Quote of the Day: Good Manners Cost Nothing
THE CONSPIRATORS is a rather uninspired CASABLANCA imitation, seemingly inspired by the delusion that what we really wanted in that movie was more Paul Henreid, but it does have a sort of slow-burn gag as it goes on, relating to the casting. We all know that anybody foreign can play anybody foreign in classic Hollywood, but Jean Negulesco, perhaps irked at being the only Romanian director in town, takes things to extremes here –
Henreid, an Austro-Hungarian, plays a Dutchman, while his fellow-countrywoman Hedy Lamar plays French. Belgian Victor Francen plays a German. Sidney Greenstreet, a man of Kent, plays Portuguese, as do the Maltese Joseph Calleia, the Italian Eduardo Cianelli and the Russian Vladimir Sokoloff. Even the minor German stooges are played by Hungarian and Polish actors. Russian Gregory Gaye plays a Norwegian red herring. Absolutely NOBODY in this film is playing the correct nationality.
Peter Lorre (our MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH connection) plays Jan Bernazsky, which seems in keeping with everybody else, and he’s good value. Known in England as “the walking overcoat” due to his distinctive dress style, by now he has lost a ton of weight, had his teeth fixed, and looks a little drawn, a little more turtle-like.
Lorre: “Oh, I am the least important of our trio, in fact I have nothing to recommend me except — always good manners.”
Greenstreet: “Always?”
Lorre: “Oh, up to a point: a man can lose his patience.”
April 25, 2009 at 2:30 am
Lorre always played a slyly self-deprecating type.
April 25, 2009 at 3:27 am
I would love to have known Lorre in civilian life, he seems to have possessed an impish sense of wit and humor that I would have relished. Just the thought of him as a presence in films tickles me.
April 25, 2009 at 11:10 am
Welcome back, David, we missed you!
You always know with Lorre that his self-deprecation hides a massive self-conceit: hence the slyness, I suppose.
He does seem like an entertaining chap. The story about him provoking Bogart and his first wife to violence just by saying “General MacArthur,” is both horrifying and hilarious.
April 27, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Saw this film on TV as a little boy. All I remember is that Hedy Lamarr looked as if she was about to fall asleep on camera. Nor could I blame her – it was a real snooze.
April 27, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Yeah, and it’s a shame. The movie has almost too many nice ideas, all of which are underdeveloped. The Greenstreet and Lorre stuff is enjoyable, but there’s not nearly enough of it. There’s a little rogues’ gallery of Nazi spies at the very end, any of whom could have formed the basis for a better film — especially the murderous butterfly collector, Professor Wingleigh.