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.

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