I first saw FACE BEHIND THE MASK on TV when I was 10 years old. That was back in 1963. The print wasn’t very good even for that time and it was billed as a horror movie which it wasn’t but still, even at that young age, I was moved by Peter Lorre’s acting and the plight of his character. He plays a Hungarian immigrant, newly arrived in America, whose face is disfigured in a hotel fire. Although he possesses many skills, no one will hire him. On the verge of suicide he is rescued by a sickly thief (George E. Stone) and embarks on a life of crime until he meets a blind girl (Evelyn Keyes). He then tries to change his ways but Fate has other plans.
What makes this little 1941 film so remarkable is that it was shot in less than 2 weeks for around $100,000 and was planned as a B movie all the way. Based on a radio play, the screenplay was tailored specifically for Peter Lorre. who, although he disliked the script, gave a wonderful performance. The movie was directed by the undervalued French born director Robert Florey who had worked with Bela Lugosi on MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932) and would work with Lorre again on THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946). Like the best B movie directors, Florey knew how to use lighting and camerawork to enhance his projects.
For all of its video life up until now, FACE has existed only in substandard public domain copies with poor sound and even poorer visual quality. I had a Region 2 VHS copy for years. It was all that was available for the longest time. The currently available download/streaming copies are just as bad. Sony Pictures, who own the Columbia Pictures library, have never released this one to home video. This Blu-Ray was issued by Imprint who specialize in collector’s editions. It comes with two short features by film historians Alan K. Rode and Kim Newman plus a commentary track by Rode.
The Capsule Critic 