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.
