Warners Mastering The International-Set Thriller


Masters Of Menace Greenstreet and Lorre in The Mask Of Dimitrios (1944)




Warners went heavy on Euro seasoning for 40's thrillers set amidst unrest over there, and I'd guess shows like Dimitrios did well once foreign markets got back on postwar footing. Drop Warner sound for subtitles or crude dubbing and you might think it continental-produced. Dimitrios was based on an Eric Ambler story, and that was emphasized in selling. Flashbacks head for a same briar patch that claimed Passage To Marseille of a same year; these had become almost a signature at Warners. A new star seemed born in Zachary Scott as Ultimate Cad, his Dimitrios referred to by Peter Lorre's character as brilliant and a mastermind, though there's scant evidence of that in the narrative. Dimitrios plays instead as a kind of monster who apparently can't be killed, this maybe explaining how The Mask Of Dimitrios made ways to more than one "horror" list maintained by 1944 columnists.











It is for Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet to sustain interest, which they do at leisurely conversation throughout. Here was occasion where words took precedence over derring-do, audiences wanting nothing more from the pair than to hear them fence verbally. Greenstreet/Lorre had been spun off Bogart vehicles where they menaced and/or died of some intrigue or other. The Mask Of Dimitrios surprised for having nothing to do with the present war, despite settings that would indicate it. Maybe we were late enough in the conflict for Warners to think better of doing product that would be dated right from the gate. Jean Negulesco directed, an early credit and his first on "A" setting. For many accomplished shorts he'd done for WB, Negulesco had no problem adjusting to that company's feature tempo.

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