August 30, 2014

Around the World in 80 Days in Silver Spring Aug. 31

Peter Lorre fans in the Silver Spring, Maryland, area will have an opportunity for a unique experience this weekend – Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as an original 70mm print, bringing to a close Part 3 of a special series “70mm Spectacular” at the AFI Silver Theatre on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014.

The movie will begin at 1 pm.

Tickets are $12 for general admission; $10 for seniors 65 years and older, students, and the military (with proper ID); and $7 for children 12 and under. For AFI members Two-Star level and higher, admission is $8.50. AFI Member Passes will also be accepted.

Tickets for may be reserved on-line through the AFI Silver website. Click the “Buy Tickets” button, then ensure the title Around the World in 80 Days appears at the top of the page. Click the show date and time. Tickets reserved on-line must be claimed at the box office with the same credit card used to make the reservation. The AFI Silver accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover credit cards.

Tickets may also be purchased at the AFI Silver box office, which opens 30 minutes before the first film of the day.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road, at the intersection of Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Directions to the cinema may be found on the AFI Silver website.

Parking is available in several public parking decks close to the theater. Most convenient is the Wayne Avenue garage, located at 921 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland. Parking at the Wayne Avenue garage is free on weekends and after 8 pm on weekdays. More information on parking can be found on the AFI Silver website, under Parking.

Peter Lorre was among the dozens of Hollywood stars appearing in cameos throughout Around the World in 80 Days. Peter enters the story about 90 minutes into the film, as a Japanese steward aboard a steamship bound for Yokohama. An animated Peter also appears in the movie’s closing credits, as a samurai wielding a sword.

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Around the World in 80 Days. The Lost One is available in soft-bound and hard-back editions as well as the Nook and Kindle.

August 17, 2014

Peter Lorre Film Festival at the BFI

Fifty years ago this year, Peter Lorre passed away on Mar. 23, 1964, just a few months shy of his 60th birthday.

The British Film Institute Southbank, in London, England, plans to remember the anniversary with a Peter Lorre Film Festival of 22 movies, over five weeks, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 2 and ending on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014.

The films to be shown include M, F.P. 1 antwortet nicht, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Mad Love, Crime and Punishment, Secret Agent, Think Fast, Mr. Moto, Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation, Strange Cargo, Stranger on the Third Floor, The Face Behind the Mask, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Mask of Dimitrios, Arsenic and Old Lace, Black Angel, The Verdict, The Beast with Five Fingers, My Favorite Brunette, Der Verlorene, Beat the Devil, Silk Stockings, and The Raven.

The BFI will present a print of M restored by TLEFilms Film Restoration and Preservation Services, in association with CNC – Archives françaises du film.

On Friday, Sept. 12, a special paid Seniors’ matinee of M will be shown at 2 pm. The screening will be introduced and discussed by filmmaker and former head of BFI Production Mamoun Hassan, whose article on director Fritz Lang is available through the BFI website.

Movies in the Lorre festival will be shown more than once, and the restored M will be shown throughout the festival.

The schedule:
  • Sept. 2, Tues – F.P. 1 antwortet nicht, 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 3, Wed – Double feature: Mad Love and The Face Behind the Mask, 6 pm
  • Sept. 3, Wed – The Man Who Knew Too Much, 8:50 pm

  • Sept. 5, Fri – Crime and Punishment, 6:10 pm
  • Sept. 5, Fri – M, 6:20 pm and 8:40 pm
  • Sept. 5, Fri – Secret Agent, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 6, Sat – M, 3:50 pm and 6:20 pm
  • Sept. 6, Sat – F. P. 1 antwortet nicht, 4 pm
  • Sept. 6, Sat – The Man Who Knew Too Much, 6:10 pm
  • Sept. 6, Sat – Casablanca, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 7, Sun – Mr. Moto double feature: Think Fast, Mr. Moto and Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation, 3 pm
  • Sept. 7, Sun – M, 4 pm and 6:30 pm
  • Sept. 7, Sun – Double feature: Mad Love and The Face Behind the Mask, 5:30 pm
  • Sept. 7, Sun – Stranger on the Third Floor, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 8, Mon – M, 6:20 pm and 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 9, Tues – M, 6 pm and 8:40 pm
  • Sept. 9, Tues – Strange Cargo, 6:30 pm

  • Sept. 10, Wed – M, 6:20 pm and 8:40 pm
  • Sept. 10, Wed – Crime and Punishment, 8:30 pm

  • Sept. 11, Thurs – M, 6:20 pm and 8:30 pm
  • Sept. 11, Thurs – Secret Agent, 6:30 pm
  • Sept. 11, Thurs – The Maltese Falcon, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 12, Fri – Mr. Moto double feature: Think Fast, Mr. Moto and Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation, 8:20 pm

