December 26, 2018

Disney Film Fest Includes Lorre

Ring out 2018 and ring in 2019 with Peter Lorre at the Music Box Theatre, located in Chicago, Illinois!

In a festival of live-action movies from Walt Disney, the Music Box Theatre will include 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), one of several movies in Peter’s filmography adapted from the works of French author Jules Verne. The Disney fest begins Wednesday, December 26, 2018, and ends Thursday, January 3, 2019.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will be shown on these dates and times ~
  • Wednesday, Dec. 26 – 6:30 pm
  • Saturday, Dec. 29 – 2 pm
  • Tuesday, Jan. 1 – 11:45 am
  • Wednesday, Jan. 2 – 1:30 pm
  • Thursday, Jan. 3 – 7 pm
The full schedule of the Disney fest is available on the venue’s website.

Tickets are $11 general admission, $9 for seniors (age 62 and older), and $7 for children under 12. Music Box members may attend for free the 2 pm show on Saturday, Dec. 29, and other showings for $7 per ticket.

Tickets may be purchased at the box office. Tickets may also be purchased online through the Music Box website. A nominal fee of $1.25 will be charged for each ticket purchased online.

The Music Box Theatre is located at 3733 N. Southport Avenue, in Chicago, Illinois.

Parking near the Music Box Theatre is limited. Meters are available on Southport Avenue. Parking is also available at Blaine Elementary, located at 1420 W. Grace Street, one block north of the Music Box Theatre. Parking is $16 a car, and Blaine Elementary takes exact change or credit cards only. More information on parking, as well as directions to the Music Box, is available on the venue’s website.

For more information, please contact the cinema at (773) 871-6604.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea through interviews with actor Kirk Douglas and art director Harper Goff, who originally saw Peter Lorre in the role of Conseil, Prof. Arronax’s (Paul Lukas) assistant.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

December 16, 2018

Lorre Documentary On View in Barcelona

German filmmaker Harun Farocki’s 1984 documentary Peter Lorre: Das doppelte Gesicht (Peter Lorre: The Double Face) is currently on show at the gallery Àngels Barcelona, located in Barcelona, Spain.

The documentary is part of the exhibit “Men in Trouble”, conceived by Farocki with Antje Ehmann. Through film and video, “Men in Trouble” explores the “representation of the male crisis and its archetypes in cinema.”

The exhibit opened Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, and will continue until Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.

Written by Harun Farocki and Felix Hofmann, the 59-minute Peter Lorre: Das doppelte Gesicht discusses Peter’s career through photos and film clips, including an interview with Stephen D. Youngkin, author of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005).

Peter Lorre: Das doppelte Gesicht is also among the bonus features on Kinowelt Home Entertainment’s 2007 DVD release of Der Verlorene (1951), the only film Peter directed, as well as co-writing, co-producing, and playing the lead character.

Àngels Barcelona is located at 27 Calle Pintor Fortuny, in Barcelona, Spain.

The venue is open Monday through Friday from 10:30 am to 7 pm (19:00). For admission on Saturdays and all other times, please call the gallery at +34 93 412 54 00.

December 15, 2018

SiriusXM Includes Lorre Christmas Episode

‘Tis the season for Christmas-themed old-time radio episodes on the Radio Classics channel – channel 148 on the SiriusXM radio dial. And among them is Peter Lorre’s 1943 Suspense episode, “Back for Christmas”.

During the week of Dec. 17 to 23, 2018, “Back for Christmas” will air these days and times ~

Wednesday, Dec. 19 ~
  • 3:30 am Pacific, 6:30 am Eastern
Thursday, Dec. 20 ~
  • 9:30 pm Pacific
Friday, Dec. 21 ~
  • 12:30 am Eastern
Sunday, Dec. 23 ~
  • 7:30 am Pacific, 10:30 am Eastern
A full schedule of the week’s programming is available on host Greg Bell’s website.

“Back for Christmas” originally aired over CBS on Dec. 23, 1943. Peter plays Hubert Schumacher, a professor of botany who digs a Devil’s Garden as a bed for rare orchids in his cellar. While his overbearing wife Hermione plans their trip to America, Hubert makes plans of his own – involving a new Mrs. Schumacher and the disposal of Hermione.

Plans go awry . . . . on all fronts.

SiriusXM radio subscribers may also listen to Suspense, “Back for Christmas”, over the internet. Log-in with your User ID and password. Not a subscriber? A free 30-day trial is also available through the XM radio website.

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the radio career of Peter Lorre. A complete-to-date list of Peter’s radio credits may be found in the book’s appendix.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Adventure Double-Bill at the Castro Includes Lorre

A Saturday afternoon and evening of Warner Bros. adventure and romance is in store for Peter Lorre fans in the San Francisco Bay Rea of northern California when the Castro Theatre presents Casablanca (1942) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) on Saturday, December 15, 2018.

Casablanca will be shown at 3 pm and 7 pm.

The Adventures of Robin Hood will be shown at 5 pm and 9 pm.

Admission is $13 for adults, and $10 for seniors (age 62 and older) and children (age 12 and under). Tickets may be purchased at the box office.

The Castro Theatre is located at 429 Castro Street, in San Francisco, California.

Parking is available in two small lots and on the street near the cinema. The Castro is also well-served by both bus and street car. Public transportation options, as well as directions to the Castro, can be found on the cinema’s website.

For more information, please call the Castro at (415) 621-6120.

November 7, 2018

Library Film Program Salutes Lorre Co-Star

The Historical Society of Cheshire County salutes home-town girl June Vincent with a showing of the Lorre film Black Angel (1946) at the public library in Keene, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, November 7, 2018.

Presented by Jennifer Carroll, the program will begin at 7 pm. Film historian Larry Benaquist will lead a discussion following Black Angel.

The event will be held in the Auditorium at the Keene Public Library. Admission is free for everyone.

The Keene Public Library is located at 60 Winter Street, in Keene, New Hampshire.

Parking is available at meters in front of the library and the Library Annex, as well as parking lots around the city. More information about parking, as well as directions to the library, is available on the library’s website.

For more information, please call the library at 603-352-0157.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Black Angel, including an interview with June Vincent.

