#cornelius leyden

[peterlorrefanpage]

The way the light is on his face, his eyes - ! The touch of gray they put in his hair - the quirk of his eyebrows matching the quirk of his bowtie.

Peter Lorre with Sydney Greenstreet in a promo picture for "The Mask of Dimitrios" (1944).

Watch it here [ok.ru]:

The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

[gnome-adjacent-vagabond]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm over-queering these old movies but then I see Arthur Lorencz with his head on Nathaniel Billings's leg and Nathaniel is unmarried but knows what a powder puff is. And THEN I see Cornelius Leyden doing whatever the fuck it is he does with Peters that CERTAINLY has no heterosexual explanation. And then the entirety of the fucking Femm family comes crashing in headlong with not one, not two, but three, count 'em, THREE queer-coded siblings plus an alcoholic gay butler. And don't get me started on Arsenic and Old Lace, The Black Cat, You'll Find Out, or any of the others.

[noirgasmweetheart]

Some immigrant refugees, with what Donald Trump presumes to be their favorite delicacies.

[angelamontoo]

The 40s

[surrender-art]

[id a traditional pencil drawing of leyden from the mask of dimitrios. he’s laying on his side in a robe, propping his face with his fist. his other hand is in front of him touching the ground. he looks up lovingly and has a cigarette in his mouth, a hand holding a match is lighting it. id end]

this is like the closest ive gotten to peters face and its due to my incessant mask of dimitrios hyperfix

[peterlorrefanpage]

Gorgeous Peter Lorre as Cornelius Leyden in "The Mask of Dimitrios" (1944).

Something about how they have him depicted in this movie, with the added touches of age and gravity, just works so damn well. Uhnf.

[noirgasmweetheart]

We see Peter Lorre suffer onscreen so often, and he rarely gets any sympathy from anyone besides the audience. So I really treasure this cute moment from "Passage to Marseilles." Not the least because out of context, you can imagine this as any number of other PL characters who could use a blanket and some cocoa.

A few ideas off the top of my head:

When Cairo met Wilmer: During some misguided treasure hunt in the tropics, Joel Cairo almost dies, and is rescued by a young man named Wilmer Cook. The rest is history.

The Baron is retrieved from the Wild Goose: ...and already talking about getting back on track with plans before they even get him onto a stretcher.

Ugarte was only mostly dead! "Ugarte is dead" my ass. If Strasser executed Ugarte before extracting the location of the visas from him then he's an idiot, and if he tortured him to death in one night then he's incompetent. So after Rick and Louie declare their beautiful friendship, they make a stop at the jail to free the tight-lipped prisoner, and bring him to Ferrari's to recuperate in hiding. Now that he's at his lowest and literally stripped of everything he had, Ugarte actually has impressed everyone.

Johnny West is just hung over: Icey is trying to sober up her boyfriend yet again. Johnny eagerly drinks the offering, only to realize that it's coffee and not booze.

Leyden needs coffee: ... or it's Corny Leyden, after attempting to pull an all-nighter working on his new book about Dimitrios. A member of his house staff gives the unkept artist some much needed caffeine and informs him that he's got a press conference in twenty minutes.

Dr. Herman Einstein: ...is sleeping in the Brewsters' basement, either during or after the events of the film. The aunts announce that coffee is ready, and Elanie brings the hung-over doctor a cup.

Vicky Emmric: ...has talked Lottie into camping out at the cemetery overnight with hot cocoa. This is his way of coping with his friend's confession to murder and going to the gallows.

Feel free to add your own ideas.

[noirgasmweetheart]

"Listen closely Peter. I have a story to tell you. A tale of intrigue. Fencing. Murder. Torture. Revenge. True Love. Now then: 'Buttercup grew up on a small farm. (Hrmm-hmm!) Her favorite passtimes were riding her horse, and tormenting the farm boy. His name was Wesley, but she never called him that." (Guttral laugh.) "Well that is a majestic beginning wouldn't you say?"

(Sigh) "Fat Man...is this a kissing book?"