What a pleasant surprise this film was. I sat down to watch it because I
like both Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet and it ended up being a really good
film. Set in 1938, Peter Lorre is a successful mystery novelist
vacationing in Istanbul when his police chief friend tells him about a notorious
criminal who's body just washed ashore. Lorre is instantly fascinated by
the mysterious criminal known as Dimitrios Makropoulos (Zachary Scott) and sets
off looking for more information. The trail leads him all over Europe and
at each place he hears more incredible tales of what an asshole Dimitrios
was. Along the way he meets another fellow travel (Greenstreet) who seems
innocent enough at first, but he's holding a secret. Together they set off
looking for more information about the mysterious Dimitrios Makropoulos.
If you're looking for an action-packed film then you're in for a bad time, but
if, like me, you enjoy Lorre and Greenstreet
and a good story then you're
in for a treat. Lorre is great just on his own, but then when Greenstreet
enters the picture things really take off. I loved the way they played off
of each other. And the camerawork was really impressive too.
Definitely worth checking out.