Born Dorothy June Smith in 1920, June Vincent moved with her family to Keene, New Hampshire, when she was 11 years old. After graduating from Keene High School, she began as a fashion model in New York City while studying acting, and after appearing on Broadway, she was signed to a contract with Universal Pictures in 1943. In 1946, she worked with Peter Lorre in Black Angel.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

November 2, 2018

Holidays with Lorre on TV

November begins the holiday season of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Day, and Lorre fans have several of Peter’s movies to look forward to on television and Turner Classic Movies.

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.



November, 2018

November brings a handful of Lorre films on Turner Classic Movies.

Nov. 6 (Tues), 8 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942). TCM turns the spotlight on “The Art of Casting”, and Casablanca has been praised for its international cast, many of whom, like the characters they portray, escaped Nazi-occupied European countries. Casting directors David Rubin and Juliet Taylor join host Ben Mankiewicz for a discussion of 14 movies reflecting the art of casting.

Nov. 8 (Thurs), 5:30 am, Antenna TV channel – The Jack Benny Program (Jan. 22, 1963).

Nov. 11 (Sun), 4 am, Movies! Network – Quicksand (1950).

Nov. 25 (Sun), 6 am, Movies! Network – Quicksand (1950).

Nov. 27 (Tues), 7:45 am, TCM – Background to Danger (1943). The daytime theme is "Sabotage", and a day of international espionage movies on TCM includes this film adapted from the Eric Ambler novel, Uncommon Danger.



December, 2018

December brings a handful of Lorre movies on Turner Classic Movies, including a film better suited to Halloween than Christmas. Plus some of Peter's television work.

Dec. 3 (Mon), 4 pm, MeTV channel – Wagon Train, "The Alexander Portlass Story" (Mar. 16, 1960).

Dec. 4 (Tues), 1:30 am, MeTV channel – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "The Diplomatic Corpse" (Dec. 8, 1957).

Dec. 5 (Wed), 8 am, Movies! Network – Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Dec. 10 (Mon), 1:30 pm, Movies! Network – Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Dec. 14 (Fri), 11 am, TCM – Strange Cargo (1940). The daytime theme is "Nightmare Islands", and no island is more nightmare than the penal colony in French Guiana.

Dec. 18 (Tues), 8 pm, Movies! Network – Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Dec. 24 (Mon), 12:30 pm, Movies! Network – Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Dec. 26 (Wed), 7:45 am, TCM – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). A movie set on Halloween playing the day after Christmas? The film is on the schedule of a day of movies starring Cary Grant.

Dec. 30 (Sun), 8 pm, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1940). A “Double Bogie” double-feature begins with this classic mystery about a fabulous gem-encrusted statuette and the people willing to kill to obtain it.

Dec. 30 (Sun), 10 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942). “Double Bogie” continues with the third movie in which Peter worked with off-screen pal, Humphrey Bogart.



January, 2019

A new year begins – and a new year of Peter Lorre films on television, including a rarely-seen television epsode.

Jan. 3 (Thurs), 1:30 am, Movies! Network – Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Jan. 10 (Thurs), 12 noon, TCM – The Conspirators (1944). TCM salutes Paul Henreid's birthday with a number of Henreid movies, including this spy drama set in Lisbon.

Jan. 12 (Sat), 3 pm, MeTV – Rawhide, "Incident of the Slavemaster" (originally broadcast Nov. 11, 1960). Peter plays Victor Laurier, the wealthy owner of a cotton plantation where former Civil War soldiers work as slaves.

Jan. 13 (Sun), 8 am, Movies! Network – Beat the Devil (1954).

Jan. 20 (Sun), 1 am, MeTV – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Man from the South" (originally broadcast Mar. 13, 1960). Peter plays Carlos, a South American gambler who talks Steve McQueen into playing an unusual gambling game involving a cigarette lighter.



Many of these and other Lorre movies are now available on DVD and Blu-Ray – many 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 and television credits is available in the book’s Appendix.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

Happy viewing!

October 29, 2018

Halloween with Lorre in Maryland

With its Halloween setting, Arsenic and Old Lace is probably the most appropriate Lorre film for this season of ghosts and witches. And Lorre fans in the area of Pasadena, Maryland, can enjoy a showing of Arsenic and Old Lace at the Mountain Road Community Library on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.

The movie begins at 10 am, as part of the library’s “Coffee and Classics” film series.

Admission is free for everyone.

The Mountain Road Community Library at 4730 Mountain Road (Route 177), in the Long Point Mall, in Pasadena, Maryland.

Parking is available in the mall parking lot.

For more information, please call the library at 410-222-6699.

October 26, 2018

Halloween with Lorre in Newtown

Lorre fans in the area of Newtown, Connecticut, are in for a Halloween treat on Sunday, October 28, 2018 – the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission’s film series “Someday Cinema” continues with The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) on a double-bill with Boris Karloff in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Each double-feature will be shown at 3 pm and in the evening at 7 pm with The Bride of Frankenstein, followed by The Beast with Five Fingers. The 3 pm matinee will be shown with captions for the benefit of the hearing impaired.

Come in costume!

Admission for the double-feature is $6 for all seats.

The Edmond Town Hall Theatre is located in the Newtown Town Hall, 45 Main Street, in Newtown, Connecticut. For more information, please call 203-270-4285.

Parking is available in front of the Newtown Town Hall, as well as the lot behind the building.

Movies in the “Someday Cinema” series are sponsored by local businesses and organizations. The C.H. Booth Library is the sponsor of The Bride of Frankenstein and The Beast with Five Fingers.

October 25, 2018

Halloween with Lorre in Allentown

Halloween is the season to enjoy horror films, and although Peter Lorre was not considered a “horror film actor”, he did appear in several movies with a ghoulish or terrifying theme – including a couple films adapted from works of Edgar Allan Poe and produced by American International Pictures in the early 1960s.

The first of these was Tales of Terror (1962), and Lorre fans in the area of Allentown, Pennsylvania, will have a rare treat on Thursday, October 25, 2018 – Tales of Terror shown at the Civic Theatre’s Civic Theatre514.

The program begins at 7 pm with rare videos of Vincent Price, followed by Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone starring in Tales of Terror.

Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, students, and military, and $6 for members of the Civic Theatre. Tickets may be purchased at the box office. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the Civic Theatre website. A nominal fee of $1.50 will be charged for each ticket purchased on-line.

Civic Theatre514 is located at 514 N. 19th Street, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Parking is available at the Wells Fargo Bank, located at 522 N. 19th Street, across the street from the theater. Wells Fargo Bank allows the use of their parking lot when the bank is not in operation. Parking is also available along Liberty Street, near the Allentown Fairgrounds. More information about parking, as well as directions to the theater, are available on the venue's website.

