The Lost One

In his sole directorial effort, Peter Lorre (who also cowrote the film) plays a Nazi-era scientist who is forced to murder his fiancee after he discovers that she is surreptitiously selling data from his secret research to the enemies of the Third Reich. Lorre based his character on a real-life German scientist who committed suicide in a displaced persons camp, and his performance reverberates with echoes of his most iconic role, in Fritz Lang’s M. The Lost One is a chilling meditation on the legacy of violence and guilt with which Germany became saddled in the postwar period and a virtuosic achievement by its director/star/co-writer, cementing him as one of Germany’s all-time major cinematic figures. 35mm print courtesy of the Goethe-Institut.