XhcnoirX Watch maker Peter Lorre moves from Europe to NYC in search of 'the American dream'. Within minutes of arrival he's pickpocketed, but friendly police inspector Don Beddoe sets him up with a room in a cheap hotel. That night the hotel burns down, and Lorre ends up with facial burns. When he's released from the hospital, he cannot find a job due to his disfigured face. Just when he's about to commit suicide, he comes across petty thief George E. Stone. Due to his watch making craft, Lorre discovers he has a knack for robberies, and soon he's the leader of a small gang. Lorre finally has enough money to pay for a facial mask while saving up for a facial reconstruction operation. While Beddoe is tasked with investigating the robberies, Lorre meets the blind Evelyn Keyes, who sees him for what he is, not for what he looks like. After Lorre finds out the operation is useless, as all his facial nerves were fried in the hotel fire, he decides to leave his criminal life behind and move to the countryside with Keyes. But the gang won't let him go that easily.Lorre loses almost everything within a day of his arrival to the States and once he is almost back on top again, he loses even more. A very bleak and cynical look at the American dream, this movie was apparently billed as 'horror' but it's really more of a proto-noir. Keyes ('Johnny O'Clock', 'The Prowler') has a small role but she does well, Beddoe's ('The Night Of The Hunter') role is almost like a bit-part unfortunately. The rest of the cast are decent enough, but this movie belongs to Lorre. He is excellent and displays a wide range of emotions. Lorre has a lot of noir credentials, but with this movie sandwiched inbetween 1940's 'Stranger On The Third Floor' and 1941's 'The Maltese Falcon', Lorre already ensured his name in the noir hall of fame.Director Robert Florey ('The Crooked Way') keeps the movie moving at a brisk pace, with DoP Franz Planer ('99 River Street', 'Criss Cross') adding some nice noir photography to the movie. It doesn't have all the 'necessary' noir traits, but if you are looking for a bleak & downbeat proto-noir, look no further. The print I saw was pretty beat up, I would love to see this with better quality. 7/10

Mark Honhorst After seeing this years ago on TCM, I was finally able to track this down on Youtube. I had remembered the beautiful love story it had portrayed between a disfigured immigrant and a blind girl. It has always stuck with me, and it was a pleasure to see it again. While the story is familiar, I have a soft spot for movies about "different" people, and the story this film tells is tragic and touching. Peter Lorre's performance is top notch, with a sensitive and well written script to boot. The character development here is fantastic. Janos Szabo goes from an innocent foreigner who can barely understand English, to a hardened criminal in less than an hour. What's remarkable is, he retains some of the good natured qualities he had at the beginning of the film throughout the movie. He knows who his friends are, and never forgets who he is. I guess he reminds me most of Jurgis Rudkus from "The Jungle".The film also features some elements of horror. There is one scene where you can see Janos' face after the accident, and it is quite unsettling. The mask he wears about halfway in is quite grotesque as well, and the sight of him dressed all in black with the pasty white face and bulging eyes is certainly something to behold. Except for the somewhat clichéd premise, my only real complaint about the film is it's somewhat anti climactic ending. The gang all get their just deserts, but the way it happens seems a bit out of place. In spite of that though, the movie holds up well, and manages to tell a compelling story, and may even make you shed a tear or two.

utgard14 Exceptional B movie from Columbia, directed by Robert Florey and starring Peter Lorre as a hopeful, innocent Hungarian immigrant whose face is burned in a fire on his first day in New York. His horrible disfigurement makes it hard for him to get work so he turns to a life of crime. Eventually he's leading his own gang and makes enough money to pay for a realistic mask to hide his burns. When he falls in love with a blind woman (Evelyn Keyes) and wants to go straight, his gang turns on him.There are no bells and whistles here, just fine acting, a decent script, and nice direction. Sensitive, brilliant performance from Peter Lorre that is far better than you would expect to find in a quickie that was filmed in less than a month. The often underrated Evelyn Keyes is terrific in this. Solid support from Don Beddoe and George E. Stone. Robert Florey's noirish direction is a major plus. He would re-team with Lorre later for the classic The Beast with Five Fingers. It's a very good film that's a sort of blend of gangster and horror pictures. If nothing else, see it for one of Peter Lorre's best starring roles.

blanche-2 Peter Lorre is "The Man Behind the Mask" in this 1941 film from Columbia Pictures. The film also stars Evelyn Keyes, Don Beddoe, and George E. Stone.Lorre plays Janos, a friendly, sweet, and idealistic immigrant who comes to New York City in search of the American dream. A police detective (Beddoe) directs him to a place where he can get a room, and he finds a job in the adjoining café washing dishes.One night, the residential hotel bursts into flames, and Janos is badly burned. When the bandages come off his face, he screams in horror. His face is horribly disfigured. He finds that people are afraid of him, and he can't find work anywhere.He meets a helpful thief, Dinky (George E. Stone) who leads him into the life of a thief, and it turns out he's a master at it. The he encounters a blind woman, Evelyn Keyes, and they fall in love and plan a life together.Really good film with Lorre giving a marvelous performance. How one guy could come off as so evil in one film and so warm and charming in another is really an achievement. His range was remarkable. For this role, he needed control over his facial muscles, and he had to simulate a mask that was just white powder and tape. The special lighting helped the mask appearance, but Lorre showed all of his expression in his eyes and kept his face quite still.Because of his unhappiness with the role and the quick schedule, Lorre was having a 90 proof liquid breakfast, to such an extent that the director had to do as many of Lorre's scenes as he could in the morning. Despite what Lorre believed, I thought this film had great characters and a good story, and it was a terrific role for him.The director, Robert Florey, employs all sorts of film techniques to good advantage and had a very expressionistic bend.Well worth seeing.