumes third billing under its leading players, Jack Holt and Constance Cummings. Having some Columbia releases to his name where Karloff was not yet an established screen personality, he did make an impression in a prior prison melodrama of THE CRIMINAL CODE (1930), which lead to other films for that studio before acquiring immortality at Universal where 1932 released such memorable Karloff performances in his newfound genre of mystery and horror as THE OLD DARK HOUSE and THE MUMMY. While BEHIND THE MASK belongs mostly to Jack Holt, it's often categorized as a Karloff motion picture.

The story introduces two men, Quinn (Jack Holt) and Jim Henderson (Boris Karloff), prisoners at Sing Sing Prison, conversing during recreation period where Henderson, expecting to be "sprung out" any day now, tells Quinn where they are to meet upon his release. Later, Quinn breaks out of prison. During a heavy rain storm, he arranges a self-inflicted gunshot wound on his shoulder to gain access into the Arnold household. Posing as an escaped convict hiding from the police, Quinn gains enough sympathy and treatment from Julie (Constance Cummings). It so happens that Quinn, actually Jack Hart of the Secret Service, assigned under Captain E.J. Hawkes (Willard Robertson), is there to learn about her father's (Claude King) activities and his possible connection with a narcotics ring leader, the mysterious Mr. X, whom he and anyone else associated in his operation of illegal activities, has never seen. Taken under Julies confidence, Hart remains, working as her personal chauffeur. Also employed at the Arnold household is Edwards (Bertha Mann), a housekeeper and undercover spy reporting her daily activities by telephone where the recording is saved onto Mr. X's hidden dicta-phone. After Henderson's release, he reports to his physician, August Steiner (Edward Van Sloan), also part of the narcotics ring, where he resumes his activities as the doctor's henchman. After three murders on those coming close to learning the identity of Mr. X, the fourth victim being Inspector Burke (Thomas E. Jackson), it's not up to Hart to fulfill his mission to expose the identity of Mr. X before any more lives are lost, including his own.

Often exploited as a horror film, especially when sold to television in the late 1950s as part of its weekly horror film night festivals, the only elements BEHIND THE MASK has pertaining to thrillers include scenes involving digging up a body from a cemetery to perform an autopsy, and another where the hidden faced Mr. X attempts to do away with one of his victims tied down on an operating table, otherwise BEHIND THE MASK is simply a spy mystery. It's also one of the very few of many Jack Holt programmers during his Columbia period (1929-1940) to be leased to television, yet, with conflicting movies bearing the same title, ranging from a 1946 Monogram/"Shadow" mystery, the 1958 British made melodrama starring Michael Redgrave, or even the extended THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (1941) with Peter Lorre, many of which have stirred up confusion on the TV Guide listings back in the sixties and seventies when any one of these titles aired in place over the 1932 edition. BEHIND THE MASK of 1932 did become part of New York City's own "Creature Feature Theater" where I finally got to see it occasionally during its semi-annual broadcasts between 1974 and 1980.

Regardless of its flaws, Karloff slightly miscast as an off-camera murderous henchman with little to do by the midway point; Constance Cummings doing her part as the fur coat wearing heroine concerned about the outcome of both her father and new chauffeur; and Edward Van Sloan in a sort of role that definitely would have been Karloff's had BEHIND THE MASK been produced during his "mad scientist" period of the late 1930s, the film, overall, is not bad.

Never distributed to home video, BEHIND THE MASK has come around in recent years on Turner Classic Movies (2009-11), equipped with 1940s Columbia logo insertion lifted from its latter theatrical reissues, still remains a forgotten item from the Columbia library, filmography of Jack Holt and especially Boris Karloff, whom, without Karloff in the cast, BEHIND THE MASK would either be lost to oblivion or available and forgotten in some dark movie vault. (** masks)

I forgot the director John Francis Dillon, he is lost now in moviegoers memory I guess, and I think it is a shame after watching this movie. This is not astounding but very worth the watch, with a good story, solid, unusual for the period. Pre Code film, it is authorized to predict many more things than one decade later. Yes, this is definitely an interesting little film from the thirties, early thirties, where it remains many more movies to find out. I am still amazed by this topic. Boris Karloff also shines in this non horror feature, and his role is rather important in this crime topic. He steals the place to Jack Holt.

