September 30, 2019

Lorre Fest at the Aero Theatre

Peter Lorre fans in the area of Santa Monica, California, can spend every Tuesday afternoon enjoying a Lorre movie at the Aero Theatre, when the Aero presents their series “Tuesdays with Lorre” throughout the month of October, 2019.

Shown in 35mm, each film will begin at 1 pm. “Tuesdays with Lorre” includes ~
Screenings in the series are free for Cinematheque members. Tickets to each screening are $6 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased at the Aero box-office or online through Fandango. To purchase online, click the box labeled “Tickets” on the page for each movie.

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.

The Aero is also well-served by public transportation. More information about parking, as well as directions to the cinema, are available on the venue's website.

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 making of each of these movies through interviews with many people who worked with Peter before and behind the camera, including directors Fritz Lang and John Huston, and actresses Andrea King and Frances Drake.

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.

Click on any of these links, and the order page will open.

September 24, 2019

Film Lecture Series Includes Lorre

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, the Gene Siskel Film Center will feature Peter Lorre’s first sound movie M (1931) in their series “Viewing Positions”.

The program begins at 6 pm and includes a lecture by Fred Camper, artist and long-time art and movie critic for the Chicago Reader.

Admission is $5 for Film Center members, and $12 for non-members. Tickets may be purchased at the box office, which opens an hour before the first show of the day. Tickets may also be purchased online through the Film Center website. A nominal fee will be added to each ticket purchased online.

The Gene Siskel Film Center is located at 164 North State Street, between Lake and Randolph streets, in the heart of the theater district in Chicago, Illinois.

Validated parking is available at the InterPark Self-Park, located at 20 East Randolph Street, across the street from Macy’s, in Chicago, Illinois. Tickets may be validated at the Film Center box office. After 6 pm, limited street parking is available along Lake Street and Wabash Avenue in Chicago. More information about parking, as well as directions to the Film Center, is available on the venue’s website.

According to the Film Center website, the “Viewing Positions” series uses a variety of movies to “demonstrate the different relationships that films establish with the viewer, and the thematic, cultural, and ideological implications of those differences.” The series is presented in cooperation with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism.

The series began Friday, August 30, 2019, and continues to Tuesday, December 10. The full schedule is available on the Gene Siskel Film Center website.

For more information, please call the Film Center at 312-846 2800.

September 15, 2019

Casablanca at 2019 FAB Fest

The 2019 FAB Fest (Film, Art, Book) brings the weekend’s events to an end with a showing of Casablanca on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019, in Lakewood, Washington.

The doors open at noon. Among the activities are a showing of Brooklyn (2015), local author and humorist Dorothy Wilhelm, artist Ron Snowden, book signings, and art and photography exhibits.

At 7 pm, flutist Jeannie Hill will perform “As Time Goes By”, the signature tune of Casablanca, followed by the movie in 4k resolution and digital sound.

Admission to all films and event is free for everyone. Free raffle tickets are available, too, with prizes including DVDs, books, and watercolor pens.

The FAB Fest is held at McGavick Conference Center, located in Building 23 on the campus of Clover Park Technical College, 4500 Steilacoom Boulevard SW, in Lakewood, Washington.

Free parking for visitors is available in the lot in front of the McGavick Conference Center. More information about parking, as well as directions, is available on the festival website.

Cary Grant Salute Includes Lorre

London’s British Film Institute continues its salute to actor Cary Grant with showings of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), the only film Grant made with Peter Lorre.

Arsenic and Old Lace will be shown on these dates and times ~
  • Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019 – 5:40 pm
  • Tuesday, Sept. 17 – 8:35 pm
The series “Cary Grant: Britain’s Greatest Export” continues every Tuesday through Sept. 24, 2019. The 8-week evening course explores the background, career, and legacy of one of classic cinema’s best-loved stars. The remaining schedule is available on the BFI website.

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.

Evening and weekend prices are £10.50 for BFI members, £12.50 for non-members, and £6 for children 16 and under. For senior citizens (age 60 and above), students, unwaged and disabled visitors who are also BFI members, admission is £8.20, and for non-members £10.20.

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 page about Arsenic and Old Lace, click the “Buy” button beside the date and time of choice. A Booking Fee will be added to all online purchases.

The BFI Southbank 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 venue’s website.

September 3, 2019

Dinner with Mr. Moto in San Francisco

Peter Lorre fans in the area of San Francisco, California, can enjoy a special treat in September, 2019 – a showing of Danger Island (1939) with dinner at Foreign Cinema, the “dinner and a movie” restaurant in the Mission District.

Showings of Danger Island will continue through Monday, September 16, 2019.

Dinner is served from 5:30 pm until 10 pm on Sundays through Wednesdays, and from 5:30 pm until 11 pm on Thursdays through Saturdays, but the 35mm print of Danger Island will not be shown until dusk each night, when it’s dark enough to see the movie against the giant back wall facing the outdoor courtyard area of the restaurant.

Foreign Cinema is located at 2534 Mission Street, between 21st and 22nd streets, in San Francisco, California.

Parking garages within walking distance of Foreign Cinema include Mission Bartlett Garage and California Parking. Mission Bartlett Garage is closest, located at 3255 21st Street. California Parking is located at 2351 Mission Street.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin discusses the making of the Mr. Moto series, including interviews with Peter’s stunt double Harvey Parry, actor Chick Chandler, and writer/director Norman Foster.

Peter Lorre first played the intrepid and enigmatic Kentaro Moto in Think Fast, Mr. Moto in 1937 and continued on through an additional seven movies, “B” pictures designed as the bottom half of a double-bill. Initially pleased to play a hero instead of another villain at 20th Century-Fox, Peter soon became bored with the series.

Danger Island was the final movie to be filmed, but was released as the seventh in the series. Unlike the others, “Mr. Moto” was not part of the title. To ensure moviegoers realized Danger Island was in the Moto series, the title card reads “Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto in Danger Island” – and ever since then, the film’s title has been erroneously given as Mr. Moto in Danger Island.

Including on the Foreign Cinema’s website.

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.

Click on any of these links, and the order page will open.