April 28, 2011

TCM Sets Schedule for The Constant Nymph

Peter Lorre fans attending Turner Classic Movies' Classic Film Festival this weekend – The time and place for the Constant Nymph screening has been announced.

The Constant Nymph will be shown on Friday, Apr. 29, 2011, at the Chinese Multiplex, auditorium number 1. The program begins at 10 a.m. The Chinese Multiplex is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., next door to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

The complete schedule may be found on the festival's website.

Although all levels of festival passes are now sold out, tickets for individual events may be purchased on the day, for cash only on a first-come, first-served basis. Most events are priced at $20.

Parking is available at the Hollywood & Highland Center retail complex. Festival attendees can get a discount of $2 for up to four hours with festival validation, and up to $10 for a full day. The Hollywood & Highland Center is located on Hollywood Blvd., between Highland Avenue and Orange Drive.

The Constant Nymph (Warner Bros., 1943) featured Peter in a purely romantic role. As the wealthy Fritz Bercovy, he loves and marries Toni Sanger, one of the Sanger sisters and played by Brenda Marshall.

With a restored print and the legal issues resolved, Lorre fans can look forward to Constant Nymph added to TCM’s regular TV schedule, as well as released to DVD later this year.

April 8, 2011

Peter Lorre on XM Radio, April 10 to 16, 2011

Harry Morgan’s 96th birthday on April 10 is the occasion for two episodes of Peter Lorre’s 1947 radio series Mystery in the Air on the satellite radio channel Radio Classics – channel 164 on the XM dial and channel 118 on the Sirius dial.

Mystery in the Air was an NBC summer replacement series for The Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Show. On June 26, 1947 – his 43rd birthday – Peter appeared at the close of Bud and Lou’s final show of the season to announce his upcoming series.

Beginning July 3, and for 12 weeks following, Lorre starred in mystery and suspense stories "culled from the four corners of world literature", as well as some original radio scripts, such as "The Marvelous Barastro". The series ended on Sept. 25, 1947, with an adaptation of Peter’s own film version of Crime and Punishment (Columbia, 1935).

As the "Voice of Mystery", Harry Morgan introduced and narrated each week’s episode. Airing in honor of his birthday will be "The Queen of Spades", from the short story by Russian author Alexander Pushkin; and "The Black Cat", from the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, one of Peter’s favorite writers. "The Queen of Spades" aired originally on Sept. 11, 1947, and "The Black Cat" a week later on Sept. 18, 1947.

The full Radio Classics schedule can be found on the Radio Classics website. Mystery in the Air will air on the following dates and times. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Sunday, Apr. 10:
4 am and 4:30 am
4 pm and 4:30 pm

Wednesday, Apr. 13:
6 am and 6:30 am
2 pm and 2:30 pm

Saturday, Apr. 16:
8 pm and 8:30 pm

For his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), Stephen Youngkin interviewed Harry Morgan about his experiences working with Lorre on the show.

"I have never seen in front of a microphone anybody throw himself into a performance in every which way, including physically, which was to me so astounding, as Peter," Mr. Morgan remembered. Peter Lorre was an actor who played to the microphone, not the small studio audience attending the broadcasts – ending each program bathed in perspiration from the effort of his fantastic vocal performance.

In the Appendix, The Lost One also includes a list of Peter Lorre’s radio credits, many of which are available for purchase through internet dealers such as Radio Showcase.

April 5, 2011

Casablanca in Sri Lanka, Apr. 5, 2011

In Casablanca, Peter Lorre profited from selling exit visas to refugees anxious to escape the North African city. On Tuesday, April 5, residents of Sri Lanka can escape to the American Embassy for a free showing of Casablanca.

Free Movie Tuesday returns to the American Center Auditorium in the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The full schedule can be found on the Embassy’s website.

The program begins at 6 p.m. Parking is not available.

The U.S. Embassy is located at 210 Galle Road, in Sri Lanka.

For more information, please contact the American Center at their eMail address – amcentersl@state.gov – or by telephone at (11) 249-8100.