Something Truly Monstrous

Something Truly Monstrous is based on the Hollywood rumor that on the night John Barrymore died, Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart stole his body and went joy riding.

May 30, 1942. On the day Hollywood finally killed John Barrymore, Jack Warner offers a studio contract to Peter Lorre, who is currently shooting Casablanca. Saddled with expensive tastes and a nasty drug habit, Lorre is tempted to sign. But while the contract means financial security, it also will force Lorre to forever play monsters in the B-unit. To ensure that he will not give into this temptation, Lorre shoots himself full of morphine, steals John Barrymore’s body from the mortuary, recruits Humphrey Bogart with plans to leave Barrymore’s body in Jack Warner’s living room. But every defiant step only leads Lorre closer to signing the contract that will turn him into the monster he fears he’s already become.