  • Sept. 13, Sat – M, 3:45 pm, 6:10 pm, and 8:30 pm
  • Sept. 13, Sat – The Mask of Dimitrios, 4 pm
  • Sept. 13, Sat – Stranger on the Third Floor, 6:20 pm

  • Sept. 14, Sun – M, 4 pm
  • Sept. 14, Sun – Strange Cargo, 8:20 pm

  • Sept. 15, Mon – M, 6:20 pm
  • Sept. 15, Mon. – Arsenic and Old Lace, 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 16, Tues – M, 6:10 pm

  • Sept. 17, Wed – Arsenic and Old Lace, 8:40 pm
  • Sept. 17, Wed – M, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 18, Thurs – M, 6:10 pm
  • Sept. 18, Thurs – Black Angel, 6:30 pm
  • Sept. 18, Thurs – The Mask of Dimitrios, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 19, Fri – The Maltese Falcon, 6:30 pm

  • Sept. 20, Sat – Casablanca, 4 pm
  • Sept. 20, Sat – M, 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 21, Sun – M, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 22, Mon – M, 6:20 pm and 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 23, Tues – M, 6:20 pm
  • Sept. 23, Tues – Black Angel, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 24, Wed – M, 6:20 pm
  • Sept. 24, Wed – The Verdict, 8:45 pm

  • Sept. 26, Fri – M, 6:20 pm and 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 27, Sat – M, 3:50 pm

  • Sept. 28, Sun – M, 3:50 pm
  • Sept. 28, Sun – The Verdict, 6:30 pm

  • Sept. 29, Mon – The Beast with Five Fingers, 8:40 pm

  • Sept. 30, Tues – M, 8:45 pm

  • Oct. 1, Wed – My Favorite Brunette, 6:30 pm
  • Oct. 1, Wed – M, 8:45 pm

  • Oct. 2, Thurs – Silk Stockings, 8:40 pm

  • Oct. 3, Fri – Der Verlorene (The Lost One), 6:30 pm
  • Oct. 3, Fri – The Beast with Five Fingers, 8:40 pm
  • Oct. 3, Fri – Silk Stockings, 8:40 pm

  • Oct. 4, Sat – Beat the Devil, 4:30 pm
  • Oct. 4, Sat – The Raven, 6:30 pm
  • Oct. 4, Sat – M, 8:40 pm
  • Oct. 4, Sat – Der Verlorene, 8:45 pm

  • Oct. 5, Sun – M, 3:50 pm
  • Oct. 5, Sun – My Favorite Brunette, 6:30 pm
  • Oct. 5, Sun – Silk Stockings, 6:20 pm

  • Oct. 6, Mon – Beat the Devil, 8:45 pm

  • Oct. 7, Tues – Silk Stockings, 6:20 pm
  • Oct. 7, Tues – The Raven, 8:45 pm
  • Oct. 7, Tues – M, 8:50 pm
Admission is open to non-members of the BFI, as well as members. Non-members will be charged a per-ticket booking fee of £1 for each ticket sold, to a maximum of £3 per transaction.

Weekday matinee (before 5 pm) prices are £6.60 for BFI members, £8.25 for non-members, and £6 for children 16 and under.

Evening and weekend prices are £10.45 for BFI members, £12.10 for non-members, and £6 for children 16 and under. For senior citizens, students, unwaged and disabled visitors who are also BFI members, admission is £7.70, and for non-members £9.35.

More information about ticket prices may be found on the BFI website.

Tickets may be purchased through the BFI box office, located in the main foyer. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the BFI website. From the Peter Lorre festival page, click the “Buy” button. A Booking Fee will be added to all on-line purchases.

The BFI is located on Belvedere Road, on the South Bank of the Thames in London, England. Directions to the BFI are available on the cinema’s website.

Parking is available at the Hayward Gallery, National Theatre, and Jubilee Gardens. The BFI is also well served by public transportation. The closest underground station is Waterloo. Exit Waterloo by the South Bank exit. More information about public transportation is available on the cinema’s website.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin recounts the life and career of Peter Lorre through the recollections of family members, friends, directors, fellow actors, and crew on film, stage, radio, and television – recollections that shed light on Lorre’s childhood, his early days in theater, his career on film, radio and television, and his sad final days.

The Lost One is available in hard-back, soft-bound, and eBook editions for the Kindle and Nook.

