The Face Behind the Mask

Directed by Robert Florey, The Face Behind the Mask follows Hungarian immigrant Janos Szabo (Peter Lorre) as he turns to a life of crime after a disfiguring injury. Filmmaker Florey, armed with a script by Allen Vincent and Paul Jarrico, delivers a hit-and-miss endeavor that ultimately fares best in its opening and closing stretches, as the picture, which runs a short-yet-somehow-not-short-enough 68 minutes, suffers from a meandering midsection that often seems to be palpably spinning its wheels (ie the narrative does, during this portion of the proceedings, boast a lamentably repetitive feel). It’s clear, then, that The Face Behind the Mask, during its less-than-enthralling stretches, benefits substantially from Lorre’s spellbinding turn as the sympathetic central character, and there’s little doubt, as well, that the appealing relationship between Janos and Evelyn Keyes’ blind Helen Williams remains an ongoing highlight – which, in turn, ensures that the almost astonishingly downbeat third act packs a much more pronounced punch than one might’ve anticipated. The end result is a decent-enough drama that generally holds one’s interest from start to finish, although, given the premise and Lorre’s terrific work, it’s impossible not to wish the picture had been more than just passable.

**1/2 out of ****