Mask Of Dimitrios, The

I watched the film because I had read the book last year (actually titled A Coffin For Domitrios). I really enjoyed the novel (five stars for me) and the film, while maybe not as good as the book, is pretty stellar. I love watching Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet on the big screen, so it is fantastic to see them in their roles in Ambler's novel. Lorre, as the protagonist, gets more immersed into a world of corruption from outside sources, and it leads to a pretty solid conclusion. Good film, one to check out!

The Mask Of Dimitrios, begins with us meeting the drowned corpse of Dimetrios. A long sought after, infamous criminal of many years and many crimes. Peter Lore playing Cornelius Leyden economic professor and successful author of crime novels is fascinated by the body and then the possible motives of the deceased. In viewing the dead, he gets to hear about the beginnings of his many dastardly deeds, from the local Chief of Police, Colonel Haki. With this as his start, the professor will unfailingly find just the clues needed to carry him to the next in the chain of villainy. Also on Dimitios’ trail is Sydney Greenstreet “Peters who is clearly not who he claims. The two will form something of a film noir buddy, team each seeking their own goals. This is film noir fairly light. Certainly, there is mystery and maybe it matters if you figure out what the ending has to be and maybe it does not.I came to this as a fan of Eric Ambler, the author behind the original novel, and a fan of Peter Lorre. Paired with Greenstreet for me is an automatic plus. Her I would suggest that Lorre who was a character actor, gives a performance farther from his role as a comic spooky evil henchman in Arsenic and Old Lace than Carry Grant demonstrates breath of acting personas in the same comedy Arsenic and his more dramatic role in North by Northwest.An entertaining little move, with a lovely effort to achieve the feel of a number of exotic European locations. Only our Dimitrios could have been so evil as to outwit master spies. Only certainty of his death would loosen the tongues of still in love with him women, former partners in crime, and still cringing victims.

This isn't Citizen Kane, but it is a fine thriller. Peter Lorre, a professor of economics who finds his métier in writing detective stories, meets Colonel Haki, who loves mysteries and would like to write one. The Colonel tells the author (quintessentially English in the novel but Dutch in the film) about the body of a murdered man that has just washed ashore. The author has never seen a corpse and asks to view it. The Colonel afterwards tells him what he knows about the victim, Dimitrios, a criminal the Colonel has long wanted to capture. Intrigued, the novelist resolves to follow Dimitrios' trail in the hope of understanding him. He is surprisingly successful. Even more surprisingly, he attracts the attention of the "stout" "Mr. Peters," who is also interested in Dimitrios and who suspects the novelist of poaching. Peter Lorre is a hoot as the innocent in way over his head. Sidney Greenstreet is delightful. Zachary Scott is a suave villain--the sort of man who can beat a "master spy" at his own game. The movie keeps one's attention, largely because of the wonderful plot of Ambler's novel. One wonders why such a good movie is soooo hard to find.

I saw this first on TCM and I was blown away. This is a clear predecessor to "The Usual Suspects" but this film is quite a bit better than that other (good) film. It has an eerie setup and you are promised an encounter with a very dangerous person. And moments throughout are hilarious. When the novelist (played by the excellent Peter Lorre) meets with an aristocrat to have some questions answered, the aristocrat has two cats, Abelard and Heloise. Hilarious. In the 30's, when someone poured you a drink -- Oh yes, I'll have one, thank you -- you got just enough to cover the bottom of the glass.

If you're a Peter Lorre fan as I am, and aren't just looking for when he plays the heavy, the bad guy or henchman, you'll like this one. Lorre plays a writer of detective stories who encounters an interesting mystery in Istanbul, and follows it to where it leads, which ends up including Geneva and Paris, meeting Sidney along the way who acts as an interesting foil. Not your standard plot, that's for certain-- the screenplay is based on a best selling novel by the spy novel writer Eric Ambler, and while there is some cloak and dagger here it's more mystery than spy. But a decent plot.

Fans of Greenstreet and Lorre will not be disappointed... neither will fans if film noir. Demetrious was found dead... stabbed and washed up on a Turkish beach. Who are these sinister people that knew of this mysterious Dimitrios and contribute their experiences to the story? Peter Lorre is a mystery writer who is driven by these peoples' stories and his own curiosity to untangle the story of Dimitrios and find out how he met his tragic end. Watch out! There may prove to be a twist or turn here and there in the story and a wrong turn could prove fatal.

Peter Lorre, a great stage then film actor in Europe, was ill-used in Hollywood. But here, as a writer of detective stories drawn into and then befuddled by a real detective story, he displays the ease and comfort of an actor in full command of his craft. Moment to moment with light as a feather technique. Zachary Scott, always an interesting actor never a star, here makes his film debut.

A pretty weird film, in all. It's a follow-up, of sorts, to The Maltese Falcon but it does meander. You can lose a lot of the middle part of the film (go and take a break) and then catch the finale with no lose of understanding. I waited a long time to get the copy I wanted but not sure it was worth the wait.

I was looking for this film for 20 years! Saw it on tv that long ago. Wanted to collect all the Syd and Pete collection - have almost now completed that!

Der Film nach dem gleichnamigen Roman von Eric Ambler besticht vor allem durch seine beiden Hauptakteure, dargestellt von dem großartigen Gespann Peter Lorre und Sidney Greenstreet. Man begibt sich als Zuschauer mit den beiden auf eine ungewisse Reise. Mysteriös, spannend, undurchsichtig - einfach gut. Kann man sich immer wieder anschauen.

My dad loved the book! I believe it took longer than expected to arrive, so order it earlier than planned if possible.

old time actors like peter lorre and Sydney greenstreet are great as a noir movie.