The Mask of Dimitrios features a writer, played by Peter Lorre, who travels the world learning about a heartless criminal named Dimitrios whose body has just washed up on the shore.
This Citizen Kane approach of interviews and flashbacks is fine in theory, but neither the talky flashbacks nor the talky present-day scenes are actually interesting. The entire story hinges on Lorre's fascination with Dimitrios, but in spite of a solid performance by Zachary Scott, Dimitrios never seems all that interesting.
As a matter of fact, nothing Lorre does really makes much sense. He wanders from situation to situation and agrees to all sorts of sketchy things with as much thought as someone channel hopping through late-night TV. His character just makes no sense at all.
Sydney Greenstreet is good as a shady character Lorre gets involved with, but as with Lorre he is undone by the bad script and clumsy dialogue.
I watched this movie because of all the positive reviews here, but I can't for the life of me figure out how so many people liked this movie. It's just not good at all. It's quite tedious.
This Citizen Kane approach of interviews and flashbacks is fine in theory, but neither the talky flashbacks nor the talky present-day scenes are actually interesting. The entire story hinges on Lorre's fascination with Dimitrios, but in spite of a solid performance by Zachary Scott, Dimitrios never seems all that interesting.
As a matter of fact, nothing Lorre does really makes much sense. He wanders from situation to situation and agrees to all sorts of sketchy things with as much thought as someone channel hopping through late-night TV. His character just makes no sense at all.
Sydney Greenstreet is good as a shady character Lorre gets involved with, but as with Lorre he is undone by the bad script and clumsy dialogue.
I watched this movie because of all the positive reviews here, but I can't for the life of me figure out how so many people liked this movie. It's just not good at all. It's quite tedious.