The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

Eric Ambler (novel)
Frank Gruber (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 July 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

Plot:

A mystery writer named Leyden is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous,...

Plot Keywords:

International Intrigue | Robbery | Istanbul | Paris | Debt

Cast

Sydney Greenstreet	...	Mr. Peters
Zachary Scott	...	Dimitrios Makropoulos
Faye Emerson	...	Irana Preveza
Peter Lorre	...	Cornelius Leyden
Victor Francen	...	Wladislaw Grudek
Steven Geray	...	Karel Bulic
Florence Bates	...	Madame Elise Chavez
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Marukakis (as Edward Ciannelli)
Kurt Katch	...	Colonel Haki
Marjorie Hoshelle	...	Anna Bulic
Georges Metaxa	...	Hans Werner
John Abbott	...	Mr. Pappas
Monte Blue	...	Abdul Dhris
David Hoffman	...	Konrad
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Andre	...	French Train Conductor (uncredited)
Vince Barnett	...	Card Game Kibitzer (uncredited)
Felix Basch	...	Vazoff (uncredited)
John Bleifer	...	Coach Driver (uncredited)
Hella Crossley	...	Bulgarian Hostess (uncredited)
Carmen D'Antonio	...	Nightclub Dancer (uncredited)
Ray De Ravenne	...	French Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Fred Essler	...	Mr. Bostoff (uncredited)
Eddie Fields	...	Train Conductor (uncredited)
Antonio Filauri	...	Man Across Table (uncredited)
Gregory Golubeff	...	Yugoslav Doorkeeper (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Man Shadowing Peters and Leyden (uncredited)
Peter Helmers	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Rita Holland	...	Girl on Beach (uncredited)
Eddie Hyans	...	Turkish Man (uncredited)
Frank Lackteen	...	Turkish Soldier (uncredited)
Mary Landa	...	Flower Girl (uncredited)
Adolf E. Licho	...	Bulgarian Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Roulette Croupier (uncredited)
Lal Chand Mehra	...	Turkish Servant (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Bulgarian Policeman (uncredited)
Jules Molnar	...	Servant with Tray (uncredited)
John Mylong	...	Druhar (uncredited)
Carl Neubert	...	Druhar's Secretary (uncredited)
Alfred Paix	...	Card Player (uncredited)
Lotte Palfi Andor	...	Yugoslav Receptionist (uncredited)
Walter Palm	...	Butler (uncredited)
Nino Pipitone	...	Hotel Clerk in Istanbul (uncredited)
Pedro Regas	...	Turkish Morgue Attendant (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Fisherman (uncredited)
Philip Rock	...	Boy on Beach (uncredited)
Leonid Snegoff	...	Stambulisky (uncredited)
Rola Stewart	...	Girl on Beach (uncredited)
Nick Thompson	...	Porter on Train (uncredited)
Albert Van Antwerp	...	Bulgarian Landlord (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Bulgarian Policeman (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Hotel Clerk in Paris (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Negulesco

Writing credits
Eric Ambler		(novel "A Coffin for Dimitrios")
Frank Gruber		(screenplay)

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Adolph Deutsch

Cinematography by
Arthur Edeson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Frederick Richards

Art Direction by
Ted Smith

Set Decoration by
Walter F. Tilford		(as Walter Tilford)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Sullivan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Oliver S. Garretson	....	sound

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Jerome Moross	....	music arranger: orchestral arrangements (as Jerome Morross)
Julius Klein	....	musician (uncredited)

Other crew
Herschel Daugherty	....	dialogue director
Michael D. Kadri	....	technical advisor
Jack L. Warner	....	presenter
Louanne Hogan	....	humming voice: Faye Emerson (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #9821) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Mr. Peters: A book is a lovely thing, a garden stocked with beautiful flowers, a magic carpet on which to fly away to unknown climes.

Soundtrack:

Waltz from 'Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48'

Fine Actors in an Unglamorised Noir Suspenser

If the Mask of Dimitrios was made today there would be car chases,explosions,and bloody encounters with cannon fodder Nazi agents,with the dialogue reduced to hopefully witty one liners. And a love interest for one of the photogenic heroes to rescue from the clutches of ... Dimitrios! The original movie shows the difference between actors ( Greenstreet,Lorre, Francen, Geray,and Scott who is probably the greatest personification of the Oily Weasel God on screen.)and "stars" past and present. The storyline now seems old the search for the true history of an infamous individual;Cititzen Kane was just three years old when this movie came out, but the story seems real as are its characters. They and the sets show an unglamourous Europe that is still reeling from the catastrophes of WW1, disease,the Depression,and the rise of dictatorships large and small. It's in the smaller,lesser known jackbooted world of the Balkans that the events of the novel and film occur in,an area generally not mentioned in movies of that era unless it's Captaine Renault's interrupted affair with a young Bulgarian woman in "Casablanca" The actors aren't the usual glam cam fodder they look like they exist in this world and that happens to reinforce my enjoyment of the film. A good film to see after watching a bang bang boom boom "star" exhibition.