John Chard
Feb 10, 2016
8/10
A Coffin for Dimitrios.
The Mask of Dimitrios is directed by Jean Negulesco and adapted to screenplay by Frank Gruber from the novel "A Coffin for Dimitrios" written by Eric Ambler. It stars Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Zachary Scott and Faye Emerson. Music is by Adolph Deutsch and cinematography by Arthur Edeson.
"For money, some men will allow the innocent to hang. They will turn traitor...they will lie, cheat, steal...they will kill. They appear brilliant, charming, generous! But they are deadly. Such a man was Dimitrios"
Dimitrios alright - ruthless and primitive.
Foreign intrigue mystery thriller dressed up in film noir clobber, Jean Negulesco's film is a treat for the so inclined. Often tagged as the inferior baby brother of John Huston's The Maltese Falcon, that statement shouldn't detract from what a good film Dimitrios is. Plot finds Lorre as mystery novelist Cornelius Leyden, who after learning of the body of master scally-wag Dimitrios Makropoulos (Scott) being washed up dead on the shores of the Bosphorus, seeks out his history in the hope of writing a novel about him - aided by the suspicious Mr. Peters (Greenstreet). What he finds is waters more muddier and deeper than the Bosphorus itself.
Narrative is a two pronged affair, we are in the company of Leyden and Peters during real time, and in the dubious company of Dimitrios in a number of flashbacks that introduce new characters that are bruised and battered, or worse, by Dimitrios' actions. The story moves through a number of exotic European locations, ensuring there's always a cosmopolitan feel to the intrigue. Intrigue that ticks away nicely because nothing you sense is as it seems. Moody atmosphere is unbound via Edeson's (also The Maltese Falcon) photography, plenty of low lights and shadows ensure all the mystery machinations are given added impetus.
Back on release some critics bemoaned the lack of action and of "A" list stars, which now looks very unfair criticism. Certainly Greenstreet and Lorre to their fans have never been seen as lesser lights, their body of work holding up as joyous celluloid art. While the lack of action is irrelevant, this is about story telling and of characterisations, of mystery unravels, all of which leads to a super finale that rewards those who invested their time. 8/10