For more information, please call the theater’s movie-line at 610-432-0888 or administration at 610-433-8903.

October 21, 2018

Lorre In Your Ear on WGN Radio Theatre

WGN Radio Theatre, airing over Chicago, Illinois, radio station WGN 720 AM, will present an episode of Peter Lorre’s summer radio series Mystery in the Air (1947) on Sunday night, October 21, 2018.

The program begins at 11 pm, Central time – 9 pm Pacific and 12 midnight Eastern – with The Black Museum, “The Champagne Glass” (1952), followed by Mystery in the Air, "Crime and Punishment" (Sept. 25, 1947).

Dave Plier and Mike Gastala step in for Carl Amari and Lisa Wolf, who usually host WGN Radio Theatre.

WGN Radio Theatre may be heard on-line through the WGN website, as well as over radio station WGN 720 AM.

Past broadcasts of WGN Radio Theatre are also available through the WGN website, including these episodes featuring Lorre radio shows ~
  • Episode #244 – Including Suspense, "Back for Christmas" (Dec. 23, 1943)
  • Episode #225 – Including Mystery Playhouse, "Lady in the Morgue" (May 15, 1945)
  • Episode #224 – Including Mystery in the Air, "Beyond Good and Evil" (Aug. 28, 1947)
  • Episode #117 – Including Mystery in the Air, "The Horla" (Aug. 21, 1947)
  • Episode #70 – Including Mystery in the Air, "The Lodger" (Aug. 14, 1947)
  • Episode #51Mystery in the Air, "The Marvelous Barastro" (Aug. 7, 1947)

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen Youngkin discusses the Peter’s radio career, which began in Germany in the early 1930s.

As a replacement series for The Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Show in the summer of 1947, Mystery in the Air broadcast over NBC for 13 weeks, beginning on July 3 with "The Tell-Tale Heart" and ending with "Crime and Punishment", adapted from Peter’s 1935 Columbia Studios film, on September 25. The series presented tales of suspense "culled from the four corners of world literature", adapted from such famous tales as Alexander Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades" and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat", as well as original radio dramas.

A complete-to-date list of Peter Lorre’s radio work is available in the Appendix of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, in addition to Peter’s credits on stage, film, and television.

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

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

October 20, 2018

Mystery Double-Bill at the Castro Includes Lorre

A Saturday afternoon and evening of mystery is in store for Peter Lorre fans in the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California when the Castro Theatre presents The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Thin Man (1934) on Saturday, October 20, 2018.

The Maltese Falcon will be shown at 3:15 pm and 7 pm.

The Thin Man will be shown at 5:10 pm and 8:55 pm.

Admission is $13 for adults, and $10 for seniors (age 62 and older) and children (age 12 and under). Tickets may be purchased at the box office.

The Castro Theatre is located at 429 Castro Street, in San Francisco, California.

Parking is available in two small lots and on the street near the cinema. The Castro is also well-served by both bus and street car. Public transportation options, as well as directions to the Castro, can be found on the cinema’s website.

For more information, please call the Castro at (415) 621-6120.

October 17, 2018

Lorre Film at Historic California USO

On Wednesday, October 17, 2018, the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert, located in Ridgecrest, California, ends its current classic film series “Hollywood Battles the Nazis” with a showing of Casablanca (1943).

The doors open at 6:30 pm. The movie begins at 7 pm.

Admission is free for everyone, and donations are greatly appreciated. Movie treats are available for purchase at the Snack Bar.

Casablanca will be shown in the historic USO building, headquarters for the Historical Society. The Historical Society is located at 230 West Ridgecrest Boulevard, in Ridgecrest, California.

Parking is available in the lot beside the Historical Society.

Classic movies are shown every other Wednesday in the USO building. Please call 760-375-8456 for more information or stop by the Society for the current film schedule.

October 6, 2018

Free Lorre Movie at the Auburn Library

On Saturday, October 6, 2018, the Auburn Public Library continues their “Silver Screen Classic Movie Series” with The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Three showings are scheduled in the Beecher Room – 12 noon, 3:30 pm, and 7:30 pm. If subtitles are available, the library will provide them at the 3:30 pm show.

Admission is free and the public is welcome.

The Auburn Public Library is located at 350 Nevada Street in Auburn, California.

Parking is available in the library parking lot.

On Monday, October 8, Susan Rushton will lead a discussion of The Maltese Falcon. The “discussion sheet” is available at the library before the film. The 90-minute discussion will begin at 6 pm.

Now in its 22nd year, Silver Screen presents a classic movie on the first Saturday of every month. Silver Screen began as a project of the Auburn Arts Commission in 1996 and became independent in 1999. In 2008, the Auburn Public Library adopted the program.

September 30, 2018

Free Lorre Films in Annapolis

The 1747 Pub at the Reynolds Tavern, located in Annapolis, Maryland, continues its Sunday night series of free movies with Lorre films on consecutive Sundays.

On Sunday, September 30, 2018, Casablanca (1942) will be shown in the Beer Garden.

And the following Sunday, October 7, Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) – an excellent entry for October with its Halloween setting – returns to the Beer Garden.

Each movie will begin at dusk, approximately 7 pm.

Admission is free, and showings are open to the public.

Come between 3 and 7 pm and enjoy Happy Hour or a meal at the 1747 Pub. Food and beverage service continues throughout the screenings. Scheduled movies are listed on the Events Calendar page of the pub’s website.

The Beer Garden at the 1747 Pub is located directly behind Reynolds Tavern and has an entrance on Franklin Street. Reynolds Tavern is located at 7 Church Circle, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Parking is available in the South Street Lot, located at 134 South Street, off Church Circle, in Annapolis, Maryland. More information about the South Street Lot is available on the Annapolis Parking website.

For more information, please call the Reynolds Tavern at 410-295-9555.

September 16, 2018

Odd Fellows Present The Maltese Falcon

The Odd Fellows of Davis, California, continue their series of classic detective movies with The Maltese Falcon (1941) on Sunday, September 16, 2018.

The program begins at 7:01 pm. Derrick Bang, film critic for the Davis Enterprise and author of books on film, will present The Maltese Falcon and discuss the movie’s story, actors, and director.