Were it not for the presence of Boris Karloff, here in a supporting role, we may not have such a high quality home video edition of this movie. Enjoyable as it is in many ways, BEHIND THE MASK is also a good example of how much difference a talented director can make. Compare the films of James Whale, for example, from the same period and see how much better several scenes here might have been. On the plus side, there is the cinematography of Ted Tetzlaff, creating moody scenes in heavy rain that grab a viewer's attention from the start. So the film looks mostly great, but in the acting department it's merely adequate. No one in the cast is terrible, and we do have Edward Van Sloane clearly enjoying himself as an evil scientist. But even Karloff is a slight disappointment. It's fun to see him in modern dress, playing a hired killer, but it's not one of his really notable appearances. Still, the plot is engaging and there is more action than one might expect from such a modest production.

This is a film that I didn't know about until going through Letterboxd for horror from 1932. Seeing that this was another Boris Karloff movie that I could tick off my list was good enough for me. I'll be honest, coming in I didn't know a lot and it was just the next one up.

Synopsis: an undercover federal officer serving time in prison fakes his escape to infiltrate a heroin smuggling ring.

I'll be honest, I came into this one blind. I didn't read the synopsis. I just knew that it was on YouTube and the aspects above. We start with Quinn (Jack Holt) talking to Jim Henderson (Karloff). They're in prison and have time in the yard. Quinn reveals that night he is breaking out. Jim tries to change his mind, saying that he has powerful friends who are getting him out soon. Quinn states he cannot wait for that. Jim does offer him a job when he gets out.

We then shift to a house that belongs to Arnold (Claude King). He lives there with his daughter Julie (Constance Cummings). Watching over them is a Nurse Edwards (Bertha Mann). They both feel like a prisoner as she reports to an evil crime boss who is known as Mr. X. During this night, Quinn makes his escape and is shot in the process. He seeks refuge with the Arnolds and this makes Nurse Edwards suspicious. She also takes notice when Arnold is strongarmed over the phone by Agent Burke (Thomas E. Jackson).

Jim then gets out and meets with a Dr. August Steiner (Edward Van Sloan). During their meeting, Dr. Steiner notices that he has a tail and they need to lose him. Before they part ways, Jim relays about Quinn and they hire him for a job that involves the latter flying a plane over the ocean to pick up a shipment of drugs.

Not everyone is as they seem though. Quinn is Jack Hart, the federal agent from the synopsis. He isn't the only double agent though. No matter what the feds try to do, the criminals seem to be one step ahead of them. They might also be on to Jack as well.

That should be enough to recap the story and introduce our characters. Where I'll start is what I've noticed about many of the last movies I've watched from 1932. They are light on the horror elements in them. This is to the point that I'm not sure I would consider them in genre if they were made today. I do think this one goes a bit more into horror than some, but still light on the elements.

Where I'll delve then first would be into this criminal organization. This movie is pointing out some commentary that I saw in a subtle way. The first would be in prison. It is interesting to see how lax the system is, but it makes sense how strict they are now. What I was getting at though is Quinn and Jim becoming friends. My problem with the prison system is that I don't think it works. Without going too political, I know that it is a broken system that is using slave labor. My true issue is that we are putting criminals together, allowing them to interact and then making their lives harder when they're released. They are institutionalized to needing the structure to keep them out of trouble. Finding work after when they are convicted felons isn't easy. We see what happens here. Quinn joins Mr. X's crew and Jim isn't rehabilitated when he gets out. He goes right back to what he is doing before in crime. There aren't a lot of people who would hire him and this is still an issue. It is wild this movie is 90+ years old and the concept is still relevant. I would say even more so today.

Getting into why I consider this horror is where I'll take this next. Mr. X deals in drugs. That would be a terrifying life of crime to be involved in. What I like is that he has a doctor working under him of Dr. Steiner. We see the depths this guy will go. Patients are brought into his private hospital and he can keep them quiet. That is terrifying to me. The movie is interesting as they don't suspect a doctor could be behind something like this. I think that idea comes from it being a profession we should trust. We would see in the years to come that there are doctors who are psycho or sociopaths who were serial killers. I like that the movie is exploring this idea. Another aspect to go along with this that is scary is being undercover. We know at one point that Mr. X and his crew has taken out multiple federal agents. Trying to live a double life where you could die scares me and I can see the horror there.

