January 19, 2017

Amherst Screening Room Presents Lorre Films

In tribute to director Alfred Hitchcock, The Screening Room, located in Amherst, New York, will show Peter Lorre’s first English-speaking movie The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Friday, Saturday, and Wednesday, Jan. 20, 21, and 25, 2017.

The film will begin at 7:30 pm on all three days.

Admission for The Man Who Knew Too Much is $6 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased at the box office, beginning about 30 minutes before the show. The Screening Room accepts most major credit cards.

Formerly located in the Northtown Plaza Business Center, The Screening Room has moved to the Boulevard Mall, located at 1265 Niagara Falls Boulevard, in Amherst, New York.

The Screening Room’s entrance is outside the mall on the Alberta Drive side of the Boulevard Mall, near the Macy’s department store – in Suite 207, formerly the location of the Funny Bone Comedy Club. More information, including a store directory, is available on the Mall’s website.

Parking is available throughout the Boulevard Mall.

For more information, please call The Screening Room at 716-837-0376.



Spend Valentine’s Day with Peter at The Screening Room with special showings of Casablanca (1942) in a week-long celebration of the film's 75th anniversary!

A Night in Casablanca ~ Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 ~

Advance tickets are on sale now for A Night in Casablanca – dinner and a showing of Casablanca on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017.

Tickets are $30 each and include a buffet-style spaghetti dinner with a Moroccan twist from My Tomato Pie, wine, soft drinks, Moroccan coffee, and admission to the film, plus taxes and gratuity. Tickets for this event must be purchased in advance at the box office or online through the Screening Room website. Tickets will not be available at the door.

Doors will open at 6:30 pm. Dinner will be served at 7 pm. The movie will begin at 8 pm.

Anniversary Showings ~ Feb. 10 to Feb. 18 ~

Casablanca will also be shown on these days and times ~
  • Feb. 10, Friday – 7:15 pm – $6
  • Feb. 11, Saturday – 7:15 pm – $6
  • Feb. 12, Sunday – 12 noon – $6
  • Feb. 14, Tuesday – 7:15 pm – $6
  • Feb. 18, Saturday – Time to be announced – $6



In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin describes the making of Casablanca, a film to which Peter attached little importance. Working only four days on the movie, Peter later claimed he made more money playing the roulette wheel on the “gambling room” set than he did before the cameras. Nonetheless, his performance led to a contract with Warner Bros. and a period of professional and personal success.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre is available in eBook format for the Kindle and Nook, as well as soft-bound and hard-bound editions.

January 18, 2017

Students! Classes Include Lorre Films!

Peter Lorre fans in the areas of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Bridgton, Maine, will have an opportunity on January 24 and 27, 2017, to attend classes on classic Lorre films – M (1931) and The Maltese Falcon (1941).



M, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona ~

NAU’s College of Arts and Letters film series continues the spring installment of its popular Tuesday night film series with a free showing of M in the Cline Library on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017.

The program, which includes a cartoon and post-film discussion, will begin at 7 pm in the library’s Assembly Hall, located on the first floor near the public entrance. Local film experts will introduce M, and series organizers Paul Helford and Paul Donnelly will lead a discussion immediately following the movie.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

The Cline Library is located at 1001 S. Knoles Drive, at the corner of Knoles Drive and McCreary Road, in Flagstaff, Arizona. A map of the University is available on the library's website.

Parking lot P16 is directly across the street from the Cline Library. Lot P13 is behind the library. The College of Arts and Letters Film Series has been designated as a free parking event. To qualify for the free permit, which must be downloaded for each movie, attendees must be a community member and register with NAU Parking. Instructions for obtaining a free parking are available on the NAU website.

For more information, please contact the library at 928-523-2173.

The film series will run from Tuesday, Jan. 17, to Tuesday, May 2, 2017. The full schedule is available on the Cline Library website.



The Maltese Falcon, Senior College, Bridgton, Maine ~

In Bridgton, Maine, winter term is now in session at the Senior College, and on the schedule for Friday, Jan. 27, is The Maltese Falcon (1941).

The program begins at 10 am. Margaret Reimer will present the class, discussing film noir and the movie’s characters.

Class will be held at the Magic Lantern Theater Pub, located at 9 Depot Street in downtown Bridgton, Maine. Parking is available at the pub.

Senior College is a hometown Bridgton program designed for anyone 50 years or older residing in Bridgton or the nearby Lakes Region communities in Maine. Students may take a class or two for $5 each, or become a Senior College member for $20 and take any winter session class for free.

Class registration forms are available at the Bridgton Library, located at 1 Church Street, in Bridgton, Maine. Forms are also available on the Senior College website. Instructions for enrollment in Senior College are available on the Senior College website.

For more information, please contact Kappy Sprenger, Senior College Registration, at 207-647-5593.

Classes will run from Tuesday, Jan. 17, to Thursday, February 9, 2017. The complete schedule is available on the Senior College website.