Admission is free for everyone, and the public is invited. Popcorn is free, too! And the Odd Fellows bar will be open with wine, beer, and spirits. Donations are gratefully accepted.

The Maltese Falcon will be shown at the Odd Fellows Hall, upstairs in the Upper Hall, on the Odd Fellows’ big screen projection system.

Odd Fellows Hall is located 415 2nd Street in downtown Davis, California. Parking is available in the lot behind the Hall, as well as on the streets nearby.

Chartered in Davis, California, in 1860, the Odd Fellows are delighted to bring classic Hollywood movies to the Davis community, twice a year – spring and fall – since the spring of 2014. Says Dave Rosenberg, chairman of the Classic Film Festival, "They just don’t make them like this anymore. These films have stood the test of time and are both interesting and great fun to watch."

The September 2018 fest, which began Sunday, Sept. 9, with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), will conclude with Out of the Past (1947) on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018.

For more information, please call the Odd Fellows at 530-758-4940.

September 12, 2018

NEIU Presents Lorre-Directed Movie

On Wednesday, September 12, 2018, the Chicago Film Society presents the only film Peter Lorre directed – the German-language Der Verlorene (1951) The movie will be shown on the campus of Northeastern Illinois University.

The 35mm print includes English subtitles.

The movie begins at 7:30 pm. A short, title to be announced, will also be shown.

Tickets are $7 general admission, and $3 for NEIU students. Tickets may be purchased at the Auditorium.

Der Verlorene will be shown in the Auditorium, located in Building E at Northeastern Illinois University. The university is located at 3701 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Parking is available for visitors in spaces designated as Blue Zone and Green Zone. More information about parking, as well as a campus map and directions, is available on the NEIU website.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen D. Youngkin devotes a full chapter, Chapter 8, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", to the troubled making of Der Verlorene, including interviews with actors and crew who worked before and behind the cameras with Peter. Translating the title as The Lost One, Peter co-wrote and co-produced the movie, as well as directing himself in the lead role.

Unfortunately, Der Verlorene was a failure in Germany. Peter considered the experience a closed chapter in his life and returned to the United States, where he resumed his career in American movies and radio, as well as the new industry of television.

Since 1983, however, Der Verlorene has attracted more interest with numerous showings in a variety of venues, such as the NEIU. No doubt Peter Lorre would be very pleased at the attention his only directorial effort has received since his passing in 1964.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

August 31, 2018

Buffalo Movie Expo Includes Two Lorre Films

The annual Western New York Movie Expo, held in Buffalo, New York, always includes a Lorre film in its schedule of classic silent and sound movies of the 1920s, '30s, '40s, and '50s. Lorre fans attending this year, however, can enjoy two Lorre films – Island of Doomed Men (1940) and Three Strangers (1945) over the Labor Day weekend.

The Expo begins on Friday, Aug. 31, and ends on Monday, Sept. 3, 2018.

Island of Doomed Men will be shown at 8:15 pm on Friday, Aug. 31, in the Main Screening Room.

Three Strangers will be shown at 3:45 pm on Sunday, Sept. 2, in the Main Screening Room.

Admission is $40 for the full weekend. Daily admission on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is $12 for general admission, and $10 for students with proper ID. On Monday, admission is $6 for everyone. More information about tickets is available on the Expo's website.

Admission includes three screening rooms, as well as a large dealers’ room, filled with posters and autographs, records and magazines, cameras and projectors, and more. The full schedule of documentaries, silent and sound movies, short subjects, and special presentations is available on the Movie Expo’s website.

The Western New York Movie Expo will be held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel and Event Center, located at 120 Church Street, in Buffalo, New York. Room discounts are available for Expo attendees staying at the hotel. More information about the hotel, as well as directions, is available on the Expo’s website.

Parking is available at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. A parking fee of $10 per day will be charged.

Lorre Film Festival in Minneapolis

On Friday, Aug. 31, 2018, the Trylon Cinema, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will kick off a 5-week salute to Peter Lorre. Titled "The Malice and Vulnerability of Peter Lorre", the series presents five of Peter’s best-known films – The Maltese Falcon (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Mad Love (1935), Beat the Devil (1954), and M (1931).

The series will run from Friday, Aug. 31, to Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.

Films will be shown on these dates and times ~

The Maltese Falcon, in 35mm ~
Friday, Aug. 31 – 7 pm and 9:15 pm
Saturday, Sept. 1 – 7 pm and 9:15 pm
Sunday, Sept. 2 – 3 pm and 5:15 pm

Arsenic and Old Lace, in 35mm ~
Friday, Sept. 7 – 7 pm and 9:30 pm
Saturday, Sept. 8 – 7 pm and 9:30 pm
Sunday, Sept. 9 – 3 pm and 5:30 pm

Mad Love, in 35mm ~
Friday, Sept. 14 – 7 pm and 8:30 pm
Saturday, Sept. 15 – 7 pm and 8:30 pm
Sunday, Sept. 16 – 3 pm and 4:30 pm

Beat the Devil, in Digital Projection ~
Friday, Sept. 21 – 7 pm and 9 pm
Saturday, Sept. 22 – 7 pm and 9 pm
Sunday, Sept. 23 – 3 pm and 5 pm

M, in Digital Projection ~
Friday, Sept. 28 – 7 pm and 9:15 pm
Saturday, Sept. 29 – 7 pm and 9:15 pm
Sunday, Sept. 30 – 3 pm and 5:15 pm

Admission for each movie is $8 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased at the box-office before showtime. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the Trylon website. Tickets ordered on-line will be held at the “Will Call” window for pick-up.

The Trylon Cinema is located at 2820 East 33rd Street, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Parking is available on the streets surrounding the theater.

For more information, please contact the cinema at 612-424-5468.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of the films in this Lorre fest, through interviews with the directors, cast and crew who worked with Peter.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

August 30, 2018

Historic North Tonawanda Cinema Presents Casablanca

As part of their "M and T Bank Throwback Thursday Film Series", the historic Riviera Theatre, built in 1926 and located in North Tonawanda, New York, will present Casablanca (1942) on Thursday, August 30, 2018.

The film begins at 7 pm.

Admission is $3 for all seats.

Tickets may be purchased at the cinema box-office, which opens at 6:30 pm. Tickets may also be purchased online through the cinema website. A ticketing fee, as well as a handling fee, will be added to all tickets purchased on-line.