August 13, 2014

Lorre Co-Star Lauren Bacall Passes

Lauren Bacall passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. She was 89 years old. She is the most recent of Peter Lorre’s fellow actors to reach the end of life. But if not for Peter Lorre, Ms. Bacall might never have married Humphrey Bogart, the leading man of her life and her first movie, To Have and Have Not (1944).

Bogie was one of Peter’s two closest friends (the other was German playwright Bertolt Brecht), and he was worried about the 25-year age difference between himself and the woman he was falling in love with. “She’s just a kid,” Bogie told Peter. “It will never last.”

Said Peter, “So what’s the difference? Five good years is better than none.”

Bogie took the advice. In 1945, Bogie and Bacall married, had two children, and a very happy life to Bogart’s death in 1957.

The new Mrs. Humphrey Bogart then worked with Peter in the spy thriller Confidential Agent (1945), starring Charles Boyer. It was Lauren Bacall’s third movie, her second released.

In an interview with film historian Leonard Maltin, Ms. Bacall said of Peter, “Funny, very analytical. A very complicated, fascinating man.”




Other Peter Lorre Co-Stars . . .

Robin Williams – Actor-comedian Robin Williams passed on Aug. 11, 2014. He never worked with Peter Lorre, but as he revealed in a TV Guide interview during his Mork and Mindy days in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Peter was one of his favorite actors. An imitation of Peter was part of Williams’ comedy act. In the animated film Aladdin (1992), Williams as the genie uses Lorre’s voice to explain to Aladdin one of the rules about making wishes – “I can’t bring back the dead.”

Joan Lorring – Actress Joan Lorring passed on May 30, 2014. Ms. Lorring was unique among Peter’s co-stars. In two movies for Warner Bros. – Three Strangers (1945) and The Verdict (1946) – she played Peter’s love interest.

Peter was not considered a leading man in Hollywood. Standing only five feet, five inches, he had large eyes and a soft, nasal voice, not the attributes of a typical Hollywood lover in films of the 1930s and 1940s. where Clark Gable and Cary Grant set audience expectations. And though he was more than capable of carrying a movie on his own, he was usually cast in a secondary role.

But like several of the actresses who worked with Peter, Joan Lorring found she was not immune to his charms. Admitting in interviews she developed a crush on the actor and started wearing short skirts more often to the studio, slacks less often, she added, “I can’t tell you how that looked!”

Mickey Rooney – Child star and long-time movie favorite Mickey Rooney passed on Apr. 6, 2014. Rooney co-starred with Peter in the independent movie Quicksand (1950).

Oswald Morris – Award-winning British cinematographer Oswald Morris passed on Mar. 17, 2014. Morris was the cinematographer on Beat the Devil (1954), Peter Lorre’s final movie with his old friend Humphrey Bogart and his first Warner Bros. director John Huston.

Joan Fontaine – Actress Joan Fontaine passed on Dec. 15, 2013. She first appeared with Peter Lorre in the Warner Bros movie The Constant Nymph (1943), playing the younger sister of Brenda Marshall, who loves and marries Peter’s character, Fritz Bercovy. Long tied up in legal problems, The Constant Nymph now plays regularly on the Turner Classic Movies channel. Years later, in the early 1960s, Ms. Fontaine co-starred with Peter in the 20th Century-Fox film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Richard Matheson – Screenwriter and author of numerous mystery and suspense works, Richard Matheson passed on June 23, 2013. Matheson wrote the scripts for several of Peter’s movies at American International Pictures in the early 1960s: Tales of Terror (1962), The Raven (1963), and The Comedy of Terrors (1964).

Annette Funicello – Mouseketeer, singer, and co-star with Frankie Avalon in the “Beach Party” movie series at American International Pictures, Annette Funicello passed on April 8, 2013. The second entry in her popular “Beach” movies was one of Peter’s final films. Muscle Beach Party (1964) was playing in theaters the day newspapers carried Peter’s obituary on Mar. 23, 1964.

Turhan Bey – Actor Turhan Bey passed on Sept. 30, 2012. In Background to Danger (1943), he had only one scene with Peter, as George Raft’s associate who joins Raft at the Zaleshoffs’ hide-out.

Andy Williams – Singer Andy Williams passed on Sept. 25, 2012. He and his three older brothers formed a quartet called the Williams Brothers and, in the late 1940s, began working in nightclubs with singer Kay Thompson. Billed as “Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers”, the group appeared on Bing Crosby’s radio show, Philco Radio Time, on Nov. 12, 1947. Peter Lorre was Bing’s special guest that week.

Tony Martin – Singer and actor Tony Martin passed on July 27, 2012. Martin played thief Pepe Le Moko to Peter’s Inspector Slimane in the Universal Studio musical Casbah (1948).

