Mar 6
Behind the Mask (1932)
"You know, the next time I get shot, I'm coming right to you. It's a pleasure."
"Oh, I'd do the same for any animal that was injured."
"Ouch!"
"Did I hurt you?"
"Not the arm - what you said!"
#behind the mask#horror film#american cinema#1932#john francis dillon#jo swerling#jack holt#constance cummings#boris karloff#claude king#bertha mann#edward van sloan#willard robertson#thomas e. jackson#clarence burton#martha mattox#louis natheaux#harry tenbrook#jessie arnold#rodney hildebrand#karloff had just broken through as a major horror star at this point‚ which might explain Columbia's decision to market this as a horror#film and to plaster his face all over the poster despite his only playing a small supporting role. it isn't really horror‚ more of a crime#thriller which just happens to feature a mad scientist. there's a big twist towards the end [SPOILERS FOR A NEAR 100 YEAR OLD FILM INCOMING]#that two different doctors are actually the SAME doctor in a slight disguise; this completely bamboozled me bc i had never noticed that#they were ever meant to be different characters‚ i just took it as read. stolid Jack Holt is our hero and actually wrings some likeability#out of a paper thin part; van Sloan is predictably very good as the boffin. poor Karloff feels misused in a side part but he's still fun#to watch. features the dumbest murder attempt I've ever seen on film: the bad guys convince Holt to crash his plane in the sea and bail out#in the nick of time‚ but the evil twist is that they will row away and leave him in the sea... why not give him a faulty parachute?#why not make sure the plane crashes for real without him having a chance to escape? why not shoot him when he lands? nope they just row off#and assume that will somehow kill him dead. idiots.