The Riviera Theatre is located at 67 Webster Street near the western end of the Erie Canal, in downtown North Tonawanda, New York.

Parking is available in the public parking lot located on Manhattan Street, with a pedestrian walk that leads to the cinema. Free parking is also available on Webster Street, as well as the nearby streets of Main and Tremont.

More information about parking, as well as directions to the cinema, is available on the Riviera website.

For more information, please contact the cinema at 716-692-2413.

Galway Cinema Presents Casablanca

Lorre fans in the area of Galway, Ireland, will have the opportunity to catch Peter on the big screen when Casablanca (1942) kicks off a new series called “I can’t believe you haven’t seen . . .” at the Pálás Cinema on Thursday, August 30, 2018.

The program begins at 19:00 hours, or 7 pm.

Admission is €11.00 for adults, €8.50 for college students (with valid ID) and seniors (age 65 and over). Member prices are €10.00 for Legends, and €8.00 for Student and Senior members.

Tickets may be purchased at the cinema box-office. Tickets may also be booked online through the cinema website, or booked over the telephone. A nominal fee for online or telephone booking will be charged – however, members may book for free. More information about ticket prices is available on the cinema website.

The Pálás Cinema is located at 15 Merchants Road Lower, in Galway, Ireland.

Parking is available in the Park Rite Hynes Yard Car Park, located at 35 Merchants Road. Car park tickets may be validated at the cinema. Please present both your car-park ticket and your movie ticket at the cinema box-office.

More information about parking, as well as directions to the cinema, is available on the Pálás website.

August 25, 2018

Disney Classic at Fox Theatre in Tucson, Arizona

The Walt Disney classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre, and Paul Lukas, will be shown at the Fox Tucson Theatre in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday, August 25, 2018.

The film begins at 7:30 pm.

Ticket prices are $5 for regular admission and $4 for students, seniors, and active military. Members of the Fox Theatre and children age 12 and under are admitted free of charge.

Tickets may be purchased at the cinema box-office. Tickets may also be purchased at online through the Fox Theatre website. Tickets purchased online will be held at the “Will Call” window for pick-up.

The Fox Tucson Theatre is located at 17 West Congress Street, between Stone and Church avenues, in Tucson, Arizona.

Parking is available at the Pueblo Parking Garage, located at 41 East Congress Street, between Stone and Scott avenues, in Tucson, Arizona. More information on parking is available on the cinema’s website.

August 23, 2018

Peter Lorre’s Day on TCM, August 24, 2018

Every August, the Turner Classic Movies channel holds their “Summer Under the Stars” film festival. For 24 hours, TCM devotes the day’s movies to one actor, usually a leading player.

For most of his film career, Hollywood studios considered Peter Lorre a character actor, cast in support of stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, all of whom have enjoyed many a “Day” of their own during the August festival.

However, this year, Peter has a “Day” of his own – Friday, August 24, 2018 – and a selection of 13 movies, some of them seldom shown on the TCM channel, and one completely new to TCM.

The Lorre marathon will begin at 6 am on the East Coast, 5 am Central time, 4 am Mountain time, and 3 am Pacific time. The films include ~

6 am – The Face Behind the Mask (1941). Peter plays Hungarian watchmaker Janos Szabo, a new immigrant to the United States, who finds his hopes of a wonderful life in America destroyed by a terrible rooming-house fire that irreparably burns his face.

7:30 am – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). As Dr. Einstein, personal plastic surgeon to the murderous Jonathan Brewster (Raymond Massey), Peter was not yet under contract to Warner Bros., the studio at which he would achieve the high point of his personal and professional lives.

9:45 am – Silk Stockings (1957). This musical remake of Greta Garbo’s 1939 film Ninotchka features Peter as Brankov, one of three Russian commissars sent to Paris to retrieve a famous Russian composer (Wim Sonneveld) hired to write the music for an American film and end up discovering the joys of Paris nightlife.

12 noon – You’ll Find Out (1940). Radio performer Kay Kyser and his band are hired to provide the entertainment at debutante Janis Bellacrest’s (Helen Parrish) 21st birthday party. As Professor Fenninger, supposed debunker of phony spiritualists, Peter appeared for the first and only time on film with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The three actors also made a guest appearance with Kyser on his radio show Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge.

2 pm – All Through the Night (1942). As Pepi, a German Nazi working undercover in New York City, Peter appeared for the second time with his Maltese Falcon pal Humphrey Bogart – and with Kaaren Verne, who would soon become the second Mrs. Peter Lorre.

4 pm – The Comedy of Terrors (1964). In his final movie with Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone, Peter plays Felix Gillie, assistant to undertaker Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price), in 1800s New England. Unable to get paying “customers”, the two begin drumming up a little business by suffocating elderly men in town.

5:45 pm – Scent of Mystery (1960). Long thought lost, this movie turned up in the 1980s and was shown on the independent San Francisco channel KOFY, followed a few years later by a broadcast on MTV. Peter plays Smiley, a cabbie who chauffeurs around an Englishman (Denholm Elliott), hoping to rescue an attractive tourist from murder. The “Scent” in the title refers to the Smell-o-Vision process of piping various odors, such as perfume, coffee, and tobacco, into the theater during the film’s presentation.

8 pm – M (1931). In his first sound movie, Peter plays one of the characters he is most famous for – Hans Beckert, murderer of children in Berlin, Germany.

10 pm – Crime and Punishment (1935). To play Roderick Raskolnikov, the student of crime who murders a pawnbroker, Peter had to agree to play Dr. Gogol in the MGM horror film Mad Love (1935), to be shown later this evening.

11:45 pm – The Mask of Dimitrios (1944). Peter Lorre plays Cornelius Latimer Leyden, a Dutch mathematics professor turned mystery writer, who becomes interested in the life and nefarious career of international criminal Dimitrios (Zachary Scott), and while researching Dimitrios’ past, meets up with a Mr. Peters (Sydney Greenstreet), who holds a secret leading to blackmail.

1:30 am – The Verdict (1946). Peter teams up again with Sydney Greenstreet in the last of their nine movies together. He plays Victor Emmric, artist, man about town, and best friend to Superintendent Grodman (Greenstreet). When another of their friends is murdered in a locked room in Victor’s lodging house, Emmric and Grodman do some investigating on their own.

