Watch maker Peter Lorre moves from Europe to NYC in search of 'the American dream'. Within minutes of arrival he's pickpocketed, but friendly police inspector Don Beddoe sets him up with a room in a cheap hotel. That night the hotel burns down, and Lorre ends up with facial burns. When he's released from the hospital, he cannot find a job due to his disfigured face. Just when he's about to commit suicide, he comes across petty thief George E. Stone. Due to his watch making craft, Lorre discovers he has a knack for robberies, and soon he's the leader of a small gang. Lorre finally has enough money to pay for a facial mask while saving up for a facial reconstruction operation. While Beddoe is tasked with investigating the robberies, Lorre meets the blind Evelyn Keyes, who sees him for what he is, not for what he looks like. After Lorre finds out the operation is useless, as all his facial nerves were fried in the hotel fire, he decides to leave his criminal life behind and move to the countryside with Keyes. But the gang won't let him go that easily.Lorre loses almost everything within a day of his arrival to the States and once he is almost back on top again, he loses even more. A very bleak and cynical look at the American dream, this movie was apparently billed as 'horror' but it's really more of a proto-noir. Keyes ('Johnny O'Clock', 'The Prowler') has a small role but she does well, Beddoe's ('The Night Of The Hunter') role is almost like a bit-part unfortunately. The rest of the cast are decent enough, but this movie belongs to Lorre. He is excellent and displays a wide range of emotions. Lorre has a lot of noir credentials, but with this movie sandwiched inbetween 1940's 'Stranger On The Third Floor' and 1941's 'The Maltese Falcon', Lorre already ensured his name in the noir hall of fame.Director Robert Florey ('The Crooked Way') keeps the movie moving at a brisk pace, with DoP Franz Planer ('99 River Street', 'Criss Cross') adding some nice noir photography to the movie. It doesn't have all the 'necessary' noir traits, but if you are looking for a bleak & downbeat proto-noir, look no further. The print I saw was pretty beat up, I would love to see this with better quality. 7/10

Columbia Pictures presents a crime-drama film starring Peter Lorre as an immigrant from Hungary. The first day in New York City, Janos Szabo(Lorre) is trapped in a hotel fire that leaves his face disfigured by terrible burns. Not able to find work, he meets Dinky(George E. Stone)who is part of a gang of thieves. Janos needs money badly to get plastic surgery; while waiting to get his hands on enough money, he settles for a latex mask of his own face.With a little more confidence Janos becomes leader of the gang of hoodlums. And he meets a very pretty girl named Helen(Evelyn Keys); she is blind and doesn't really know of his hideous face. When Janos wants to leave his life of crime and settle down with his new love; his criminal friends thinks he has left and squealed to the cops. When Helen is killed in a car bomb, the Hungarian is more than ready to retaliate. Vengeance will be deliberate and slow.Robert Florey directs and among the other players: John Tyrrell, James Seay, Don Beddoe, George McKay and Stanley Brown.

Peter Lorre turns in one of his finest performances as a Hungarian watchmaker coming to the United Staes to make a new life for himself and someday bring his girl across the big pond to be with him. Lorre's infectious optimism and bright outlook come off very effectively which makes the performance all the better when he has his face hideously burned in a hotel fire and, when no one will give him a chance to work, turns reluctantly to a life of crime. Lorre's range as an actor is seldom as apparent as in this movie with his jovial, good-natured immigrant, to his depressing, melancholic, disfigured self searching for the truth behind what he believed America afforded him, to his suave, intelligent, better-than-your-average hood, to his sympathetic dealings with a blind woman with whom he falls in love. The story is well-paced, has some interesting twists, and gives Lorre many opportunities to shine. Director Robert Florey does a quality job behind the lens, and all of the supporting cast help aid the film with Evelyn Keyes giving a particularly good turn as the blind girl. I loved the ending - and the truth - that was shone to exist in Lorre's character despite all the negative things society had done toward him. For a little B picture, The Man Behind the Mask is good movie-making for its time.

I caught this a few times on TV in the late 1970s. It only played late at night (past midnight).Peter Lorre plays a kind, happy man whose face is disfigured in a fire. He is rejected by his girlfriend and left alone and filled with despair. He turns to a life of crime and eventually becomes very successful. He makes a mask to hide his disfigured features and falls in love with a beautiful girl (Evelyn Keyes)...who is blind! He tries to go straight for her...but he can't escape his life of crime or his hatred of his own scarred face.A no budget B film. Very short (runs only a little over an hour) but well made and superbly acted by Lorre. This has a lot more depth than you would expect from a quickie B picture. Ankers especially takes the thankless "girl" role and makes her character fresh and appealing. This has sadly disappeared from TV and was never put on video or DVD (as far as I know). TCM did show it recently and it was great to see the movie still holds up.Highly recommended.