May 3, 2017

Sacramento Museum Hosts Light and Noir Traveling Movie Exhibit

From May 16 to Oct. 15, 2017, the California Museum, located in Sacramento, California, will host the traveling exhibit “Light and Noir: Exiles and Émigrés in Hollywood, 1933-1950”, which highlights the history of émigrés who fled Europe and Hitler and found work in the American film industry.

Casablanca (1942) is one of sixteen movies discussed in the exhibit, including posters, costume and concept drawings, scripts, musical scores, lobby cards, and props from the “Rick’s Café” set.

While the plot of Casablanca deals with Europeans escaping from Hitler for the freedom of the United States, many of the actors in the cast were also European refugees who had come to America under similar circumstances – including Peter Lorre, whose black market character Ugarte sells exit visas to the desperate.

The traveling exhibit is organized by the Skirball Cultural Center, in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Admission to the California Museum is $9 for adults 18 and over; $7.50 for students with identification and seniors age 65 and over; and $6.50 for youth between ages 6 and 17. Children 5 years and under are admitted free. Members of the Museum, North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM), and Time Traveler are also admitted free.

Museum members are also invited to kick off the exhibit with the “Light and Noir Premiere Party”, to be held on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, from 5:30 to 8 pm. Inspired by an evening at Rick’s Café Americain, festivities include live jazz, roulette and craps games, and complimentary refreshments. Attendees are encouraged to wear period attire from the 1930s and 1940s.

Interested in the party but not a California Museum member? Not a problem! Join by 5 pm on Friday, May 5, 2017, and receive an exclusive invitation to the event. More information about the premiere party is available on the museum’s website.

The California Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm. The museum is closed on Monday. The museum is also closed on a number of federal holidays, including Independence Day, July 4.

More information about tickets and business hours is available on the museum’s website.

The California Museum is located at 1020 O Street, at the corner of 10th Street and O Street, in downtown Sacramento, California.

Parking is available in the public parking garage located at 1520 10th Street, directly across the street from the California Museum. The museum is also well-served by public transportation. Directions to the museum, as well as information about parking and public transportation, are available on the museum’s website.

For more information, please contact the California Museum at 916- 653-7524.

Wisconsin Library Film Series Includes Lorre

The Waupaca Area Public Library, in Waupaca, Wisconsin, concludes their “First Thursday Film Series” with a showing of Casablanca (1942) on Thursday, May 4, 2017 – in honor of veterans of all branches of the United States military.

The movie begins at 1:30 pm with a brief commentary by Dr. Jack Rhodes, who lectures in the Waupaca area on the rhetoric of film genres. Popcorn, soda, and theater treats will be served during the film.

Admission is free for everyone, and reservations are not necessary.

The Waupaca Area Public Library is located at 107 South Main Street, in Waupaca, Wisconsin.

Parking is available in the lot behind the library, as well as nearby streets.

For more information, please call the library at 715-258-4114.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen D. Youngkin recounts the making of Casablanca, a film to which Peter attached little importance and later claimed he made more money playing the roulette wheel on the “Gambling Room” set than he did acting before the cameras.

However, Casablanca did give Peter the opportunity to work for a third time with his off-screen buddy Humphrey Bogart, as well as earn him a contract with the Warner Bros. studio he is now so closely associated with.

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

Purchase The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre from Amazon.