His beloved wife, dancer Cyd Charisse, passed years earlier on June 17, 2008. She appeared with Peter in his only singing-and-dancing role in the Fred Astaire musical Silk Stockings (1957) for MGM.

Mike Wallace – Reporter Mike Wallace passed on April 7, 2012. Host of the 30-minute TV show The Mike Wallace Interview, Wallace interviewed Peter on March 8, 1960.




In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, author Stephen D. Youngkin interviewed many of people who knew and worked with Peter. Joan Lorring, Tony Martin, Oswald Morris, and Richard Matheson all shared their memories of Peter on-set.

The Lost One is available in soft-bound and hard-back editions, as well as the Kindle and Nook.

August 12, 2014

Arsenic and Old Lace On-Screen in El Paso, Texas

Peter Lorre fans attending the Plaza Classic Film Festival, in El Paso, Texas, will have the opportunity to enjoy Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, at the Kendle Kidd Performance Hall.

The movie will begin at 4 pm, with a musical selection on the restored Mighty Wurlitzer organ by one of the talented volunteer organists. Doors will open 20 to 30 minutes before show time.

Admission for Arsenic and Old Lace is $6. All seats are General Admission. Tickets may be purchased at the Plaza Theatre box office, located right outside the Plaza Theatre. Tickets may also be purchased through Ticketmaster or through the festival website, which also links to Ticketmaster. Click on the “BUY TICKETS” button on the Arsenic and Old Lace page. Please note – Ticketmaster will add a service fee to the price of the ticket.

Festival Passes are also available for $200. Festival Passes includes admission to every movie shown during the film festival, as well as Festival special events and discounts to nearby restaurants. Passes may be purchased at the box office, as well as online through Ticketmaster.

The Kendle Kidd Performance Hall is located inside the historic Plaza Theatre. The Plaza Theatre, which opened in 1930, is located at 125 Pioneer Plaza, in El Paso, Texas.

Parking is available at several parking garages close to the Plaza Theatre. The closest is the Mills Plaza Parking Garage, located at 445 N. Oregon Street.

Now in its seventh year, the Plaza Classic Film Festival runs from Thursday, Aug. 7, to Sunday, Aug. 17. The full schedule is available on the festival website.

Special guests at the festival include classic film and television actors Shirley Jones and Robert Wagner, as well as other filmmakers, writers, and directors. The complete guest list may be found on the festival website.

Can’t make it to El Paso? Arsenic and Old Lace will also be shown on Wednesday, Aug. 13 – on the small screen, as the Turner Classic Movies channel presents “Cary Grant Day” during its annual “Summer Under the Stars” film festival. The movie begins at 2:45 pm, Eastern Standard Time.

August 3, 2014

Peter Lorre on TV This Fall

As summer turns to fall, Peter Lorre fans have much to look forward to on television and Turner Classic Movies, including the annual "Summer Under the Stars" festival and Halloween.

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.



August, 2014

August brings TCM’s annual “Summer Under the Stars” festival – a full day of movies featuring a particular actor. Although Peter Lorre is not one of the Stars this year, some of his co-workers are so honored.

Aug. 2 (Sat), 10 pm, Turner Classic Movies channel – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). “David Niven Day” includes this Best Picture Oscar winner about a Victorian gentleman (Niven) and his gentlemen’s gentleman (Cantinflas) and their trip around the world to win a wager. Peter plays a Japanese steward – and he is also a delight in the film’s closing animated credits.

Aug. 12 (Tues), midnight, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943). On “Alexis Smith Day”, Alexis Smith romances star Charles Boyer – and Peter Lorre romances Brenda Marshall.

Aug. 13 (Wed), 2:45 pm, TCM – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). “Cary Grant Day” includes this dark comedy involving two sweet little old ladies and their “charity” of helping lonely old gentlemen to find peace – by serving them a glass of very poisonous elderberry wine. Among their house guests – a murderer (Raymond Massey) on the run from police, and his personal plastic surgeon, Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre).

Aug. 20 (Wed), 2:30 am, Antenna TV channel – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Man From the South" (Mar. 30, 1960).

Aug. 24 (Sun), 8 pm, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941). “Gladys George Day” includes this Humphrey Bogart film noir classic, with Gladys George as Iva Archer, Bogart’s lover and wife of his partner Miles Archer. Many “firsts” for Peter Lrore – first movie at Warner Bros., first of five movies with pal Bogart, and first of nine movies with Sydney Greenstreet.



