Even though he only appears in this film for little over fifteen minutes at the most, Peter Lorre dominates the film totally with his marvellous, skin crawling portrayal of a psychopath, homeless and desparate wandering the streets. The film starts with a journalist being the key witness in a throat slashing murder trial and helping to convict a seemingly innocent man. Then his annoying neighbour is killed the same way and he discovers the body. The evidence points to him doing the murder and the real killer, hiding in the shadows looks to go free. The journalists girl friend hunts down the killer and once found, tries to befriend him as a trap.
Eventually all works out in a moment of sadness and drama. Peter Lorre acts not only as a psychopath but also as a mentally damaged, instutionalised and abused man, a man who has been created by society. This is done with the most subtle of inflections and looks, genuine sadness being radiated. It's a masterful portrayal that lifts an ordinary noirish thriller into higher realms through his riveting performance alone. This does not have the definitive feel of M but is still strong and shows just how underrrated Peter Lorre really was. 8/10.
Special Thanks to Mark Coyle for this Movie Review.