April 21, 2013

Film Historian Includes Lorre in Planned Documentary Series

Manny Pacheco needs the help of classic film fans.

The author of the Forgotten Hollywood series of books, weekly radio show, and blog is now planning his most ambitious project – a series of Forgotten Hollywood documentaries.

The proposed series would tell the story of American issues such as diversity, disability, political climates and social responsibilities, through the eyes of character actors from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s

The subject of the pilot episode is Lionel Barrymore, whose fight against disability influenced President Franklin D. Roosevelt and helped to create the March of Dimes campaign. Margaret O’Brien, an MGM child star of the 1940s who appeared with Barrymore in Three Wise Fools (1946), will give an on-camera interview about the actor she considered her “studio grandfather”.

Proposed series entries include Child Actors of the Depression, Hollywood’s Connection with the Manhattan Project, The Evolution of the Modern Horror Genre, and Whistle Blowers of the McCarthy Era. Featured character actors include Freddie Bartholomew, Leo Gorcey, Lon Chaney Jr., Ward Bond, Adolphe Menjou, Sydney Greenstreet.

And Peter Lorre.

Interested in helping to make this series a reality? Please visit the Forgotten Hollywood Series page on Indiegogo and click the “Contribute Now” button. Any amount is welcome and appreciated, and all contributors will get screen credit at the end of the pilot.

Special perks for the various donation levels include autographed copies Forgotten Hollywood, CDs of the radio series, and assorted memorabilia, such as classic film posters and DVDs. Generous contributors can receive producer credit.

The project is currently in Week 15 of the 17-week campaign.

Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet are Chapter 1 in Manny Pacheco’s Son of Forgotten Hollywood, second in the Forgotten Hollywood series. The book may be purchased at a number of locations, all listed on the Forgotten Hollywood website.

April 10, 2013

Lorre on TV This Spring

Spring arrives with a number of Peter Lorre movies on television and Turner Classic Movies during April, May, and June. All times shown are Eastern Standard.

Peter Lorre's page on the TV Guide Channel website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.



April, 2013

Apr. 9 (Tues.), 2:30 am, Antenna TV channel – The Jack Benny Show. Peter Lorre is Jack’s special guest on this program, which originally aired over CBS on Jan. 22, 1963.

Apr. 9 (Tues.), 2:30 am, Turner Classic Movies channel – Three Strangers (1946). TCM host Robert Osborne ends an evening of his personal film picks with this story of three strangers who gather before a statuette of the Chinese goddess Kwan Yin at midnight on Chinese New Year’s Eve and make a combined wish – which brings enlightenment for one and disaster for two.

Apr. 9 (Tues.), 4:15 am, TCM – The Verdict (1946). Peter Lorre’s final movie with Sydney Greenstreet follows Three Strangers.

Apr. 11 (Thurs.), 8:25 am and 6:15 pm, Retroplex channel – The Patsy (1964). Peter’s final movie, released after his passing in 1964, airs twice on the Retroplex movie channel.

Apr. 22 (Mon.), 8:35 am and 4:15 pm, Retroplex channel – The Patsy (1964).

Apr. 22 (Mon.), 1:10 pm and 4 am, Fox Movie Channel – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Apr. 25 (Thurs.), 4:15 am, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). This all-star cameo film ends an evening of movies about “Amazing Races”.



May, 2013

May 1 (Wed.), 1 am, TCM – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). An evening of movies starring actress Priscilla Lane includes the comedy about two dear old Brooklyn ladies who are running an unusual “charity” from their home – they dispatch lonely elderly gentlemen with a potent glass of elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and “just a pinch” of cyanide.

May 7 (Tues.), 12 pm, TCM – Strange Cargo (1940).

May 10 (Fri.), 7:45 am, Fox Movie Channel – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

May 11 (Sat.), 9:15 am, TCM – Crime and Punishment (1935). Peter’s second American movie, and the only one he made under the contract he signed with Columbia studios while he was still in London, filming The Man Who Knew Too Much.

May 12 (Sun.), 12:45 pm and 4:20 am, Retroplex channel – The Patsy (1964).

May 16 (Thurs.), midnight, Antenna TV channel – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Man From the South” (Mar. 13, 1960).

May 17 (Fri.), 1 pm, Retroplex channel – The Patsy (1964).

May 18 (Sat.), 6:50 am, Retroplex channel – The Patsy (1964).

May 22 (Wed.), 11:45 am, TCM – The Story of Mankind (1957).



June, 2013

June 26 is Peter Lorre’s 109th birthday, and although there is no birthday salute from TCM, Lorre fans will find plenty of Lorre movies this month.

June 4 (Tues.), 6:30 am, TCM – Hollywood Canteen (1944) – June’s Star of the Month is Eleanor Parker, and a day of her Warner Bros. films ends with this star-filled musical salute to the famous World War 2 servicemen’s canteen in Los Angeles.

June 4 (Tues.), 6:30 am, TCM – Hollywood Canteen (1944) – June’s Star of the Month is Eleanor Parker, and a day of her Warner Bros. films ends with this star-filled musical salute to the famous World War 2 servicemen’s canteen in Los Angeles.

June 4 (Tues.), noon, Fox Movie Channel – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

June 4 (Tues.), 4 am, TCM – Background to Danger (1943).

June 7 (Fri.), 11:15 am, TCM – Stranger on the Third Floor (1940).

June 7 (Fri.), 2:30 am, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941) – The Friday Night Spotlight takes aim at Noir Writers with an evening of adaptations of Dashiell Hammett novels, including one of the most famous and the film that introduced the screen teams of Peter and Bogie, and Lorre and Greenstreet.

June 18 (Wed.), 8 am, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943). Before offering a contract, Warner Bros. tested Peter’s appeal as a romantic actor in the small role of Fritz Bercovy, who loves and marries one of the Sanger sisters.

June 20 (Thurs.), 2 am, Antenna TV channel – The Jack Benny Show (Jan. 22, 1963).

June 26 (Wed.) – Celebrate Peter’s birthday with three movies on TCM: Quicksand (1950) at 10:45 am, Casablanca (1942) at 3 am, and All Through the Night (1942) at 5 am. Casablanca was selected by guest programmer Joseph Abboud, famous menswear designer and author, whose interest in clothes and fashion was inspired by movie costumes.




Many of these and other Lorre movies are now available on DVD and VHS – some remastered and packaged with extra features. For more information on the films of Peter Lorre released to home video, head on over to the DVD — VHS section of The Lost One website.

Happy viewing!

April 3, 2013

Cinemark Theaters Screen Casablanca on April 3

Peter Lorre fans across the United States will have an opportunity to catch Peter on the big screen when Cinemark movie theaters show Casablanca for one day only – Wednesday, April 3, 2013.

It’s all part of the cinema chain’s classic movie series this spring.

Showtimes will be at 2 pm and 7 pm.

Ticket prices will vary by theater.

A list of participating theaters may be found on the Casablanca page of the Cinemark website. Enter a zip code or a city and state to locate particular cinemas.

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin details the making of Casablanca, as well as the on- and off-screen friendship between Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. The Lost One is now available on the Kindle and Nook, as well as paperback and hardbound.