The Mask of Dimitrios
Directed by Jean Negulesco
Written by Frank Gruber based on a novel by Eric Ambler
1944/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Warner Archive DVD
Mr. Peters: [Repeated with small variations throughout the story] How little kindness there is in the world today!
This solid noir thriller moves Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet into starring roles and features the film debut of Zachary Scott as the mysterious title character.
The story begins in Istanbul in 1938 with the discovery of a body stabbed and thrown in the Bosporus. The police identify it as the remains of master criminal Dimitrios Makropoulous (Scott) based on an identifying label. At a reception that evening, Colonel Haki, head of the police, gets into a conversation with mystery writer Cornelius Leyden (Lorre) and begins to tell him Dimitrios’ history as a robber, killer, assassin and spy. Leyden is curious and is taken to view the body. He is so fascinated that he takes off on a journey throughout the Balkans to learn more about him. Each witness he contacts makes the criminal seem ever more clever and despicable.
He is soon followed every step of the way by the menacing “Mr. Peters” (Greenstreet), a former associate of Dimitrios. Later, Peters reveals that, between some undisclosed information Peters has and some also mysterious knowledge that Leyden has, the two can make a fortune.
This is an unusual setting for a movie of its period it and the filmmakers make the most of the shadows and sinister exoticism of the locale. Scott is already outstanding at portraying a devious but charming lout and Greenstreet is at his oily and pontifical best. Lovers of Peter Lorre should check this out since the film gives him the rare chance to play a relatively balanced protagonist.
Trailer – cinematography by Arthur Edeson
