The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) - film review

In 1938, the body of a dead man is found on a beach near Istanbul.  He is identified as Dimitrios Makropoulos, a master criminal whose nefarious exploits include theft, espionage, smuggling and political assassination.  The head of the country’s secret police Colonel Haki relates what he knows about Makropoulos to Cornelius Leyden, a writer of detective fiction.  Intrigued by what he hears, Leyden decides to make his own investigation into the life of the notorious criminal.  Whilst staying in Sofia, where he hopes to find out more about Makropoulos’ treacherous activities, Leyden encounters a sinister looking man named Mr Peters.  The latter tells him that they both have information that is of great value and he makes a strange business proposal.  If Leyden will agree to accompany him to Paris, Peters will give him half a million francs.  The offer is too good to resist...

Superlative performances, a taut screenplay and exemplary direction make The Mask of Dimitrios one of the most enjoyable examples of classic American film noir, although it is (surprisingly) far less well known than other films of its genre.  It has all the ingredients you would expect to find in a great film noir – a labyrinthine plot, high contrast photography that achieves a sustained sense of brooding and menace, effective use of flashback à la Citizen Kane, and the usual themes of greed, betrayal and revenge.  Yet it is also different – the film is much more character-driven and there is a wry, black comedic edge which adds to its entertainment value without diminishing its dramatic impact.

In the last but one of their appearances together, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet form a slightly surreal double act which gives the film its impetus and dramatic focus.   The two actors first appeared together in John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941) and would later share the credits in a further eight films.  Like a sinister parody of Laurel and Hardy, the diminutive Lorre is the perfect complement to the bulky Greenstreet, the immense difference in their statures emphasising the power the later’s character has over that of the former.   

By this stage, a touch of self-referential campness had nudged its way into the Lorre-Greenstreet on-screen rapport, but this works in the film’s favour.  Rather than being intimidated by the mysterious Mr Peters, Cornelius Leyden appears strangely nonchalant and seems merely to regard him not as a threat but as a tiresome inconvenience.  This unexpected playfulness beautifully undercuts the more sombre aspects of the main narrative thread, giving more colour and entertainment value than the more traditional film noir generally offers.

© James Travers 2008

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