September, 2014

September brings a a couple of Lorre movies – a musical and an adventure. Two other Lorre films originally on the schedule – Background to Danger (1943) and Confidential Agent – have been removed for a day-long tribute to Lauren Bacall, who passed on Aug. 12, 2014, at the age of 89.

Sept. 3 (Wed), noon, TCM – Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). The daytime theme is “September Romance”, and in this romance between a ballerina (Cyd Charisse) and a rancher (Dan Dailey), Peter has a cameo role as a blackjack player.

Sept. 8 (Mon), 4 am, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). A day of Beatrice Lillie movies ends with her cameo as the leader of a group of London Revivalists in this all-star extravaganza, which includes Peter as a Japanese steward.

Sept. 19 (Fri), 11:40 am and 9:35 pm, Retro Channel – Tales of Terror (1962).

Sept. 20 (Sat), 9:50 am and 4:35 pm, Multiplex Channel – The Patsy (1964).



October, 2014

October means Halloween – and although Peter Lorre made only two straight horror movies in his career, one of them will be shown this month, along with several other Lorre movies, including four of the five films he made with Humphrey Bogart.

Oct. 3 (Fri), TCM – Turner Classic Movies shines the Friday Night Spotlight on movies set in Africa with this "sub-theme" – Bogart in Africa – and a Bogart-Lorre double-feature of Beat the Devil (1953) at midnight, followed by Casablanca (1942) at 2 am.

Oct. 6 (Mon), 3 am, ME-TV – Route 66, "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" (Oct. 26, 1962). A Halloween episode with Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Lon Chaney playing themselves.

Oct. 7 (Tues), 7:30 am, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941). The Bogart-Lorre fest continues with their first movie together, directed by John Huston, who also directed their final movie together, Beat the Devil. The daytime theme is "Fatal Attractions".

Oct. 11 (Sat), 11 am, Antenna TV channel – The Jack Benny Program (Jan. 22, 1963). In the 1940s, Peter guest-starred several times on Jack Benny's radio show, but this is his first and only appearance on Jack's TV show.

Oct. 14 (Tues), 2:20 pm, Retro channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 15 (Wed), 7:15 am, Retro channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 23 (Thurs), 9 am, TCM – All Through the Night (1942). Bogie and Peter team up again, though working against each other, in this comic spy film from Warner Bros – in a daytime theme of "Spies Like Us".

Oct. 24 (Fri), 7:45 am, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943). "May-December Romance" is the daytime theme, with this story of Joan Fontaine in love with Charles Boyer – while her sister Brenda Marshall is loved and romanced by Peter Lorre.

Oct. 25 (Sat), 4:30 pm, TCM – Mad Love (1935). Peter Lorre made his American film debut with this horror movie from MGM about a brilliant surgeon driven made by the unrequited love he feels for a theater actress (Frances Drake) married to a concert pianist and composer (Colin Clive).



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.

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Peter’s movies, including interviews with many of the directors, writers, actors, and crew who worked with Peter. A complete list of Peter’s movies is available in the book’s Appendix. For more information on The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, please visit the book’s official website.

Happy viewing!

August 2, 2014

Casablanca at the Paramount

The annual classic film festival at the Paramount Theatre has been an Austin, Texas, tradition for 39 years, and this weekend, the historic cinema presents two Summer Series favorites – Casablanca (1942) and The Philadelphia Story (1940). The theme – “The 1940s: Rounding Up the Usual Suspects”.

Casablanca will be shown on Saturday, August 2, at 7 pm, with The Philadelphia Story following at 9 pm. On Sunday, August 3, The Philadelphia Story will be shown at 2 pm, with Casablanca following at 4:15 pm. Both films will be presented in 35mm prints.

Ticket prices are $12 for Regular admission, with a $1 preservation fee included; and $7 for Film Fans. Tickets may be purchased at the Paramount box office on the day of the show.

Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the Paramount website. Ticket prices are $12, including a $1 preservation fee.

The Paramount Theatre is located at 712 Congress Avenue, in Austin, Texas. Directions to the cinema re available on the Paramount website.

Parking is available at the One American Center parking garage, located at 600 Congress Avenue, one block from the Paramount. A parking pass may be purchased for $6, cash only, from the parking attendant at the garage entrance. Parking is also available at meters throughout downtown Austin. Meters are free all day Sunday, and after midnight on Saturdays. More information about parking may be found on the Paramount Theatre website.

Built in 1915, the Paramount Theatre has been a fixture on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The site of the classic cinema was once the location of Sam Houston’s office and the Wear Department of the Republic of Texas, and later, the Avenue Hotel.

No doubt Austin residents have enjoyed other Peter Lorre films at the Paramount throughout its history – including Casablanca on its original run in 1942. . . .