From his first film (Those High Gray Walls [1939]-RRB- onward, the versatile Van Zandt was typed as «everyday» characters whenever he chose not to wear his mustache; with the «stache, however, his face took on a sinister shade, and he found himself playing such
cinematic reprobates as evil caliphs, shady attorneys, and heartless Nazis.
As a piece of
cinematic commentary, however, this is by far the more cohesive work — «these things live or die by the script» observes a local Irish
reprobate / police informant while watching a subpar porno that's all action and no plot.