Face Behind the Mask, The (1941)
Face Behind the Mask, The (1941), directed by Robert Florey.
This is a minor noir crime film only 68 minutes long, but a good little tragedy. I had never heard of it and it was unavailable on home video until Imprint in Australia issued a Blu-ray.
It is a showcase for Peter Lorre who was easily caricatured for his bulging eyes, insinuating voice and weak demeanor which made him good as sneaky villains. He was skilled at that but could do more.
Here he is an excited, optimistic immigrant whose face is destroyed in a fire. We get just a glimpse (censors) but the scarring is bad. Unable to get work he turns to crime and because he has craft and intelligence become a boss.
Plastic surgery is not possible so he is fitted with a thin skin-tight covering, which does not look quite natural but at least he can appear in public.
The amazing movie trick here is that there is no mask, just face powder and some hidden tape pulling his skin tight. The rest is pure Lorre.
As always: the trouble with crime is the people you have to deal with, and only the blind love interest (Evelyn Keyes) can see his true nature.
Photographed by Franz Planer:
Available on Blu-ray from Imprint with a commentary track by Alan K. Rode.
He says that Lorre became a morphine addict while hospitalized for surgery, a common event in the 20th century.
When Sam Raimi's Darkman (1990) appeared critics remembered this film as a similar plot.
