The Face Behind the Mask - 1941

I was randomly looking for something to watch, and this caught my eye.

Peter Lorre stars as a Hungarian immigrant, Janos, who comes to America full of hope and excitement. He wants to earn enough money to bring his girlfriend over and believes in everyone he meets. When he comes across a policeman, he feels like he's hit the jackpot. Due to the interaction, he ends up finding a place to stay and a job washing dishes. Unfortunately, later that night, a fire breaks out and Janos suffers terrible burns to his face.

After that, Janos still tries to make his way, but no one will give him a chance. His hands are fine, and those are his main way to work. But everyone just looks at his face. Eventually, he gets in with some criminals, even though he resisted at first. The lure of having enough money to get a new face is just too much for him to resist. A visit to the surgeon kills his dreams, and on his way out of the office, he runs into a blind woman, Helen. She may be blind, but she can see who Janos is underneath and who he was before he got involved with crime.

A misunderstanding unravels all the happiness Janos thinks he has. Helen and the dog die, and Janos has nothing left to live for. He sets up his friend with a comfortable life, even though he could've been upset at the betrayal, but Janos knew his friend didn't want to hurt him. Anyway, Janos doesn't have anything left to lose, so he writes a letter to the policeman from the beginning and puts his final plan into motion.

I was actually invested in this movie. I thought it was going to be another one of those mindless, strange older films that didn't make much sense. Instead, I watched this poor man descend into something he didn't want to be. It was so sad. And then, when he just wanted to leave all that behind and turn his life around, it all goes south. It was so sad. I was surprised at how invested I was. They paid attention to the mask and had it wrinkle. Nice detail. I like they didn't show the burned face that much. It wasn't something the movie needed to focus on. His choices with the situation were the important part. It was just sad all around, but I still believe it's deserves a Good Movie! review.