There isn't anything else I need to flesh out for the story so I'll go over to the acting. I thought that Holt does well as portraying the rough criminal Quinn as well as the tough federal agent in Jack. He fits for the chess game that he is playing to stay alive. Cummings is fine. She isn't given a lot and is more of the love interest for him. Being that her father is in too deep does add tension for her worry. Karloff is solid in his side character. I like seeing him given a bit to work with. King, Mann, Willard Robertson and Thomas E. Jackson are all solid as well. Another actor though I was impressed with as Van Sloan. He's given more here than other film I've seen him in. It is a shame he seems to be regulated to minor characters as he is good as a villain.

The last things then would be the filmmaking. I think that we get good cinematography here. There are only a few set pieces we see. I did like what they did with the ocean sequences. Other than that, they don't do anything too out of the ordinary. It is limited on the effects used, but it also isn't that type of movie. How things play out before the characters is more important. The only other thing would be the soundtrack. It didn't stand out or hurt the movie for how it was used.

In conclusion, this movie was interesting enough. I like the different elements we have come into a play with this early crime film that incorporates some horror elements. Having a double agent infiltrating this crime organization was good. Using a killer doctor is an intriguing element there. I'd say that the acting was solid across the board. This movie is well made as well. After this first viewing, I would say this is an above average movie for me. I'd recommend it for the cast and the elements for a movie this early into cinema.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Terrific adventure that ends as a chiller, also featuring Boris Karloff soon after gaining fame in FRANKESTEIN.

It's Karloff versus FBI undercover agent Jack Holt (Hart) who gains his confidence in prison, making a daring escape. It's all part of a smooth plan to nab Karloff's boss, nefarious Mr. X (excellently portrayed by Edward Van Sloan). Sloan's cover is as a doctor (Steiner), the mastermind behind a heroine smuggling ring. In a dark comedy move, and for all us macabre buffs, Steiner plants the heroin stash in various empty coffins in a creepy cemetery.

But the best comes at the end when Steiner shows his true colors, a fiendish surgeon who straps Hart to his operating table! Writer Jo Swerling's script featues some really camp dialogue for Van Sloan. He is the ultimate villain of villains. Swerling went onto win an Oscar nod for PRIDE OF THE YANKEES.

Top direction by John Francis Dillon, who began his career with silent comedies. He directed the acclaimed comeback film for Clara Bow, CALL HER SAVAGE the same year.

Jack Holt is his usual two fisted self. Great sinister bit by character actress Bertha Mann as Van Sloan's undercover spy, Edwards. This was her final film, who married noted producer Raymond Griffith.

Karloff next appeared in SCARFACE.

A real treat and a B film for Columbia Pictures that was a cut above the rest. Always on remastered dvd with an outstanding color cover.

Behind the Mask (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Columbia action picture has Jack Holt playing Secret Agent Jack Hart who goes undercover in a prison and befriends the henchman (Boris Karloff) of a maniac passing off various narcotics on the street. Hart isn't able to find his identity but he begins to grow suspicious of a doctor (Edward Van Sloan) who seems to be hiding a few things. Footage from the same studio's THE CRIMINAL CODE was used here as well as several sets from that film so fans of that film might be curious to check this one out, which turns out to be fairly entertaining even though a stronger director probably would have gotten more out of it and raised it beyond its "B" movie roots. What works best is the cast, which also includes Constance Cummings as the lose interest for our main hero. She's pretty good in the film and has wonderful chemistry with Holt whose as stiff as ever but still manages to turn in a good performance. It appears people either love Holt or hate him but I'm somewhere in between. I have often been put off by his stiffness but I think it actually suits his character here quite well. Karloff gets a pretty good role and manages to be in the majority of the first half of the picture. He too makes the film worth checking out as he proves once again that he could do a wide range of roles and didn't require make up to do them. Fans of FRANKENSTEIN will certainly like seeing him and Van Sloan together again. The story itself is pretty simple and straight forward and really doesn't add too many twists or shocks that can't be spotted from a mile away. The film runs a fast paced 68-minutes, which doesn't leave the viewer too many dull moments. Again, I think a stronger director could have rises the material up some but fans of the cast will certainly want to check this one out.