No word on textbooks for these classes – but an outstanding work would be The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, by Stephen D. Youngkin, who recounts the making of both M and The Maltese Falcon through interviews with directors Fritz Lang and John Huston, among others.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre is available in hard-back and soft-bound editions, as well as the Kindle and Nook.

January 16, 2017

BIMA Film Fest Includes M

The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art will kick off its Tuesday evening smARTfilm series with a showing of Peter Lorre’s first sound movie M (1931) on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017.

This year, the smARTfilm series focuses on film noir. The series will run every Tuesday evening from Jan. 17 to Feb. 21, 2017.

The auditorium opens at 7 pm. M will begin at 7:30 pm. Following the movie, series curators Frank Buxton and John Ellis will lead a discussion of M.

Attendees are also invited to come at 5:30 pm and enjoy a dinner in the museum’s Bistro. The menu includes soup, salad, the evening’s special, and dessert. Dinner is not included in the ticket price. Reservations are recommended. Please call the Bistro at 206-451-4011.

Admission for M is $10 for all seats. Students may attend the movies for free with prior registration. Tickets may be purchased at the museum or through the BIMA website for pick-up at the museum. A nominal service fee of $1.34 will be added the cost of each ticket purchased through the website.

A pass for all movies in the smARTfilm series is also available for $50. The pass may be purchased at the museum or through the museum’s website. A nominal service fee of $2.74 will be added to every pass purchased through the BIMA website.

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art is located at 550 Winslow Way East, on Bainbridge Island in Washington. The island is a 35-minute ferry ride from Seattle and a five-minute walk, or an easy drive or bus ride from any location in Kitsap County. Directions are available on the museum’s website.

Free parking is available in the museum’s lot, entered from Winslow Way East.

For more information, please call the museum at 206-842-4451.

TCM Film Fest 2017 Includes Lorre

Lorre fans attending the annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood over Thursday, April 6 to Sunday, April 9, 2017, will be treated to a showing of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

"Make 'em Laugh: Comedy in the Movies" is this year’s theme. A partial film schedule, as well as a list of some of the special guests, has been posted to the festival website, promising "the greatest cinematic achievements of lone clowns, comedic duos and madcap ensembles."

Passes are available in four categories – The Palace, The Classic, The Essential, and the Spotlight – but quantities are limited and may be purchased through the festival website.

Individual tickets may also be available for most films.

Although the schedule has not yet been announced, venues for the various events include the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX (formerly known as Grauman’s Chinese), The Egyptian Theater, and the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres multiplex – all within an easy walking distance along Hollywood Blvd.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Arsenic and Old Lace in the fall of 1941, three years before its actual release in 1944. The Capra-directed movie, starring Cary Grant and three members of the original stage production, was Peter’s second film at Warner Bros. Not yet signed to a contract, Peter was instead called back to the studio on a picture-by-picture basis.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre is available for the Kindle and Nook, as well as hard-bound and soft-bound editions.

January 15, 2017

Lorre Sings and Dances at the Prytania

Lorre fans in the New Orleans area are in for a special treat on Sunday, Jan. 15 and Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 – a showing of the classic MGM musical Silk Stockings (1957) at the historic Prytania Theatre as part of their Classic Movie Series, which continues through January and February.

The movie will begin at 10 am each morning, introduced by Rene J. Brunet, owner of the historic Prytania. Brunet is acknowledged as an expert on film, as well as a New Orleans theater historian.

Ticket prices are $6 for all ages for the matinee screening. Tickets may be purchased at the cinema box office. Tickets may also be purchased online through the Prytania website. Select "Purchase Tickets" from the drop-down menu, and select Silk Stockings. A nominal fee of $1.25 will be charged for online purchases.

The Prytania Theatre is located at 5339 Prytania Street, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Parking is available on the streets near the cinema.

For more information, please call the Prytania at (504) 891-2787.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Silk Stockings through interviews with dance choreography Hermes Pan, director Reuben Mamoulian, and actor Joseph Buloff (who played one of Peter’s fellow Russian commissars). Admitting to Pan he was not a dancer, Peter nonetheless came up with suggestions to make his dances funnier, including a kazatski, a demanding Ukranian dance he performs with a butter knife clenched between his teeth.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre is available for the Kindle and Nook, as well as hard-back and soft-bound editions.

January 13, 2017

Casablanca at Harrisburg Midtown Cinema

Lorre fans in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area will have the opportunity to catch Peter in a movie theater this weekend when the Midtown Cinema presents Casablanca (1942) on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, as part of their series of Oscar-winning films.

Casablanca will begin at 7 pm in Theater 2.

Admission is $9 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased at the Midtown Cinema’s box office. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the venue’s website. A nominal booking fee of $1 will be added to each ticket purchased on-line.

The Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Reily Street, in the midtown area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Parking is available in a small lot along Susquehanna Street, located beside the cinema, as well as on the streets near the Midtown.

For more information, please contact the Midtown at 717-909-6566.