Persoff was so good in his role: the sweating, the "Heil Hitler" salute, the line deliveries. All these things plus the way Jesse Jerome tries to blackmail a Nazi instead of turning him, the way Jerome dismisses his co-partner, Harry,; the way the stage manager, George, says, "Do you think you could make HIM disappear? Don't tell him I said so."; the way the magic shop owner says, "Oh, dear Jesse. To know him is to detest him." All these things indicate he's a pretty miserable person. Not really such a bad guy, I suppose, but Persoff's performance always made me think Jerome sort of had it coming.