Le visage derrière le masque

Peter Lorre turns in one of his finest performances as a Hungarian watchmaker coming to the United Staes to make a new life for himself and someday bring his girl across the big pond to be with him. Lorre's infectious optimism and bright outlook come off very effectively which makes the performance all the better when he has his face hideously burned in a hotel fire and, when no one will give him a chance to work, turns reluctantly to a life of crime. Lorre's range as an actor is seldom as apparent as in this movie with his jovial, good-natured immigrant, to his depressing, melancholic, disfigured self searching for the truth behind what he believed America afforded him, to his suave, intelligent, better-than-your-average hood, to his sympathetic dealings with a blind woman with whom he falls in love. The story is well-paced, has some interesting twists, and gives Lorre many opportunities to shine. Director Robert Florey does a quality job behind the lens, and all of the supporting cast help aid the film with Evelyn Keyes giving a particularly good turn as the blind girl. I loved the ending - and the truth - that was shone to exist in Lorre's character despite all the negative things society had done toward him. For a little B picture, The Man Behind the Mask is good movie-making for its time.

In the same year Peter Lorre did The Maltese Falcon over at Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures had him starring in The Face Behind The Mask. In his career Lorre was far better known for the supporting parts he played to big Hollywood marquee names. After his starring roles in German cinema in Fritz Lang's M and as Mr. Moto, Lorre was rarely the lead name in the cast. This interesting B film, The Face Behind The Mask is a glorious exception.

It's too bad that Columbia didn't put more production values into this film because Lorre has one interesting part. The film is a combination of Phantom Of The Opera and Little Caesar. Lorre first appears to us as an eager immigrant from Hungary, one of the few times he played his own nationality. He's looking to get his piece of the American dream as so many were back in the day. On a tip from friendly policeman Don Beddoe, Lorre takes lodging in a cheap rooming house and that very first night the place catches on fire and his face is burned horribly.

Disfigured as he is Lorre can't find legitimate work, but he's got certain skills that the criminal profession can use and with the aid of a temporary mask he takes charge like Edward G. Robinson did of an existing criminal gang. George E. Stone plays the same kind of role in The Face Behind The Mask as he did in Little Caesar.

Lorre also in maybe the only time in his film career gets a leading lady of sorts in the person of Evelyn Keyes. Evelyn plays a blind girl who can't see his disfigurement and she falls for him. It all ends badly, but not through any doing of Lorre's.

The Face Behind The Mask is a routine B programmer without a lot of production values invested, but the idea behind the film is an interesting one and Lorre pulls it off beautifully in his acting.

And who would ever have Peter Lorre would get the girl in any film, even temporarily.

The question is: Is it possible to make Peter Lorre look weirder than he did naturally? This movie answers that question, and the answer is "yes."

"The Face Behind the Mask" gives off major Universal monster movie vibes. The mask in question covers Lorre's face after he suffers severe burns and doesn't have enough money for plastic surgery. No worries though -- he falls in love with a blind woman, played by Evelyn Keyes, who only sees the beauty within. They marry and live happily ever after, and everything is right with the world.

Ok, so that's not how things go. I saw this movie as part of the Noir City film festival at the Music Box Theater in Chicago. And though this doesn't feel like a true noir to me, just by virtue of being on the program you know things can't go quite so smoothly for our protagonist as all that. Lorre goes from meek and idealistic immigrant to crime gang heavy in the space of about two minutes, and this has some definite repercussions on his domestic affairs.

Lorre is one of those actors like Edward G. Robinson who's just so cool to watch on screen that any material is better because he's delivering it. Keyes is absolutely lovely in this, and does a pretty passable impression of someone who can't see. If I hadn't been in the mood to see an old-fashioned noir I might have had a more generous reaction to this movie, but as it is I still had fun with it. You could watch this movie in the amount of time it would take you to binge watch two or three episodes of your favorite Netflix show of the moment, so it's not like it's a huge commitment.

And it's interesting to see a movie about the immigrant experience in 1941, when people would have been fleeing Europe in droves for places like the U. S. When virtually every movie at the time, regardless of genre, felt some obligation to keep up war morale, it doesn't pass notice that this movie has a rather cynical attitude about America being a land of opportunity for those not born in it.

Face Behind the Mask, The (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Peter Lorre's excellent performance highlights this entertaining, if predictable, melodrama from Columbia and director Florey. In the film Lorre plays Janos Szabo, a immigrant who comes to America to earn enough money to bring the woman he loves over so that they can be married. Soon after his arrival his face is horrible disfigured in a hotel fire and he gets to see the ugly side of the country because no one will give him a job or even look at him. He eventually meets a friend (George E. Stone) who talks him into a life of crime so that he can raise enough money to get a new face but soon he meets a blind woman (Evelyn Keyes) who might make him think differently. There's a lot of plot going on in this film but there's no denying that Lorre gives an incredible performance and it makes this thing worth viewing no matter how predictable the screenplay is. There's really nothing here that will come out of left field as we get Lorre's character built up as such a great guy and then we get the accident and then we get the crime and of course he'd just happen to meet a blind girl, which itself turns into a couple more predictable moments. One doesn't mind this as the film does have some very good moments including the actual fire sequence as well as the aftermath when Lorre finally sees his new face. As for Lorre, there's no question this here is one of his strongest performances as we believe him as the good guy getting off the ship and we can also believe him and the anger of what has happened to him. I think the film would have benefited from his bad side behind a lot darker than the film allows but I'm sure this was watered down so that the romance side of things could flourish. Keyes is also very good in his role as the blind girl and Stone, best known for his Boston Blackie films, is very good as well. Don Beddoe adds nice support as the cop who helps Lorre and James Seay is nice as the rival. Florey's direction is very good throughout and especially during some of the darker moments right after the accident. The director does a pretty good job at handling the various aspects of this film and pulls everything together well enough to keep the film going. This is a good film but not a classic one. I think with a little tinkering of the script we could have had something even better but as is, it's great to see Lorre in a role he can do so much with.

Saw this at a special showing. Great performance from Peter Lorrie as a sweet immigrant who turns to a life of crime after his face is disfigured in a fire. Director Robert Flory uses a variety of wild film techniques to tell this colorful story. A shame it is not available on video.