aka Behind the Mask.Janos (Peter Lorre) is a nieve immigrant to America. The day he arrives he's caught in a hotel fire and hideously disfigured. With his face in this condition he finds it impossible to find work and is driven to contemplate suicide. Just at moment he meets the only person who will talk or even look at him, Dinky (George E Jones). Dinky shows Janos real kindness, and also how to rob! Something that Janos is unhappy about, but out of necessity finds he is very good at. Soon he's made enough money to get himself a lifelike mask made to cover his features and heads up a gang of thieves. Then he meets a blind girl, Helen (Evelyn Keyes) who he falls for, deciding to give up crime. Unfortunately some of the gang believe he has set them up and decide to take revenge.
This is a fascinating character study of a man who goes through the gamit of emotions due to his changes in circumstances, centred around a beauty and the beast love story. There's no slack in this tale, with performances to match; one worth seeing if you like a tight, and compelling story.
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