3:15 am – Mad Love (1935). Peter agreed to be loaned to MGM for his first American role, famed Parisian surgeon Dr. Gogol, in order to get the part he really desired – Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, shown earlier in tonight’s festival.

4:30 am – Island of Doomed Men (1940). “Peter Lorre Day” comes to an end with one of Peter’s few leading roles – Stephen Danel, owner of a private island with a diamond mine and a crew of paroled convicts to dig out the mine’s treasures.

In between the Lorre movies are sprinkled these short subjects ~
  • 7:16 am – So You Think You’re Allergic (1945), one of the famous Joe McDoakes comedy shorts from the Warner Bros
  • 9:33 am – Getting’ Glamour (1946)
  • 11:47 am – That’s the Spirit (1933)
  • 1:49 pm – Night Life in Chicago (1948)
  • 7:38 pm – The Symphony Murder Mystery (1932)
  • 3:05 am – The Operation (1930)
  • 5:40 am – Night Descends on Treasure Island (1940)
In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of these and all of Peter’s movies through interviews with the directors, actors, and crew, Lorre friends and family members.

In the book’s appendix, a full list of Peter’s filmography, as well as his theater, radio, and television credits, is also available.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

Happy viewing!

August 2, 2018

Summer into Fall with Lorre on TV

As summer ends and fall begins, Lorre fans have many of Peter’s movies to look forward to on television and Turner Classic Movies – with an extra special treat for in August.

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, 2018

August brings the annual “Summer on the Stars” film festival on Turner Classic Movies – and this year, Peter Lorre is among the stars with a full day devoted to his movies.

Aug. 24 (Fri), Turner Classic Movies channel – It’s “Peter Lorre Day” in the “Summer Under the Stars” fest, and the following movies are on the schedule ~
  • 6 am – The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
  • 7:30 am – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
  • 9:45 am – Silk Stockings (1957)
  • 12 noon – You’ll Find Out (1940)
  • 2 pm – All Through the Night (1942)
  • 4 pm – The Comedy of Terrors (1964)
  • 5:45 pm – Scent of Mystery (1960)
  • 8 pm – M (1931)
  • 10 pm – Crime and Punishment (1935)
  • 11:45 pm – The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
  • 1:30 am – The Verdict (1946)
  • 3:15 am – Mad Love (1935)
  • 4:30 am – Island of Doomed Men (1940)
Aug. 27 (Mon), 12:15 pm, TCM – Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). It’s “Agnes Moorehead Day” on TCM, and included is this Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse musical, with a cameo by Peter Lorre as a blackjack player.

Aug. 29 (Wed), 4 am, Movies! Network – Quicksand (1950).

Aug. 29 (Wed), 4 am, TCM – Confidential Agent (1945). On “Lauren Bacall Day” on TCM, Bacall was already “Mrs. Humphrey Bogart” when she appeared with Charles Boyer in a spy thriller set in London, including Peter Lorre as an agent supposedly helping Boyer.



September, 2018

September brings a handful of Lorre movies on Turner Classic Movies, including a film new to the channel.

Sept. 4 (Tues), 4 pm, TCM – Hotel Berlin (1945). TCM's daytime theme is "Hotel Happenings", and quite a lot happens in this day of movies set in hotels, including Vicki Baum’s sequel set in a Berlin hotel in the final days of World War 2, with spies, traitors, Underground members, and double-crossers of all sorts.

Sept. 5 (Wed), 9:30 am, TCM – The Big Circus (1959). The daytime theme is "Vincent Price", and in a day of Price movies is this circus film, new to the TCM channel, in which Vincent Price plays the circus ringmaster and Peter Lorre loved playing a clown.

Sept. 7 (Fri), 6 am, Movies! Network – Beat the Devil (1954).

Sept. 18 (Tues), 6:15 am, TCM – Stranger on the Third Floor (1940). The daytime theme is "Cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca", and the cinematography is a highlight in this movie, considered the first film noir.

Sept. 18 (Tues), 4 am, Movies! Network – Beat the Devil (1954).

Sept. 22 (Sat), 6 am, Movies! Network – Quicksand (1950).

Sept. 23 (Sun), 12 noon, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943).

Sept. 29 (Sat), 8 am, Movies! Network – Beat the Devil (1954).



October, 2018

October means Halloween, horror movies – and actors like Peter Lorre, who counts both horror and non-horror films in his filmography.

Oct. 6 (Sat), 9:30 pm, Antenna TV channel – The Jack Benny Program (CBS, Jan. 22, 1963).

Oct. 7 (Sun), 2 am, MGM HD channel – The Comedy of Terrors (1964).

Oct. 8 (Mon), 6 am, TCM – Silk Stockings (1957). TCM salutes the birthday of director Rouben Mamoulian, who directed Peter as a singer and dancer in this Fred Astaire musical.

Oct. 12 (Fri), 11 am, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). The TCM daytime theme is "On the Seas", and that's especially true of Peter's cameo in this all-star extravaganza – he plays a Japanese steward on a ship bound for Yokohama.

Oct. 13 (Sat), 6:15 am, TCM – They Met in Bombay (1941).

Oct. 14 (Sun), 1 pm, Movies! Network – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Oct. 17 (Wed), 3 pm, Movies! Network – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Oct. 20 (Sat), 3 pm, Movies! Network – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Oct. 22 (Mon), 2:15 pm, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943).

Oct. 26 (Fri), 4 am, TCM – The Beast with Five Fingers (1946).

Oct. 29 (Mon), 8 am, Movies! Network – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Oct. 29 (Mon), 11 pm, TCM – Mad Love (1935). Tonight's theme is "200 Years of Frankenstein". In his first American film, and his only horror film, Peter plays Dr. Gogol, a brilliant Parisian surgeon who loves an actress (Frances Drake) married to a concert pianist (Colin Clive) and tries to help her husband when his hands are injured in a train wreck.



Many of these and other Lorre movies are now available on DVD and Blu-Ray – many 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 and television credits is available in the book’s Appendix.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

Happy viewing!

July 22, 2018

Lorre Returns to Annapolis Outdoor Movie Series

On Sunday, July 22, 2018, Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) returns to the Beer Garden at the 1747 Pub at the Reynolds Tavern, located in Annapolis, Maryland, as the pub continues its Sunday night series of free movies.

The movie will begin at dusk, approximately 8 pm.

Admission is free, and showings are open to the public.

