Peter Lorre as the Pawnbroker in Georg Kaiser’s Nebeneinander (Side by Side, September 1931), with Ilse Fürstenberg.
Peter’s “facial expressions gave, according to one reviewer, ‘good insight into one driven by demons.’” Source
Peter was so transformative. When you contrast even just this picture to his other 1931 works like “M” and “Die Koffer des Herrn O.F.”, he’s really quite astounding in his versatility.
More about the play: “With this play, [German dramatist] Kaiser moved away from the Expressionism of his previous works. Utilizing a more rounded characterization and more realistic curt, comic dialogue to tell a light-hearted story of an idealistic pawnbroker caught up in the hyperinflation afflicting Germany at the time (the currency stabilization came a fortnight after the play opened), the play inaugurated the 'new sobriety' (Neue Sachlichkeit) in the drama.” Wiki
