The Face Behind the Mask (1941 film)

The Face Behind the Mask
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Florey
Produced by Irving Briskin
Wallace MacDonald
Written by Arthur Levinson
Screenplay by Paul Jarrico
Allen Vincent
Based on Interim
radio play
by Thomas Edward O'Connell
Starring Peter Lorre
Evelyn Keyes
Don Beddoe
Music by Sidney Cutner
Cinematography Franz Planer
Edited by Charles Nelson
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
 January 16, 1941 (1941-01-16)
Running time
 69 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Face Behind the Mask is a 1941 American film noir/horror film released by Columbia Pictures. It stars Peter Lorre and Evelyn Keyes and was directed by Robert Florey. The screenplay was adapted by Paul Jarrico, Arthur Levinson, and Allen Vincent from the play Interim, written by Thomas Edward O'Connell.[1]

Plot

The film is the story of a hopeful new Hungarian immigrant, Janos Szabo (Peter Lorre), who, on his first day in New York City, is trapped in a hotel fire that leaves his face hideously scarred. Refused employment due to his appearance although he possesses tremendous skill as a watchmaker, the only way he can survive is by turning to theft, using his skilled hands to disable alarms. Eventually he becomes the leader of a gang of thieves, and raises enough money to commission and wear a realistic latex mask of his own face.

Janos then falls in love with Helen (Evelyn Keyes) a blind woman who sees only the good in him, and attempts to leave his life of crime behind him. Unfortunately, his gang come to believe that he has betrayed them to the police, and attempt to kill him by car bomb, an attempt on his life that he survives but which kills Helen. In retaliation, Janos disguises himself as the pilot of the private plane the gang is flying out of the city with, which he lands in the Arizona desert and lets out the fuel, suicidally stranding both the gang and himself without food or water, dooming them all to a slow death. At the film's end, Janos's body and that of his enemies are discovered by the police.

Cast

Reception

The Face Behind the Mask received negative reviews during its initial release. In their 1941 review of the film, The New York Times was critical of the film; writing, "Despite a certain pretentiousness toward things psychological, The Face Behind the Mask, may safely be set down as just another bald melodramatic exercise in which the talents of Peter Lorre again are stymied by hackneyed dialogue and conventional plot manipulations."[2]

Contemporary reviews of the film have been more positive. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, calling the film "Extremely well done on slim budget".[3] Dave Sindelar, on his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings gave the film a mostly positive review. Sindelar noted in his review that, although the film had its flaws, Lorre's strong performance, involving story, and haunting final scenes manages to overcome its deficiencies.[4] Dennis Schwartz from Ozus' World Movie Reviews gave the film a "B+" on an A+ to F scale, calling it "a horror story in that it offers a vision of the American Dream turning ugly and wrong."[5] The film has since developed a cult following.[5]

References

  1. ↑ http://moviemagg.blogspot.com/2010/07/face-behind-mask-columbia-1941.html
  2. ↑ "At the Rialto - The New York Times". New York Times.com. T.M.P. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Rob Edelman (January 2010). Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide. Plume. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-452-29577-3.
  4. ↑ Sindelar, Dave. "The Face Behind the Mask (1941)". FantasticMovieMusings.com. Dave Sindelar. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Schwartz, Dennis. "facebehindthemask". Sover.net. Dennis Schwartz. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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