Come between 3 and 7 pm and enjoy Happy Hour or a meal at the 1747 Pub. Food and beverage service continues throughout the screening. Scheduled movies are listed on the Events Calendar page of the pub’s website.

The Beer Garden at the 1747 Pub is located directly behind Reynolds Tavern and has an entrance on Franklin Street. Reynolds Tavern is located at 7 Church Circle, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Parking is available in the South Street Lot, located at 134 South Street, off Church Circle, in Annapolis, Maryland. More information about the South Street Lot is available on the Annapolis Parking website.

For more information, please call the Reynolds Tavern at 410-295-9555.

July 19, 2018

Bogart Fest at the Aero Includes Lorre

Lorre fans in the Santa Monica, California, area will have three opportunities this month to catch Peter on the big screen when the Aero Theatre presents Casablanca (1942), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Beat the Devil (1954) as part of their series “Humphrey Bogart, Hollywood Legend”.

The Lorre movies will be shown on the following dates and times ~
  • Casablanca – Friday, July 20
  • The Maltese Falcon, on a double-bill with The Big Sleep (1945) – Friday, July 27
  • Beat the Devil, on a double-bill with The African Queen (1951) – Sunday, July 29
All programs begin at 7:30 pm.

The Bogart fest begins on Thursday, July 19, and ends Sunday, July 29, 2018. The complete schedule is available on the Aero website.

Ticket prices are $12 for general admission, $8 for Cinematheque Members, and $10 for students with valid ID and senior citizens 65 and over. Tickets may be purchased on-line through Fandango and the Aero website.

The Aero Theatre is located at 1328 Montana Avenue, at 14th Street, in Santa Monica, California.

Parking is available free and at meters along Montana Avenue and other streets near the Aero. Please check posted signs. North of Montana Avenue, parking is generally limited to two hours until 7 pm. After 7 pm, parking is free for the duration of a movie.

For more information, please call the Aero at (310) 260-1528.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the on-screen and off-screen friendship of Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart through interviews with their friends and family members. The two actors met on The Maltese Falcon in the fall of 1941 and went on to work together in three more movies at Warner Bros. until Peter left the studio in 1945. Beat the Devil was their final movie together, filmed on location in Italy in 1954.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

July 16, 2018

Toronto Summer Film Fest Includes Lorre

The Toronto Film Society continues its annual summer film fest with a showing of Peter Lorre’s first American film Mad Love (1935) on a double-feature with The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) on Monday, July 16, 2018, at the Carlton Cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Mad Love will begin at 7 pm. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami will follow.

The summer film fest, titled “Bad Guy / Mad Guys”, will run every Monday night in July and August, beginning on July 9 and ending on August 27 with a showing of Rope of Sand (1949), with Peter Lorre, Burt Lancaster, Corinne Calvet, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains. The full schedule is available on the Toronto Film Society website.

Most films, including Mad Love and Rope of Sand, will be shown at the Carlton Cinema, located at 20 Carlton Street, in Toronto, Ontario.

Parking is available in the parking deck located at 1 Wood Street, a block from the Carlton Cinema. The cinema is also well-served by public transportation, with the College metro stop at the corner of Carlton and Yonge streets.

Memberships in the Toronto Film Society are available in a variety of price levels. The “Trial Membership” may be purchased at the door before any screening. The Trial Membership is $18 for adults and $15 for students with valid student ID. Memberships may be purchased through the Toronto Film Society website.

More information on memberships is available on the Society’s website.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Mad Love and Rope of Sand through interviews with actress Frances Drake and screenwriter Walter Doniger.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

July 15, 2018

San Francisco Cinema Features Lorre Classic

Peter Lorre fans in the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California are in for a special treat on Sunday, July 15, 2018 – a showing of the classic Walt Disney movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), on an adventure film double-feature with Jason and the Argonauts (1963) at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will begin at 1:30 pm. Jason and the Argonauts follows at 3:50 pm.

Admission is $13 for adults, and $10 for seniors (age 62 and older) and children (age 12 and under). Tickets may be purchased at the box office.

The Castro Theatre is located at 429 Castro Street, in San Francisco, California.

Parking is available in two small lots and on the street near the cinema. The Castro is also well-served by both bus and street car. Public transportation options, as well as directions to the Castro, can be found on the cinema’s website.

For more information, please call the Castro at (415) 621-6120.

July 8, 2018

Lorre Film Opens Annual Norfolk Fest

On Monday, July 9, 2018, the Mal Vincent Classic Film Festival launches its 15th year with The Maltese Falcon (1941) at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk, Virginia.

The program begins at 7:15, with film critic Mal Vincent introducing The Maltese Falcon with little-known facts about the movie, its stars, writers, and director, based on his five-decades’ personal experience writing about film for The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk’s daily newspaper. Mr. Vincent will also close the program with movie trivia.

Tickets are $10 for adults, and $8 for senior citizens (age 64 and older) and kids (age 12 and under). Ticket Books, including 10 admissions for any movie, may also be purchased for $73.

Tickets go on sale at the box office at 6 pm, and the doors open at 6:30 pm.

The Maltese Falcon will also be shown Tuesday afternoon, July 10, 2018, at 1:45 pm. Matinee prices are $8 for all seats.

Mal Vincent’s film festival will be held every Monday night from July 9 to August 20, 2018. Following the final movie, The Egg and I (1947) on August 20, all attendees will be invited to vote on the best four performances of the festival – lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor, and supporting actress. The results will be entered in the film fest record book.

The closing-night party will be held at the Ynot Pizza and Italian Cuisine, located at 1517 Colley Ave in Norfolk, Virginia, down the street from the Naro.

The complete schedule for the film fest is available on the venue’s website.

The Naro Expanded Cinema is located at 1507 Colley Avenue, in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information, please call the cinema at 757-625-6276.

Parking is available in the lot behind the Naro. Street parking is also available along Colley Avenue. More information, including directions, is available on the Naro’s website.

The historic Naro Expanded Cinema opened on February 24, 1936, as The Colley Theater, one of several suburban movie theaters owned by William S. Wilder. In 1977, the cinema was bought by Tench Phillips and Thom Vourlas, who wanted to show classic films, as well as independent and foreign movies. In 2004, the two cinema owners talked Mal Vincent into presenting classic films at the Naro – and the Mal Vincent Classic Film Festival was born.

