This film, under Negulesco's superb guidance, remains a superlativeĮspionage yarn that artfully blends fact with fiction. Emerson, as a deserted tart, is also very good, as is Geray as a hapless, trusting government clerk. Impressive, handsome newcomer Scott is a properly loathsome creature without remorse or compassion for his myriad victims. Francen is particularly effective as the suave master spy, and In 1940, Negulesco was working as a screenwriter at Warner Brothers when Jack Warner offered. The entire film fits with the murky intrigue of the era, its stylized sets, low-key lighting, and a literate, witty script working to enchance the wonderful character actors in their segmented roles. The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) is usually considered the real directing debut of Romanian born Jean Negulesco (1900-1993) he was taken off of his first project, Singapore Woman (1941) mid-production, although he was still credited as its sole director. Though Lorre performs one of his few sympathetic roles with fascinating aplomb, Greenstreet, whom Lorre affectionately called "the old man" after they had become close friends while making THE MALTESE FALCON,ĭominates their scenes together. Of one of the world's greatest intriguers, billionaire munitions king Basil Zaharoff. Ambler's despicable antihero is most certainly based upon the early career Other than Ambler's American title for his novel and the fact that the mystery-detective writer is English rather than Dutch (an attempt to explain Lorre's slight accent), almost nothing was changed from the original novel.
What he encounters is a heady, complexly plotted brew of blackmail, seduction, spy intrigues, assassination and suicide. After a visit to the morgue to view the body, Leyden decides to write a novel about the sinister man and begins toĭelve into his past. What fascinates Leyden is Haki's obsession with Makropoulos, a man who practiced "murder, treason, and betrayal" as a way of life. Up on the nearby beach, murdered, stabbed to death. Haki (Katch), head of the secret police, who tells him that the body of arch criminal Dimitrios Makropoulous (Scott), has washed At a party he great film noir classics to come out of the 1940smeets one of his most ardent fans, Col.
Lorre is Leyden, a Dutch mystery writer vacationing in Istanbul.
One of the great film noir classics to come out of the 1940s, THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS boasts no superstars, just uniformly fine talents, a terrific script full of subtle intrigue and surprises, and Negulesco's exciting direction.