And now Peter Lorre fans in the Norfolk, Virginia, area can enjoy The Maltese Falcon in an historic cinema that very likely presented the movie when it was originally released in the fall of 1941. Purchase a ticket at the outside booth. Enter the lobby and step back in time, when cinemas had balconies, and a red velvet curtain shielded the screen until the picture was ready to begin. The lights dim. The curtain parts. The credits roll.

And fans are treated to a Lorre performance on a big screen – as Peter Lorre was meant to be seen . . . . .

July 3, 2018

Celebrate the Fourth of July with Lorre

In November, 1944, Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) opened at the Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto’s premiere cinema in Northern California, for a 4-day run, beginning Sunday, November 5.

Beginning Tuesday, July 3, 2018, and ending Thursday, July 5, Lorre fans in Palo Alto can once again enjoy Arsenic and Old Lace on the big screen at the historic Stanford as part of the venue’s series “Summer 2018”.

On a double-bill with Talk of the Town (1942), Arsenic and Old Lace will be shown at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, July 3, 4, and 5.

Before and after the 7:30 show, one of the Stanford’s “Masters of the Mighty Wurlitzer” will play the Wurlitzer theater organ during the intermission.

Admission is $7 for adults, and $5 for youth (18 and under) and seniors (65 and over). Tickets may be purchased at the box office on the day of the show.

The Stanford Theatre is located at 221 University Avenue in Palo Alto, California. Look for the cinema’s large neon marquee – a landmark along University Avenue in the downtown area.

Parking is available at meters along the street in front of the cinema, as well as two parking garages within two blocks of the Stanford. The Bryant / Lytton Parking Garage is located at 445 Bryant Avenue, one block north of University Avenue. The High Street Parking Garage is located at 528 High Street, one block south of University Avenue.

More information about parking is available on the Stanford's website.

For more information, please call the Stanford Theatre at 650-324-3700.

The Stanford Theatre opened in 1925. Most of the classic films now playing – including many Lorre movies – appeared in this cinema on their initial run, when the program changed two or three times a week. On the venue’s website are the original weekly schedules from 1925 through to 1961.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Arsenic and Old Lace, originally filmed in the fall of 1941. Having completed work on The Maltese Falcon (1941), Peter Lorre was called back to the Warner Bros studio to play Dr. Einstein, personal plastic surgeon to the international killer Jonathan Brewster (Raymond Massey).

By the time Arsenic and Old Lace went into release in the fall of 1944, Peter was under contract with Warner Bros. and well on his way to the most productive period of his career.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.

June 22, 2018

Happy Birthday, Peter Lorre! – From SiriusXM and TCM

Special programming blocks celebrating actors’ birthdays are a tradition on the Radio Classics channel, broadcast over channel 148 on the SiriusXM radio dial.

But this year, Peter Lorre gets a double dose of Happy Birthday wishes from host Greg Bell with two different blocks of Lorre radio programs.

Beginning Tuesday, June 26, 2018 – Peter’s 114th birthday – and continuing throughout the week, Lorre fans can enjoy eight of Peter’s old-time radio performances.

“Peter Lorre Special” includes two episodes from Peter’s own 13-week summer series Mystery in the Air, “The Mask of Medusa” (Sept. 4, 1947) and “Crime and Punishment” (Sept. 25, 1947); an episode of the anthology series Suspense, “Nobody Loves Me” (Aug. 30, 1945); and finally a guest appearance on Jack Benny’s show The Lucky Strike Program, “I Stand Condemned” (Mar. 24, 1946).

“More Peter Lorre B-Day” includes guest appearances on Fred Allen’s show The Texaco Star Theater (Jan. 3, 1943) and Duffy’s Tavern (Oct. 19, 1943), an episode of the anthology series Inner Sanctum, “The Black Seagull” (Mar. 7, 1943), and finally, an episode of Peter’s Armed Forces Radio Services series Mystery Playhouse, “Lady in the Morgue” (Mollé Mystery Theater, May 15, 1945).

And included in the regular block When Radio Was is Peter Lorre’s Suspense episode, “The Devil’s Saint”, originally airing on Jan. 19, 1943.

The Lorre programs and tributes will air on these dates and times ~

Sunday, June 24 ~
When Radio Was
4:30 pm Pacific, 7:30 pm Eastern

Tuesday, June 26 ~
Peter Lorre Special
5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern

More Peter Lorre B-Day
9 pm Pacific

Wednesday, June 27 ~
More Peter Lorre B-Day
12 midnight Eastern

Thursday, July 28 ~
Peter Lorre Special
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

Friday, June 29 ~
More Peter Lorre B-Day
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

Saturday, July 30 ~
Peter Lorre Special
9 am Pacific, 12 noon Eastern

Sunday, July 1 ~
More Peter Lorre B-Day
1 am Pacific, 4 am Eastern

And on Friday, June 29, 2018 – three days after Peter’s birthday – the party continues on the Turner Classic Movies channel as TCM salutes Peter’s birthday with a morning and afternoon of Lorre films, beginning at 9 am Eastern and ending at 8 pm, including ~
  • 9 am – M (1931)
  • 11 am – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
  • 12:30 pm – Mad Love (1935)
  • 1:45 pm – Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
  • 3 pm – The Maltese Falcon (1941)
  • 4:45 pm – The Conspirators (1944)
  • 6:30 pm – The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
Satellite radio provider SiriusXM airs Radio Classics over channel 148. Subscribers may also listen to the programs over the internet. Log-in with your User ID and password. Not a subscriber? A free 30-day trial is also available through the Sirius XM radio website.

The full schedule for the week of June 24 to July 1, 2018, is available on the SiriusXM Radio website.

The life and career of Peter Lorre is chronicled in the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre by Stephen D. Youngkin, who began his research in the 1970s and interviewed Peter’s brothers Andrew and Francis, his first wife Celia Lovsky, his sister-in-law Barbara through his second wife Karen Verne, his daughter Catherine Lorre, friends, fellow actors, and the directors, producers, and crew who worked with him throughout his career.

These interviews shed light on Peter’s childhood, his early days in theater, his career on film, radio, and television, and his sad final days.

The Appendix of The Lost One includes the most complete list available of Peter’s credits – radio, film, stage, and television.

The Lorre radio programs airing this week in honor of Peter’s birthday are available through many merchants. Many of Peter’s movies, as well as some of his television appearances, are available on DVD.

Published in 2005 through University Press of Kentucky, The Lost One may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers.