The Peter Lorre News Blog

Lorre Lovers, Spend Valentine’s Day with Peter and Casablanca

2012-02-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Peter Lorre fans around the world will have many opportunities to catch Casablanca (1942) in theaters this Valentine’s Day.

SGC Dungarvan —

Casablanca begins a week-long run at this cinema in Waterford, Ireland, on Friday, Feb. 10, and ending on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012.

The film begins at 5:30 p.m. each day, with an additional showing at 11 a.m. on Valentine’s Day.

Ticket prices are 7 Euros for adults, 5.50 for children, and 6.50 for seniors. A family ticket pack is available at 4 tickets for 24 Euros. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the cinema’s website. Please note that a booking fee of 80 cents will be charged per on-line order.

The SGC Dungarvan is located beside the Dungarvan shopping center, in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. Directions to the cinema are available on the cinema’s website.

The Screening Room —

The Screening Room, located in Amherst, NY, will also begin a week-long showing of Casablanca in celebration of the film’s 70th Anniversary.

Casablanca is scheduled for the following dates and times:

Friday, Feb. 10 – 7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 11 – 7 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 13 – 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 14 – 4:30 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9:15 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 17 – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 18 – 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for Casablanca are $6 and are available at the box-office on a first-come basis, beginning 30 minutes before the movie begins.

The Screening Room is located within the Northtown Plaza, in the Northtown Plaza Business Center, at 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst, NY. The Business Center faces N. Bailey Avenue, behind the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. Parking is available on the N. Bailey side of the building.

Dearborn Public Library —

The Blockbusters Free Film Series this season will include Casablanca on Monday, Feb. 13.

The program begins at 7 p.m. in the Henry Ford Centennial Library Auditorium. Admission is free.

The Dearborn Public Library is located at 16301 Michigan Avenue, in Dearborn, Michigan.

British Film Institute, Southbank —

On Saturday, Feb. 11, Casablanca begins an extended run until Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Southbank theater of the BFI in London, England.

Tickets may be purchased online through the BFI website or by calling the box-office at 020 7928 3232. The box-office is open daily between 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

The BFI, Southbank, is located on Belvedere Road, near Waterloo Bridge. Directions and visitor information are available on the BFI website. Parking is available nearby under the Hayward Gallery, the Royal National Theatre, and Jubilee Gardens. Closest train and underground stations are Waterloo (South Bank exit), Embankment, and Charring Cross (cross over the Hungerford Bridge to South Bank).

TCM Classic Film Festival —

Lorre fans attending the 3rd annual Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood over April 12 to 15, 2012, will be treated to a showing of a restored print of Casablanca. The theme this year is “Style in Movies”, and Casablanca is among “The Essentials” on the program, including All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Cabaret (1970).

Passes are available in four categories – The Matinee, 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 Grauman’s Chinese Theater, the Chinese Six Theaters, The Egyptian Theater, and the Cinerama Dome – all within an easy walking distance along Hollywood Blvd.

On May 28, 1942, Peter Lorre joined the cast of Casablanca for a total of four days shooting. It was his third film with his off-screen pal Humphrey Bogart, and it added up to about four minutes of screen-time. Between takes, Peter joined the others in playing the roulette wheel on the "Rick’s Café Américain" set. Later, he claimed he had won more at roulette than he earned before the cameras – his salary was $2,333.

And like his co-stars, he never thought the movie would amount to anything – certainly not the revered classic is has become since its release in November, 1942.

Stephen D. Youngkin details the making of Casablanca in his authorized Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), now available in paperback and the Kindle and Nook, as well as hard-bound.

Three Strangers On-Screen in San Francisco, Jan. 28, 2012

2012-01-21T16:19:00.000-08:00

In a recent interview with Sean Martinfield of the San Francisco Sentinal, Eddie Muller lamented the slow death of 35mm.

When the Film Noir Foundation decided to add Three Strangers to the schedule of this year’s Noir City film noir festival, they discovered that a viewable 35mm print of the 1945 Warner Bros. movie did not exist.

But they didn’t scratch it off the list.

They opened their wallets and funded the preservation effort themselves. “I want people to see that movie now,” says Muller; “I want that film back in circulation now.”

Peter Lorre fans attending the FNF’s Noir City festival at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre this week will get that chance – Three Strangers will be shown three times on Saturday, January 28, 2012.

The annual festival will run 10 days, beginning Friday, January 20, and ending with an all-day Dashiell Hammett Marathon, including the 1931 and 1941 versions of The Maltese Falcon, on Sunday, January 29. The complete schedule can be found on the Noir City website.

Lorre films will be shown on these dates and times:

Three Strangers:
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 – 1 pm, 5 pm, and 9 pm

The Maltese Falcon:
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 – 9 pm

Tickets may be purchased through the Brown Paper Tickets website. A Film Noir Passport is also available for $120. Perks for the Passport include a discount over buying all the individual double-feature tickets and a separate entrance to the Castro, as well as early admission.

The Castro Theatre is located at 429 Castro Street, at Market Street, in San Francisco, California. Directions to the Castro, as well as public transportation options, can be found on the cinema’s website. Parking is available in two small lots and on the street near the cinema.

So what will be the fate of Three Strangers when the Noir City festival ends?

The Film Noir Foundation plans to donate the preserved print to the UCLA Film and Television Archive – where it will reside with many other Lorre films and television programs, such as Crime and Punishment, Casbah, and episodes of Climax! and Checkmate.

And if Three Strangers does well at Noir Fest, perhaps Warner Bros. will be encouraged to release it to DVD . . . In a Lorre & Greenstreet box-set?

M On-Screen at the Alamo Drafthouse, Jan. 10, 2012

2012-01-08T18:14:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Austin Film Society will begin their Essential Cinema series “The Great Escape: Three European Émigré Filmmakers” – highlighting the work of directors Fritz Lang, F.W. Murnau and Luis Buñuel – with a showing of Fritz Lang’s first sound movie, M.

AFS Director of Programming Chale Nafus and Charles Ramirez-Berg will curate the series.

All films will be shown at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, located at 1120 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas, in the Lamar Plaza shopping center.

M will begin at 7 pm. For more information, please call the Alamo Drafthouse at (512) 476-1320.

Special pricing for the Essential Cinema series is $8 general admission and $5 for AFS Members. Admission is free for Season Pass Holders and Premiere Members. Tickets for M may be purchased on-line through the AFS website. On-line ticketing closes at 3 p.m. on the day of the show. Any remaining tickets will be available at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. For more ticketing information, please call the AFS office at (512) 322-0145.

Parking is available in the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar’s own parking lot. Directions are located on the cinema’s website.

Released in 1931, M was also the first sound movie of Peter Lorre, who had made his debut two years earlier in the silent German film Die verschwundene Frau (The Missing Wife). The making of M is chronicled in The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre by Stephen D. Youngkin, who interviewed Fritz Lang and others who knew and worked with Lorre throughout his life and career.

The Lost One is now available in paperback, as well as the Kindle, Nook, and hard-bound.

Casablanca Opens FOLA Film Series, Jan. 5, 2012

2012-01-05T00:09:00.000-08:00

The Friends of the Ludlow Auditorium – FOLA – will begin their annual “First Thursday Night Movie” series for 2012 on Jan. 5. On the schedule this year are two Warner Bros. movies co-starring Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre.

Casablanca (1942) will open the series on Jan. 5, and The Maltese Falcon (1941) is scheduled for May 3, 2012.

Each film in the series will begin at 7 pm on the first Thursday of the month. Admission is free, and donations are appreciated. For more information, please call (802) 228-7239.

The Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium is located at 37 Depot Street, Ludlow, Vermont.

During his contract at Warner Bros., Peter Lorre worked with Bogart in four movies, with a fifth and final film, Beat the Devil, in 1954. Their on- and off-screen friendship is chronicled in The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), by Stephen D. Youngkin, who interviewed many of the people who knew and worked with the two actors.

The Lost One is now available in paperback, as well as the Nook, Kindle, and hard-back.

Ring Out 2011 with Peter Lorre

2011-12-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

2011 ends with a Peter Lorre triple feature on Turner Classic Movies and a showing of Peter’s episode of The Jack Benny Show.

And then continues on with TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar.

Peter Lorre's page on the TV Guide Channel website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.

December, 2011

Dec. 27 (Tues.), 6 am, Turner Classic Movies channel – Passage to Marseille (1944)

Dec. 27 (Tues), 10:30 am, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Dec. 27 (Tues), 12:15 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942)

Dec. 31 (Sat.), 7:30 pm, Antenna TV – The Jack Benny Show, originally airing Jan. 22, 1963

January, 2012

Jan. 9 (Mon.), 1:30 am, Antenna TV – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Man from the South". Originally scheduled to air Jan. 3, 1960, this episode was considered too gruesome for the holiday season and postponed until Mar. 13.

Jan. 22 (Sun.), 3 pm, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Jan. 30 (Mon.), 10 pm, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943)

February, 2012

TCM presents their annual “31 Days of Oscar”, Feb. 1 through March 2. This year's theme is "Around the World with Oscar", with movies grouped together by their setting.

Feb. 10 (Fri.), 2 pm, TCM – Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), with the afternoon's theme of "Nevada”.

Feb. 15 (Wed.), 11 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942). The theme tonight is “Africa”.

Feb. 25 (Sat.), 12:30 pm, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941). The afternoon's theme is "California".

March, 2012

Mar. 2 (Fri.), 10:45 am, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). "All Over" is the theme for movies this morning.

XM Radio Pays Tribute to Harry Morgan, "Voice of Mystery"

2011-12-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Radio Classics, channel 82 on the satellite radio providers XM and Sirius, will present a tribute this week to Harry Morgan, who passed on Dec. 7, 2011.

Included will be "The Queen of Spades" and "The Black Cat" from Peter Lorre’s 1947 summer series Mystery in the Air (1947) – for which Harry Morgan was the narrator – and a 1950 episode of This is Your FBI.

Peggy Webber, who played Peter’s love interest in many Mystery in the Air episodes, will join Radio Classics host Greg Bell by telephone with her recollections of working with the two actors on the series.

The “Wild About Harry” tribute will air these dates and times:

Sunday, Dec. 11:
5 am Pacific, 8 am Eastern
5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern

Tuesday, Dec. 13:
11 pm Pacific only

Wednesday, Dec. 14:
1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern

Radio Classics will then kick off a schedule filled with Christmas episodes from various old-time radio series. Included is the Suspense episode “Back for Christmas” (Dec. 23, 1943), starring Peter Lorre as hen-pecked husband Hubert Schumacher, who discovers a way to dispose of his shrewish wife.

“Back for Christmas” will air on these dates and times:

Tuesday, Dec. 13:
11 pm Pacific (Dec. 12), 2 am Eastern
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

Friday, Dec. 16:
1 am Pacific, 4 am Eastern
1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern

Saturday, Dec. 17:
3 pm Pacific, 6 pm Eastern

XM and Sirius radio 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 XM radio website.

The Lorre radio programs airing this week are available through many merchants, including Radio Showcase. The Appendix of The Lost One lists Peter’s many radio credits – as well as his appearances on stage, in movies, and on television.

Published in 2005 through University Press of Kentucky, The Lost One is now available in paperback, and as an eBook on Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

"Voice of Mystery" Stilled

2011-12-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

The film, radio, television, and stage actor Harry Morgan passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. He was 96.

As “The Voice of Mystery”, Morgan acted as narrator on Peter Lorre’s radio series Mystery in the Air, a replacement series for The Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Show in the summer of 1947.

Mystery in the Air 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.

The final eight episodes are widely available through many dealers in old-time radio programs, as well as audio download on Amazon.com.

Morgan hosted all 13 episodes, beginning with “The Tell-Tale Heart” on July 3 and continuing to the final program, “Crime and Punishment”, adapted from Peter’s 1935 Columbia Studios film, on Sept. 25.

In the image above, Morgan (in black suit) stands, looking over Hans Conried’s shoulder at his script, with Peter Lorre at the microphone.

On March 14, 1979, author Stephen Youngkin took an interview with Harry Morgan for his Lorre biography, The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, published in Sept. 2005 through University Press of Kentucky. Morgan recalled working with Lorre on Mystery in the Air, describing the intensity of Peter’s performances as he played to the microphone, not the studio audience.

Rest in peace, Mr. Morgan. Like Peter Lorre, you live on through the recordings of your many radio, movie and television roles.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at the Red Barn, Dec. 6, 2011

2011-12-06T00:40:00.000-08:00

John Hardy will host a showing of the Walt Disney classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) at the Red Barn Theater on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011.

The program begins at 7 p.m. The suggested donation is $5 at the door. Free popcorn is provided by the local Saugatuck company CNJ Popcorn Co. Other concessions are $1.

For more information, please call the theater at (269) 857-5300 or contact through eMail at lakeshorearts@comcast.net.

The Red Barn Theater is located in Saugatuck, Michigan, at 3657 63rd Street. Directions may be found on the theater’s website.

The filming of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is detailed in the pages of Stephen Youngkin’s Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre. The author interviewed director Richard Fleischer and art director Harper Goff, as well as stars James Mason and Kirk Douglas, on their remembrances of working on the movie.

At a time when most filmmakers wanted only to trade on his character type of villain, Peter appreciated his casting against type and the opportunity to play a hero – as well as provide the film’s comic moments.

Peter also hoped he would win new fans with the movie’s release . . .

The Maltese Falcon Kicks Off Film Series in Ponte Vedra Beach

2011-11-30T00:07:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, Nov. 30, the Bogart mystery film The Maltese Falcon (1941) will be the initial offering in the Hollywood Legends 4-week series of classic movies at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall.

The program begins at 7 p.m., with the doors opening at 6 p.m. From 6 to 7 p.m., David Luckin will provide music. Luckin is the host of the local PBS station WJCT’s Electro Lounge.

Admission is $5 at the door, and any dollar amount over the requested $5 will be matched by an anonymous donor towards the support of the WJCT radio station 89.9 FM. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through Ticket Master by clicking the “Buy Tickets” button on the Maltese Falcon entry on the Events page.

The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall is located at 1050 A1A North in the heart of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Directions can be found on the venue’s website.

Parking is available on-site. The fee for this ticketed event is $5.

In his Peter Lorre biography, The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin details the making of The Maltese Falcon at Warner Bros. in the summer of 1941 through interviews with director John Huston and others who worked on the film. For Peter Lorre, the experience led to a contract with the studio and a lifelong friendship with star Humphrey Bogart.

The Lost One is now available in both paperback and e-Book formats, as well as hard-bound.

My Favorite Brunette at the Key West Public Library, Saturday, Nov. 5

2011-11-05T01:47:00.000-07:00

The Key West Public Library will host a showing of My Favorite Brunette (1947) on Saturday, November 5, 2011.

The program begins at 10 a.m.

The library is located at 700 Fleming Street, Key West, Florida. For more information, please contact Robin Henderson, reference librarian, at (305) 809-5253.

To publicize the release of My Favorite Brunette (April 4, 1947), Peter Lorre appeared as a guest on Bob Hope’s radio program The Pepsodent Show on May 13. “How about a little creep music, Desi?” Bob Hope asks his bandleader, Desi Arnaz (real-life husband of Lucille Ball) – and Bob and Peter offered their own version of Inner Sanctum Mysteries.

The radio program is available for MP3 download through Amazon.com:

The Maltese Falcon at the Lark, Oct. 3, 2011

2011-10-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

John Huston biographer Jeffrey Meyers will introduce a special showing of The Maltese Falcon at the historic Lark Theater, Monday evening on Oct. 3, 2011. Autographed copies of John Huston: Courage and Art, available from Book Passage Bookstore and Café (Corte Madera, CA), will be on sale in the cinema lobby.

The program begins at 7 pm. For more information, please call (415) 924-5111.

Tickets are $10 for all seats and may be purchased at the box office or in advance by fax. Fax orders are accepted until 9 pm the day before the event; a fax order form may be downloaded from the theater’s website and sent to (415) 924-5459.

Parking is available on the streets near the theater.

The Lark Theater is located at 549 Magnolia Avenue in the Marin County town of Larkspur, CA.

Built in 1936, the Lark remained a single-screen cinema in downtown Larkspur before threatened by the wrecking ball after years of closure. In 2004, Bernice Baeza and Heidi Hillenbrand led a group of dedicated volunteers in restoring the Lark to its 1936 glory. The Lark is now on the list of National Register of Historic Places and winner of the Art Deco Society Preservation Award.

In his authorized Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, author Stephen D. Youngkin interviewed director John Huston on the making of The Maltese Falcon in the summer of 1941. Falcon was the first film Peter Lorre made at Warner Brothers. The resulting contract with the studio in 1943 ended Peter’s nomadic existence from studio to studio in the early 1940s – plus a lifelong friendship with Humphrey Bogart and an on-screen 9-film partnership with Sydney Greenstreet.

"The stuff that dreams are made of."

Der Verlorene at the Tribeca, Aug. 23

2011-08-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

As part of their “Overdue” series, movie critics Nick Pinkerton and Nic Rapold will introduce Peter Lorre’s only directorial effort Der Verlorene (1951) on Tuesday night, Aug. 23, 2011, at 92YTribeca in New York City.

The program begins at 7 pm.

Tickets may be purchased through the Tribeca website, by fax, by mail, or in person at the box office on Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, between 9 am and 5 pm. For more information, please call (212) 601-1000.

92YTribeca is located at 200 Hudson Street at Canal Street, convenient to city subway routes. Parking is available at the Varick Street Garage, located at 111 Varick Street, and the Central Parking Garage, 296 Hudson Street.

The making of Der Verlorene (The Lost One) is detailed in Chapter 8, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, in Stephen D. Youngkin’s authorized biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005). In November of 2007, Kinowelt Home Entertainment released a 2-disc DVD of the movie, including many extras, available in Region 2 only.

Peter Lorre Movies in the Fall

2011-08-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

September and October bring numerous treats to Peter Lorre fans this year – in particular, the Turner Classic Movies channel debut of The Constant Nymph (1943).

Peter Lorre's page on the TV Guide Channel website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.

September, 2011

Sept. 11 (Sun.), 8 pm, Turner Classic Movies channel – Casablanca (1942). Guest programmers Patrick McNally and Vernon Webb were two of the many responders to the tragedy that Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. McNally selects Casablanca because he and wife Liz were married on Sept. 11 and “As Time Goes By” was their wedding song. For their 20th anniversary in 2001, they had planned a golf date – abruptly cancelled when McNally, Chief of Operations at the New York City Fire Department, got the emergency call to the Twin Towers.

Sept. 28 (Wed.), 8 pm, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943). TCM salutes the film preservation work of the Library of Congress Film Archive with 13 movies and 6 shorts over 24 hours. Host Robert Osborne is joined by Dr. Patrick Loughney, Chief of Archive’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, located in Culpepper, Virginia.

October, 2011

Oct. 12 (Wed.), 10:30 am, TCM – Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939). The only entry in the 8-film mystery series in the public domain, Mr. Moto’s Last Warning was nonetheless remastered in 2007 and packaged in a DVD set with Mr. Moto’s Gamble, Danger Island, and Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation.

Oct. 15 (Sat.), 9:30 am, TCM – The Beast With Five Fingers (1946).

Oct. 20 (Thurs.), 8 pm, TCM – The Mask of Dimitrios (1944). This first movie for actor Zachary Scott kicks off an evening of Scott-starring films.

Oct. 27 (Thurs.), 4:15 pm, TCM – “No. 5 Checked Out”. This episode of Screen Director’s Playhouse originally aired Jan. 18, 1956 over NBC. Ida Lupino directed Peter Lorre, William Talman, Theresa Wright, and Ralph Moody in this drama involving two crooks on the lam and hiding out in a cabin in a deaf woman’s remote mountain resort.

Oct. 30 (Sun.), 4 am, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). The final film on TCM's roster for "Star of the Month" Buster Keaton.

These films and many other Lorre movies are now available on DVD and VHS – some remastered and packaged with extra features. For more information on the films of Peter Lorre released to home video, head to the DVD — VHS section of The Lost One website.

Happy viewing!

"The flicker of a film is like a heartbeat. Movies are in my blood. They're part of who I am." That's the new opening for TCM weekend host Ben Mankiewicz – and among the film clips is a nice close-up of Peter Lorre as Ugarte in Casablanca!

The Constant Nymph Comes to TCM in September, 2011

2011-07-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

Peter Lorre fans have something very special to look forward to next month.

Newly-restored and freed from years of legal limbo, The Constant Nymph (1943) will make its Turner Classic Movies channel debut on Wednesday, September 28, 2011, at 8 pm EST.

The film kicks off an evening of movies in tribute to the Library of Congress Film Archive – including Baby Face (1933) and Two Heads on a Pillow (1934).

No word yet on The Constant Nymph coming to DVD.

Casablanca by Moonlight in Albany, Oregon, July 22

2011-07-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

The Albany Downtown Association’s “Movies by Moonlight” returns this month for a ninth summer of classic movies projected outdoors on the back wall of the Eagles Club, located at 127 Broadalbin Street NW, in Albany, Oregon.

Preceding each of the seven films in the series will be a classic cartoon, plus an installment of the 1937 serial Dick Tracy. Casablanca (1942) is the featured attraction on July 22, 2011.

The program begins at dusk, approximately 9 pm. Admission is free. Popcorn, ice cream, soda, and water will be available for purchase.

Parking is available in the lot behind Cappies Brewhouse, 211 First Avenue West.

“Movies by Moonlight” is sponsored by Pizza King, the Pix Theater, Cappie’s Brewhouse, and Pacific Power. The complete film schedule may be found on the Albany Downtown Association’s website.

Casablanca was the third film Peter Lorre made with his off-screen buddy Humphrey Bogart. They would make one more film together at Warner Bros – Passage to Marseille (1944) – before Peter would leave the studio in 1946.

The making of Casablanca is chronicled in the authorized Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, by Stephen D. Youngkin. Now available on the Kindle and Nook, The Lost One will soon be released in a soft-bound edition.

Happy Birthday, Peter Lorre! – From XM and Sirius Radio

2011-06-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

Radio Classics, channel 82 on the satellite radio providers XM and Sirius, will present a birthday tribute to Peter this week, born June 26, 1904.

For two hours, Lorre fans can enjoy Inner Sanctum, “The Black Seagull” (Mar. 7, 1943); Suspense, “Of Maestro and Man” (July 20, 1944), and two episodes of Peter’s own radio series Mystery in the Air, “The Lodger” (Aug. 14, 1947) and “The Horla” (Aug. 21, 1947).

An interview with Roger Corman will precede the four radio shows. Corman directed Peter in two Edgar Allan Poe films in the early 1960s, Tales of Terror (1962) and The Raven (1963), which co-starred Vincent Price.

The Lorre tribute will air these dates and times:

Sunday, June 26:
1 am Pacific, 4 am Eastern
1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern

Wednesday, June 29:
3 am Pacific, 6 am Eastern
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

Saturday, July 2:
5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern

The life and career of Peter Lorre is chronicled in the pages of his authorized biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre by Stephen D. Youngkin, who interviewed many of Peter’s family members, friends, fellow actors, and the directors, producers and crew who worked with him during his career.

The Lorre radio programs airing this week in honor of Peter’s 107th birthday are available through many merchants, including Radio Showcase. The Appendix of The Lost One lists Peter’s many radio credits – in addition to his appearances on stage, in movies, and on television.

Published in 2005 through University Press of Kentucky, The Lost One is now available on Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

Casablanca On-Screen in New Orleans, Tampa Summer Film Festivals

2011-06-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Summer means classic film festivals, and Casablanca (1942) is on the schedule in two historic cinemas this summer – the Prytania in New Orleans and the Tampa Theatre in Tampa, Florida.

Celebrate Peter Lorre’s birthday this weekend at the Prytania Theatre in New Orleans, where Casablanca (1942) will be shown Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday, June 25, 26, and 29. Curtains go up at 11:45 a.m. with a pre-show program. The main feature begins promptly at noon.

Ticket prices for the classic film festival are $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for seniors over 62 and children under 12. Tickets may be purchased at the box-office or on-line through Yahoo, linked with the Prytania’s website. For more information, please call (504) 891-2787.

Built in 1915 and the only one-screen cinema left in New Orleans, the Prytania Theatre is located uptown at 5339 Prytania Street. Parking is available on the street near the cinema.

The Tampa Theatre is the venue for Casablanca on July 9 and 10, Saturday and Sunday, as part of that cinema’s popular Summer Classics series.

The doors open at 2 pm, at which time interested moviegoers may join a volunteer “Tampa Theatreologist” for a free guided mini-tour of the historic theater. (The theater’s regular “Backstage to Balcony” guided tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 25 and July 9, 11:30 am to 1 pm. Tickets for this tour are $5 for visitors 13 and older, $2 for children 2 to 12 years, and free for kids under 2 and Tampa Theatre members.)

A 20-minute musical program of popular tunes on the cinema’s restored Wurlitzer Theatre Organ will begin at approximately 2:40, followed by Looney Tunes cartoons and the movie at 3 pm.

And following selected movies this summer, moviegoers may stay for the “Post Film Talks”, presented by Professors Harriet Deer and Michael Foley. After Casablanca on Sunday, July 10, Professor Deer will discuss the movie’s cast, production, themes, and cultural significance.

Ticket prices for Casablanca and other Summer Classic films are $9 for all ages and $7 for Tampa Theatre members. Tickets may be purchased at the box-office. For more information, please call (813) 274-8981.

The Tampa Theatre is located at 711 Franklin Street. Parking is available on-street and close to the cinema.

The background and making of Casablanca is discussed in the authorized Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, by Stephen D. Youngkin. Peter almost didn’t make it to Casablanca, being under contract to Universal Studios for Invisible Agent. Over his four days on-set – May 28-29 (Thursday and Friday) and June 1-2 (Monday and Tuesday), 1942 – Peter claimed he made more money at the set’s roulette wheel than he did working before the cameras.

The Lost One is now available in electronic format on the Kindle and the Nook.

The Maltese Falcon at the Lincoln This Weekend

2011-06-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

The historic Lincoln Theatre in Massillon, Ohio, will present The Maltese Falcon (1941) this weekend, June 10, 11 and 12, 2011.

Show times are 7 pm on Friday and Saturday, and 6 pm on Sunday.

Admission is $3.

The Lincoln Theatre is located at 156 Lincoln Way East, in Massillon, Ohio. Originally built in 1915 as a silent movie theater, the Lincoln was saved from the wrecking ball in 1982 by the local Lions Club, who now act as volunteers during the weekly showings of classic films.

The Lincoln is also the home of the annual Fall Cinesation, a film convention featuring silent (with live accompaniment) and sound movies through the 1940s, many from restored archival prints. This year, the festival will be held on Sept. 22 to 25, 2011.

The Maltese Falcon was the first film Peter Lorre made with Humphrey Bogart and led to a lifelong friendship between the two actors, who would go on to make three more movies at Warner Bros: All Through the Night (1942), Casablanca (1942), and Passage to Marseille (1944). Their final film together came in Italy in 1954 – Beat the Devil.

Peter and Bogie’s friendship, both on- and off-screen, is detailed in the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005) by Stephen D. Youngkin, who interviewed many of the people who knew and worked with the actors – including John Huston, who directed both The Maltese Falcon and Beat the Devil.

Photos of Lorre and Bogart, as well as posters and lobby cards from their movies, can be found on the official website of The Lost One. DVDs of their work may be found in the site's DVD section.

Casablanca at Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA

2011-06-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Beginning Friday, June 10, Casablanca (1942) is one of three films to be shown outdoors at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, this summer. The Trout Gallery, located on campus on the first floor of the Weiss Center for the Arts, will host the film program in association with a special Gallery exhibit – “Image! Text! Action! Posters and Newsreels from the American Home Front: 1941-1945”.

Admission to the films and the exhibit is free.

Casablanca will be shown on an outdoor screen, set up on the lawn beside the Weiss Center, located at N. College Street and West High Street in Carlisle, PA. Lawn chairs and blankets – and picnic dinners! – are welcome. The movie will begin at dusk, approximately 9 pm. In case of rain, the film will be shown indoors in the Weiss Center, room 235.

The Trout Gallery’s regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, but for these showings, the Gallery will open at 7 pm. Visit the Trout Gallery before the movie and receive a voucher for free popcorn!

Dickinson College is located at 20 South College Street, in Carlisle, PA. Parking is available on the street and in the campus lots.

Parking for the film festival is available beside the Weiss Center, in the lot off Church Avenue.

For more information, call (717) 245-1711.

Running from June 3 to Aug. 13, 2011, the gallery exhibit “Image! Text! Action! Posters and Newsreels from the American Homefront: 1941-1945” illustrates the development of new printing technologies and popular cinema and the way they compelled U.S. citizens to support the war effort. The works in the exhibit are part of a larger gift of World War II posters given to the Trout Gallery by Robert and Francisca Kan.

More information about the exhibit and film festival can be found on the Trout Gallery website.

Peter Lorre, who considered Casablanca unimportant, claimed he made more money playing the “Café American” set’s roulette wheel between takes than he did actually working on the film. This and more reminiscences by cast and crew, plus background on the making of Casablanca, are described in the Warner Brothers chapter of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, by Stephen D. Youngkin.

Arsenic and Old Lace in Gettysburg, June 8, 2011

2011-06-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

The historic Majestic Theater in downtown Gettysburg kicks off its fifth summer of classic movies with a showing of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) on Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

The show begins at 7:30 pm. Admission is $6 for all seats.

Ticket packages for the classic film season are also available. The Deluxe Offer includes 10 movies for $60, with 3 free movies. The Special Offer includes 6 movies for $36, with 1 free movie.

The complete list of films this summer can be found in the Calendar section of the theater's website.

The Majestic Theater is located at 25 Carlisle Street in Gettysburg, PA. Metered parking is available on the street in front of the theater, with a parking garage located in Race Horse Alley, directly behind the theater.

For more information, please call (717) 337-8200.

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), Stephen Youngkin details the making of Arsenic and Old Lace, with personal reminiscences of cast members Peter Lorre and Cary Grant by the director Frank Capra. The official website for The Lost One includes behind-the-scenes photos – including Peter’s personal copy of a photo of the entire cast standing amongst the tombstones of the graveyard set.

Next week’s film: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – with a Nazi villain whose resemblance to Lorre is not by accident. Ronald Lacey was cast in the role specifically because he reminded Raiders director Steven Spielberg of Peter Lorre. Catch it at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

Lorre Films This Summer

2011-06-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

A summer of Peter Lorre films on TV begins with a showing of Arsenic and Old Lace on Turner Classic Movies – Sunday, June 5, 1:45 pm EST.

And then continues on with many Lorre films through July and August.

Peter Lorre's page on the TV Guide Channel website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.

June, 2011

June 5 (Sun.), 1:45 pm, Turner Classic Movies channel – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

June 11 (Sat.), 9:30 am, Fox Movie Channel – I Was an Adventuress (1940)

June 15 (Wed.), 9 am, Hallmark Movie Channel – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

June 20 (Mon.), 5:15 am, Action Cinemax – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)

July, 2011

July 2 (Sat.), 5:15 am, More Max – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

July 4 (Mon.), 4:10 pm, MGM Movie Channel – Muscle Beach Party (1964).

July 6 (Wed.), 3 am, TCM – Three Strangers (1946). A rare romantic role for Peter. His leading lady, Joan Lorring, also played his love interest in The Verdict (1946).

July 7 (Thurs.), 8:35 am, Flix East – The Patsy (1964).

July 8 (Fri.), 12 midnight, THIS channel – Black Angel (1946).

July 10 (Sun.), 6 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942).

July 11 (Mon.), 6:45 am, Flix East – The Patsy (1964).

July 14 (Thurs.), 1:30 pm, THIS channel – The Comedy of Terrors (1964).

July 14 (Thurs.), 2:30 am, TCM – The Sad Sack (1957). An entry in TCM’s month-long look at Arab Images on Film, this Jerry Lewis starrer with Peter Lorre as Sergeant Abdul ends an evening of “Arabs as a Subject of Ridicule”.

July 19 (Tues.), 6 am, Flix East – The Patsy (1964).

July 24 (Sun.), 7:30 am, Fox Movie Channel – I Was an Adventuress (1940)

July 27 (Wed.), 4:30 pm, Flix East – The Patsy (1964).

August, 2011

TCM presents their annual Summer Under the Stars – No special day for Peter Lorre, but several days for Lorre co-stars.

Aug. 10 (Wed.), 4:15 pm, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Shirley MacLaine Day – As a Japanese steward on a ship bound for Yokohama, Peter Lorre joined dozens of Hollywood actors in this all-star extravaganza filmed around the world. He also appeared in the animated closing credits – as a sword-wielding samurai warrior.

Aug. 17 (Wed.), 8 pm, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941). Humphrey Bogart Day, featuring the first film Peter made with his long-time buddy.

Aug. 17 (Wed.), 12 midnight, TCM – Beat the Devil (1954). Humphrey Bogart Day continues with the final film Peter and Bogie made together.

Aug. 23 (Tues.), 9:30 am, TCM – All Through the Night (1942). Conrad Veidt Day features the second film Lorre made with Bogart.

Aug. 23 (Tues.), 12 midnight, TCM – Casablanca (1942): Conrad Veidt Day ends with another Lorre and Bogart film.

TCM Sets Schedule for The Constant Nymph

2011-04-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

Peter Lorre fans attending Turner Classic Movies' Classic Film Festival this weekend – The time and place for the Constant Nymph screening has been announced.

The Constant Nymph will be shown on Friday, Apr. 29, 2011, at the Chinese Multiplex, auditorium number 1. The program begins at 10 a.m. The Chinese Multiplex is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., next door to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

The complete schedule may be found on the festival's website.

Although all levels of festival passes are now sold out, tickets for individual events may be purchased on the day, for cash only on a first-come, first-served basis. Most events are priced at $20.

Parking is available at the Hollywood & Highland Center retail complex. Festival attendees can get a discount of $2 for up to four hours with festival validation, and up to $10 for a full day. The Hollywood & Highland Center is located on Hollywood Blvd., between Highland Avenue and Orange Drive.

The Constant Nymph (Warner Bros., 1943) featured Peter in a purely romantic role. As the wealthy Fritz Bercovy, he loves and marries Toni Sanger, one of the Sanger sisters and played by Brenda Marshall.

With a restored print and the legal issues resolved, Lorre fans can look forward to Constant Nymph added to TCM’s regular TV schedule, as well as released to DVD later this year.

Peter Lorre on XM Radio, April 10 to 16, 2011

2011-04-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

Harry Morgan’s 96th birthday on April 10 is the occasion for two episodes of Peter Lorre’s 1947 radio series Mystery in the Air on the satellite radio channel Radio Classics – channel 164 on the XM dial and channel 118 on the Sirius dial.

Mystery in the Air was an NBC summer replacement series for The Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Show. On June 26, 1947 – his 43rd birthday – Peter appeared at the close of Bud and Lou’s final show of the season to announce his upcoming series.

Beginning July 3, and for 12 weeks following, Lorre starred in mystery and suspense stories “culled from the four corners of world literature”, as well as some original radio scripts, such as “The Marvelous Barastro”. The series ended on Sept. 25, 1947, with an adaptation of Peter’s own film version of Crime and Punishment (Columbia, 1935).

As the “Voice of Mystery”, Harry Morgan introduced and narrated each week’s episode. Airing in honor of his birthday will be “The Queen of Spades”, from the short story by Russian author Alexander Pushkin; and “The Black Cat”, from the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, one of Peter’s favorite writers. ”The Queen of Spades” aired originally on Sept. 11, 1947, and “The Black Cat” a week later on Sept. 18, 1947.

The full Radio Classics schedule can be found on the Radio Classics website. Mystery in the Air will air on the following dates and times. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Sunday, Apr. 10, 2011:

4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
4 p.m. and 4:30p.m.

Wednesday, Apr. 13, 2011:

6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Apr. 16, 2011:

8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

For his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), Stephen Youngkin interviewed Harry Morgan about his experiences working with Lorre on the show.

“I have never seen in front of a microphone anybody throw himself into a performance in every which way, including physically, which was to me so astounding, as Peter,” Mr. Morgan remembered. Peter Lorre was an actor who played to the microphone, not the small studio audience attending the broadcasts – ending each program bathed in perspiration from the effort of his fantastic vocal performance.

In the Appendix, The Lost One also includes a list of Peter Lorre’s radio credits, many of which are available for purchase through internet dealers such as Radio Showcase.

Casablanca in Sri Lanka, Apr. 5, 2011

2011-04-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

In Casablanca, Peter Lorre profited from selling exit visas to refugees anxious to escape the North African city. On Tuesday, April 5, residents of Sri Lanka can escape to the American Embassy for a free showing of Casablanca.

Free Movie Tuesday returns to the American Center Auditorium in the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The full schedule can be found on the Embassy’s website.

The program begins at 6 p.m. Parking is not available.

The U.S. Embassy is located at 210 Galle Road, in Sri Lanka.

For more information, please contact the American Center at their eMail address – amcentersl@state.gov – or by telephone at (11) 249-8100.

The Constant Nymph Scheduled for the TCM Classic Film Festival

2011-03-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Peter Lorre fans attending Turner Classic Movies’ second annual film festival in Hollywood are in for a special treat this year – a showing of Warner Brothers’ The Constant Nymph.

The 1943 movie, starring Joan Fontaine and Charles Boyer, has been caught in a legal limbo for years and unavailable except for rare viewings at film archives, such as the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theater in Culpepper, VA, in August 2010.

The TCM Classic Film Festival will be held from April 28 to May 1, 2011, Thursday to Sunday.

Although the location of The Constant Nymph’s showing has not yet been announced, the festival theaters include these 1920s movie palaces located along Hollywood Boulevard – Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (1927), The Egyptian Theatre (1922), and the Music Box (1926) – as well as two screens in the Chinese Multiplex, a modern 6-screen cinema next door to Grauman’s Chinese.

Attendees are encouraged to book room reservations at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (1927), conveniently located to all festival theaters and the venue of Club TCM, panel discussions, fan gatherings, and more. Please call the hotel direct at (800) 950-7667.

Other hotels offering special festival rates are:

The Redbury – at 1717 Vine Street, (323) 963-5513

The W Hotel Hollywood – 6250 Hollywood Blvd., (877) WHOTELS

There are four levels of festival passes – the Matinee, the Classic, the Essential, and the Spotlight. To date, the Matinee is the only pass still available.

Walk-up tickets for individual events may be available on the day, immediately before show-time. A complete list of the film schedule can be found on the festival's website.

The Constant Nymph featured Peter Lorre in a purely romantic role. As the wealthy Fritz Bercovy, he loves and marries Toni Sanger, one of the Sanger sisters and played by Brenda Marshall. Peter would later appear with Ms. Marshall in the spy thriller Background to Danger (1943) – as brother and sister Russian agents.

With the rights issues now resolved, Lorre fans can look forward to The Constant Nymph being added to TCM’s regular TV schedule, as well as a release to DVD later this year.

Sanibel Island’s Own Oscar Night With Casablanca

2011-03-07T00:40:00.000-08:00

The Academy Awards are over in Los Angeles, but on Monday, March 7, 2011, the BIG ARTS Film Society on Florida’s Sanibel Island will host their own Oscar ceremony – complete with stars on the red carpet, Oscar ballots, a champagne reception, and a special showing of Casablanca (1942).

The event will be held at the Schein Performance Hall, located in the BIG ARTS Center, 900 Dunlop Road, Sanibel, Florida, and between the City Hall and the Historical Museum.

Parking is available in the BIG ARTS Center lot, beside the Historical Village and Museum, as well as the City Hall lot, the Sanibel Library lots, and the north end of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.

The program begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $7, and include the Oscar ceremony, the showing of Casablanca, and the champagne reception. Tickets may be purchased at the BIG ARTS Center at 900 Dunlop Road. For more information, please call (239) 395-0900.

Hosting the event will be Sidney Picker, with Master of Ceremony Albert Hann.

Peter O’Toole and Dame Judi Dench are rumored to appear on-stage at the Scheim Performance Hall.

And walking the red carpet will be Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Dorothy Lamour, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, and Al Pacino – all portrayed by local islanders dressed as the Hollywood stars.

Cameras are permitted at the champagne reception, but – no autographs, please . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Casablanca Onscreen in Belfast, Maine

2011-02-27T01:02:00.000-08:00

Romance and romantic comedy are February’s themes for the Sunday Matinee Movie Series at the Belfast Free Library – and Casablanca (1942) is the feature on Sunday, February 27, 2011.

The program begins at 4 p.m. in the Abbott Room. Admission is free.

The Belfast Free Library is located at 106 High St., Belfast, Maine. For more information, please call (207) 338-3884.

The “snow date” for Casablanca will be Monday, February 28, at 7 p.m.

Hitchcock Retrospective in Silver Spring, MD

2011-02-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

The AFI Silver Theater is the venue for Part 1 of a 3-part retrospective of famed British director Alfred Hitchock – and on the schedule are the two films he made with Peter Lorre: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and Secret Agent (1936).

Showtimes for The Man Who Knew Too Much:

Feb. 19, Sat. – 1:00 pm
Feb. 20, Sun. – 2:30 pm
Feb. 21, Mon. – 5:15 pm
Feb. 23, Wed. – 9:30 pm

And for Secret Agent:

Mar. 5, Sat. – 1:00 pm
Mar. 6, Sun. – 7:00 pm

Ticket prices are $11 for general admission; $8.50 for AFI members; $9 for seniors, students and military; and $7 for children 12 and under. Matinee shows – Monday through Friday before 6 p.m. – are $8.50.

American Film Institute passes will be accepted for both The Man Who Knew Too Much and Secret Agent.

Tickets may be reserved on-line through the AFI Silver Theater website with no added fee; however, when picking up the tickets, you must show the same credit card used to reserve them. MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express credit cards are accepted.

Scroll to the film's title and click the "Buy Tickets" button.

Tickets may also be purchased at the box office in advance or on the day. The box office opens 30 minutes before the first movie of the day.

The AFI Silver Theater is located at 8633 Colesville Road, at the corner of Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Directions to the theater may be found on the theater’s website.

Parking is available at a variety of public parking decks around the theater. Closest is the Town Square Garage at 801 Ellsworth Drive. More information on parking can be found on the theater’s website, as well as the AFI Silver Theater page on the Silver Spring Downtown website; scroll down to the "Nearby Parking" section.

Lorre biographer Stephen Youngkin details the making of The Man Who Knew Too Much and Secret Agent in the pages of his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005).

Working on The Man Who Knew Too Much enabled Peter to gain a working understanding of the English language and English methods of film-making, which led to a contract with Columbia Studios and the start of his career in American movies.

However, his experiences on Secret Agent only a year later essentially ended his screen association with Alfred Hitchcock.

Towards the end of his career, Peter Lorre appeared in two episodes of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Diplomatic Corpse" (Dec. 8, 1957) and "Man From the South" (Mar. 13, 1960), the latter episode postponed from its original air-date of Jan. 3, 1960; CBS considered its gruesome storyline inappropriate for the holiday season. Although Hitchcock hosted the episodes, neither was among those he himself directed.

Lorre Lovers, Spend Valentine's Day with Peter

2011-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

This Valentine’s Day weekend, Peter Lorre fans can enjoy Casablanca on either the Big or Small Screen.

From Feb. 11 to Feb. 18, the 1942 classic is on the schedule at The Screening Room, a café cinema serving beer, wine and coffee along with snacks.

Showtimes for Casablanca are:

Fri., Feb. 11 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 12 – 7 p.m.
Mon., Feb. 14 – 4:30, 7, and 9:15 p.m.
Tues., Feb. 15 – 7:30 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 18 – 9 p.m.

Admission for all screenings is $5. The full schedule can be found on the cinema’s website. Or call the theater at (716) 837-0376.

The Screening Room is located at 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst, NY, behind the Key Bank in the Northtown Plaza, within the Northtown Plaza Business Center. The entrance faces North Bailey. Parking is available directly behind the Arthur Murray Dance Studio, on North Bailey.

And on the small screen . . .

Can't get to Amherst, NY? Turner Classic Movies will show Casablanca on Monday, Feb. 14, as part of their annual “31 Days of Oscar” festival.

The film begins at 10 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Pacific.

If only Peter's screen time were larger than two (key) scenes . . . .

The Raven Screened for The Big Read on Feb. 11, 2011

2011-02-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Feb. 11, the Washington County Public Library will kick off this year’s Big Read program with The Raven (AIP, 1963).

The film will begin 6 p.m. in the Conference Room of the main branch of the library. Admission is free, and popcorn will be available.

The library is located at 205 Oak Hill Street, NE, in Abingdon, VA.

For more information, please contact Leslie Tabor at (276) 676-6391. A full list of all the Big Read events can be found on the library’s website.

The National Endowment for the Arts launched The Big Read in the fall of 2007 as a way of bringing reading back to American culture. Dashiell Hammett’s novel The Maltese Falcon was the first book chosen, and the 1941 film version was shown in many theaters and libraries across the U.S., accompanied by book discussions and special materials, including bookmarks, pamphlets, and CDs on both the novel and the movie.

This year, the Washington County Library, in partnership with the Barter Theatre, chose Edgar Allan Poe for his influence on American culture – and to consider the link between mental health and creativity. “The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe” will run from Feb. 10 through Mar. 31, 2011 and will include poetry and art contests, book discussions, and other Poe-inspired movies.

Upcoming Big Read events can be found on The Big Read website. Events may be selected by community, date range, or by book – including The Maltese Falcon.

The Maltese Falcon Onscreen in Cape May, NJ

2011-02-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

As an installment in the “Film Noir Movie Night” program, the Cape May County Library will present The Maltese Falcon (1941) on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011.

The film begins at 6 p.m. and will be shown in the Storytime Room at the Cape May Court House Library. Admission for the event is free.

The Cape May Court House Library is located at 30 Mechanic Street, Cape May Court House, NJ.

For more information, please call (609) 463-6350.

The Maltese Falcon was the first film Peter Lorre worked on with Humphrey Bogart. The two actors became lifelong friends and appeared in four more movies, three of them at Warner Bros. – All Through the Night (1942), Casablanca (1942), Passage to Marseille (1944), and Beat the Devil (1954). A discussion of Peter and Bogie both on- and off-screen can be found in the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, the authorized biography of Peter Lorre, by Stephen D. Youngkin (University Press of Kentucky, 2005).

Arsenic and Old Lace Onscreen in Detroit, Jan. 28 and 29, 2011

2011-01-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

Detroit’s historic Redford Theatre will screen Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28 and 29.

Evening performances both days will begin at 7:30 p.m. On the organ that originally accompanied silent movies, Jennifer Candea will play our national anthem, followed by a selection of lively tunes. The film begins at 8 p.m. with the Columbia studios cartoon “Willoughby’s Magic Hat”, originally shown in cinemas on Apr. 20, 1943. On Saturday, the matinee begins at 1:30 p.m. with organ music, followed by the film program at 2 p.m.

Pianists Chris Cavanaugh and Nancy Pennington will play songs in the lobby for an hour before each program.

All seats are $4.00. Tickets may be purchased at the box office one hour before show time.

Free lighted and supervised parking is available in two lots on the north side of the theater.

The Redford Theatre is located at 17360 Lahser Road, Detroit, in the Old Redford neighborhood. Originally opening on Jan. 27, 1928, the Redford Theatre has long been known as a neighborhood movie house and entertainment center, with a three-story grand foyer and a full-size stage. Very likely Arsenic and Old Lace played here on its original run in the early 1940s. . . .

New Year – New Peter Lorre TV Schedule

2010-12-31T09:25:00.001-08:00

Peter Lorre fans, ring out the old year of 2010 with a viewing of Arsenic and Old Lace on Turner Classic Movies – Friday, Dec. 31, 1:45 pm EST.

And then get set for a new year of Lorre on television – and a number of rare Lorre films, as well as some special treats.

Peter Lorre's page on the TV Guide Channel website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.

January, 2011

Jan. 3 (Mon.), 9:30 am, Fox Movie Channel – I Was an Adventuress (1940): Peter’s contract with 20th Century-Fox had ended, but he went back to the studio for this picture, in which he plays a charming pickpocket and one-third of a trio of con artists operating in the French Riviera.

Jan. 3 (Mon), 11:15 pm, TCM – Crime and Punishment (1935): Peter’s second American film is shown in an evening of films directed by Josef von Sternberg.

Jan. 4 (Tues), 10:30 am, Hallmark Movie Channel – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).

Jan. 18 (Tues), 10 pm, TCM – Screen Director’s Playhouse, “No. 5 Checked Out” (1956): Turner Classic Movies’ salute to the Hal Roach Studios continues with a number of episodes from this NBC anthology TV series, including “No. 5 Checked Out”, directed by Ida Lupino, starring Peter Lorre, William Talman, Theresa Wright, and Ralph Moody and originally broadcast this date in 1956.

Jan. 21 (Fri), 9 am, TCM – The Beast With Five Fingers (1946).

February, 2011

Turner Classic Movies’ annual 31-day salute to the Academy Awards includes a couple of Peter Lorre staples . . .

Feb. 14 (Mon.), 10 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942). Tonight's theme is "All in the Family", referring to members of the same family participating in a film and winning (or receiving nominations for) the Academy Award. For Casablanca, it was the Epstein brothers, Julius J. and Philip G., winning the "Best Writing, Screenplay" Oscar, along with their co-writer, Howard Koch.

Feb. 26 (Sat.), 3:30 pm, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941). "On Second Thought" is the theme tonight – sometimes the second remake is the one that wins the Oscar. The Maltese Falcon was the third time the Dashiell Hammett novel had been filmed.

March, 2011

TCM ends their salute to Oscar into the first few days of March with another Lorre award-winner and includes a Lorre film new to the channel.

Mar. 2 (Wed.), 10 pm, TCM – Around the World in 80 Days (1956): As a Japanese steward on a ship bound for Yokohama, Peter Lorre joined dozens of Hollywood actors in this all-star extravaganza filmed around the world. He also appeared in the animated closing credits – as a sword-wielding samurai warrior.

Mar. 4 (Fri.), 6 am, Hallmark Movie Channel – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Mar. 8 (Tues.), 7:30 am, Fox Movie Channel – I Was an Adventuress (1940)

Mar. 9 (Wed.), 8:30 am, Hallmark Movie Channel – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Mar. 10 (Thurs.), 4:15 pm, Flix East – The Patsy (1964): Peter's final movie. He died three days after completing work on the film.

Mar. 13 (Sun.), 3:15 am, TCM – The Story of Mankind (1957): As Mr. Scratch (Vincent Price) and the Spirit of Man (Ronald Colman) argue over mankind’s worth, Peter Lorre plays Emperor Nero, who fiddles while Rome burns.

Mar. 14 (Mon.), 9 am, TCM – The Cross of Lorraine (1943).

Mar. 16 (Wed.), 8 am, TCM – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944): The Museum of Modern Art's Film Archive includes more than 22,000 and regularly hosts screenings in New York City. This day-long salute to the Archive includes several classic films from the MoMA collection.

Mar. 16 (Wed.), 10:05 am, Flix East – The Patsy (1964).

Mar. 16 (Wed.), 4 am, TCM – Casablanca (1942).

Mar. 24 (Thurs.), 6 pm, TCM – Strange Cargo (1940).

These films and many other Lorre movies are now available on VHS and DVD – some remastered and packaged with extra features. For more information on the films of Peter Lorre released to home video, head to the DVD — VHS section of The Lost One website.

Happy viewing!

Peter Lorre Films in Burbank on Jan. 15, 2011

2010-12-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

Long a favorite of cartoon animators and artists, Peter Lorre will be the subject of the next meeting of the Creative League at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

On Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, the Creative League will present a Lorre double-feature of Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) and M (1931).

The program begins at 7 p.m.

Attendance at Creative League meetings is by invitation only, and this event is limited to twelve people. To request a reservation to attend, contact the League at their eMail address: creativeleague@animationarchive.org.

The ASIFA-Hollywood is located at 2114 W. Burbank Blvd, in Burbank, California.

According to their website, the Creative League considers Peter Lorre “one of the greatest actors of all time”. His acting style and facial expressions are “a great model to study for animators looking to improve their acting chops.” And with Pixar and Walt Disney Studios among the ASFIA-Hollywood members and sponsors, perhaps an animated Lorre character will make an appearance in an upcoming film. . . . . . .

Lorre Films at New York’s Museum of Modern Art

2010-12-04T11:32:00.001-08:00

Peter Lorre fans in the New York City area are in for a rare treat this week – a showing of Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. (The Trunks of Mr. O.F., 1931) at the Museum of Modern Art.

From Nov. 17, 2010, to Mar. 7, 2011, MOMA will host Weimar Cinema, 1919-1933: Daydreams and Nightmares, a festival of 75 full-length and six short German films, along with a gallery exhibition of film posters and stills from the Weimar era.

Lorre films on the schedule will be shown in Theater 1 – the Roy and Niuta Titus Theater – and include:

Dec. 4 (Sat), 2010 – Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. (1931), 8 p.m.
Dec. 8 (Wed), 2010 – Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. (1931), 4:30 p.m.
Dec. 9 (Thurs), 2010 – M (1931), 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 11 (Sat), 2010 – M (1931), 5 p.m.

Tickets for Theater 1 programs are available at the lobby information desk and the film desk. The lobby information desk opens at 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The film desk opens at 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for Seniors (65 and over, with I.D.), $6 for full-time students. MOMA members and children 16 and under are free, but a ticket is required.

Advance tickets are also available, but no more than one week in advance of a film. The service charge is $1 for MOMA members and $1.50 for all others. Tickets may also be purchased online through the MOMA website. For more information, please call (212) 708-9400.

The Museum of Modern Art is located at 11 West 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th avenues in midtown Manhattan, and is easily reached by both subway and bus. If arriving by car, MOMA visitors and members can receive discounted parking at nearby garages. More information, including rates, can be found under Parking on the MOMA website.

As Stix the newspaper editor in Die Koffer des Hernn O.F., Peter Lorre enjoyed a romantic role as loving husband and father in a light musical comedy. It was a part he seldom got the opportunity to play in a career dominated by films of suspense, mystery and murder.

Bogart Film Festival Includes 3 Lorre Films

2010-09-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Cinéma du Parc in Montreal, Canada, presents a Humphrey Bogart film festival during the month of September. On the schedule of classic Bogart films are three films co-starring Peter Lorre: The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Beat the Devil (1954):

Sept. 10, Fri. – The Maltese Falcon, 7 pm

Sept. 11, Sat. – The Maltese Falcon, 3 pm

Sept. 15, Wed. – The Maltese Falcon , 7 pm

Sept. 20, Mon. – The Maltese Falcon, 9 pm

Sept. 26, Sun. – Casablanca, 7 pm

Sept. 27, Mon. – Beat the Devil, 7 pm, and Casablanca, 9 pm

Sept. 28, Tues. – Casablanca, 9 pm

Sept. 29, Wed. – Beat the Devil, 7 pm, and Casablanca, 9 pm

Sept. 30, Thurs. – Casablanca, 7 pm, and Beat the Devil, 9 pm

The full schedule is available on the cinema’s website.

Ticket prices are $11 for General Admission (after 6 pm, weekends and holidays), $8 for seniors and children. On Tuesdays, all seats are $8. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the cinema’s website.

The Cinéma du Parc is located at 3575 Ave du Parc, in Montreal, Canada. For more information, please call (514) 281-1900.

Parking is available near the cinema. Enter the indoor parking structure through either Park Avenue or Jeanne-Mance Street. To get three hours’ parking for only $2, ask for your parking stub at the box office when you purchase your movie ticket.

Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre appeared in a total of five movies together. They began with The Maltese Falcon, continued with All Through the Night (1942), Casablanca, and Passage to Marseille (1944) all at Warner Bros., and ended with the independent film Beat the Devil, directed by John Huston, their director on Falcon.

In his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin details the many stories about the two actors’ antics and practical jokes both on- and off-set.

Peter counted Bogie as one of his two closest friends – the other being German playwright Bertolt Brecht – and they remained friends to Bogie’s passing in 1957.

The Carolina Screens The Comedy of Terrors, Sept. 9, 2010

2010-09-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, September 9, 2010, the Carolina Asheville Theater will screen The Comedy of Terrors (1964), as part of the series The Thursday Horror Picture Show.

Showtime is at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge. Admission to the Thursday Horror Picture Show is free.

The Carolina is located at 1640 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC. Parking is available at the cinema. For more information, please call (828) 274-9500.

The Comedy of Terrors was Peter Lorre’s final film at American International Pictures before his passing in March of 1964. The role of Felix Gillie, unwilling assistant to undertaker Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) and his scheme to get “customers” by killing elderly citizens in their small New England town, called for a fair amount of physical activity – which the ailing Lorre was not up to. In stepped Harvey Parry, Peter’s long-time stunt double since the Mr. Moto series of the late 1930s. Padded to match Peter’s weight and wearing a “Peter Lorre mask”, Harvey Parry performed the burial in the film’s opening moments and the sword fight at the climax.

Lorre biographer Stephen D. Youngkin details the filming of The Comedy of Terrors in his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005). Images from the film set can be found in the Photo Gallery on the official website for The Lost One.

Peter Lorre on TV This Fall

2010-09-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

The Turner Classic Movies channel has scheduled a number of Lorre films this September, October, November, and December – many old favorites, as well as some new movies. All times 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.

September, 2010

Sept. 3 (Fri.), 12:30 pm, TCM – They Met in Bombay (1941).

Sept. 6 (Mon), 9:30 pm, FLIX – The Patsy (1964).

Sept. 6 (Mon), 5:10 am, Cinemax – Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Sept. 9 (Thurs), 7:35 am, FLIX – The Patsy (1964).

Sept. 12 (Sun), 6 am, FLIX – The Patsy (1964).

Sept. 12 (Sun), 3:25 pm, FLIX – The Patsy (1964).

Sept. 17 (Fri), 8:10 am, FLIX – The Patsy (1964).

Sept. 25 (Sat), 4:50 pm, FLIX – The Patsy (1964).

October, 2010

October means horror films on TCM, and a couple Lorre movies are part of the Halloween weekend horror fest this month.

Oct. 4 (Mon.), 7:30 am, The Movie Channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 8 (Fri.), 6 pm – Silk Stockings (1957).

Oct. 9 (Sat.), 6:40 am, The Movie Channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 15 (Fri.), 10:30 am, The Movie Channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 20 (Wed.), 11:45 am – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Oct 20 (Wed.), 12:30 am – All Through the Night (1942). Lou Lumenick, film critic for the New York Post, has selected this film for TCM’s Critic’s Choice Night.

Oct. 21 (Thurs.), 8 am – Passage to Marseille (1944).

Oct. 26 (Tues.), 9:30 am, The Movie Channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 30 (Sat.), 12:45 am – Mad Love (1935).

Oct. 31 (Sun.), 7 am, The Movie Channel – The Patsy (1964).

Oct. 31 (Sun), 1:30 pm – The Raven (1943).

November, 2010

Nov. 7 (Sun.), 2 am – M (1931). Peter Lorre's first sound film will be shown during an evening of films directed by Fritz Lang.

Nov. 10 (Wed.), 6 pm – Passage to Marseille (1944).

Nov. 13 (Sat.), 4:45 pm – Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

Nov. 23 (Tues.), 10:45 am – You’ll Find Out (1940).

Nov. 25 (Thurs.), 6:30 pm – My Favorite Brunette (1947).

Nov. 29 (Mon.), 9 pm – Casablanca (1942). Casablanca is one of several films tonight representing the 1940s during TCM's The History of Hollywood series in November.

Nov. 29 (Mon.), 4:30 am – Hollywood Canteen (1944).

December, 2010

Dec. 5 (Sun.), 6 pm – Casablanca (1942).

Dec. 9 (Thurs.), 6:30 pm – Quicksand (1950).

Dec. 31 (Fri.), 1:45 pm – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Happy viewing!

The Maltese Falcon at the Lakewood Public Library

2010-08-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 4, 2010, as part of its film series "Fall Guys and Femme Fatales: Film Noir in the Forties", the Lakewood Public Library in Lakewood, OH, will show The Maltese Falcon (Warner Bros., 1941). The program begins at 6 p.m. in the Auditorium in the Main Library. Admission is free.

The Main branch of the Lakewood Public Library is located at 15425 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH. Parking is available in the lot behind the library, off Arthur Avenue, in addition to both metered and unmetered street parking. For more information, please call the library at (216) 226-8275. Directions, including public transportation, can be found here on the library’s website.

Film Appreciation instructor Terry Meehan will host the “Fall Guys and Femme Fatales” series with a discussion about the films, the directors, and the film noir genre, as well as short documentaries on the filmmakers who developed the genre.

“Fall Guys and Femme Fatales” is one of three movie series at the Lakewood Public Library this fall. Also on the schedule are “Five Star Films” and the “Lakewood Public Cinema”.

All film series will be shown for free on the library's digital projection system.

The Maltese Falcon Onscreen in New Orleans

2010-05-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

The Prytania Theater will once again host a classic movie series this summer, with The Maltese Falcon (Warner Bros., 1941) showing at noon on May 15, 16, and 19, Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. The series will be hosted by the cinema's owner, Rene Brunet, acknowledged as an expert on film, as well as a New Orleans theater historian – and instantly recognizable in his "movie necktie".

The Prytania is located at 5339 Prytania Street, in New Orleans, La. For more information, please call (504) 891-2787.

Ticket prices are $5.50 for all ages before 6 p.m. After 6 p.m., prices are as follows – $8.50 for adults; $7.50 for college students; and $6.50 for children under 12 and seniors over 62.

In late 1944, Peter Lorre went on a “house act” tour of the east coast. For two months, he appeared on the stages of the largest downtown movie theaters and performed a dramatic spot titled “The Man With the Head of Glass”, written specially for him by Frank Wilson. During the week of Oct. 12, the St. Charles in New Orleans was his penultimate stop.

In the lobby of the Prytania are photos of many New Orleans movie theaters. The St. Charles may be among them. And if not, perhaps Mr. Brunet has a story or two to tell about that cinema. . . .

"Peter Lorre vs Peter Lorre" on BBC Radio, May 10, 2010

2010-05-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

In late 1963, Peter Lorre found himself involved in a strange legal case involving one Eugene Weingand.

In July 1963, the young German immigrant Weingand applied to change his name legally to "Peter Lorie, Jr.", claiming two reasons – (1) everyone called him "Peter Lorie" and (2) his own name was too hard to pronounce.

The real Peter Lorre objected to this attempt to trade on his name. Peter had no problem with people who wanted to imitate him. "I am without a question of a doubt the most imitated man in night clubs." But to take his name was something entirely different. "My name to me is a reward. It means to me everything that encompasses me in relationship to others."

On Oct. 3, 1963, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County considered Weingand's petition.

On Sept. 1, 2008, BBC Radio 4 dramatized the resulting trial in an original play called "Peter Lorre vs Peter Lorre", based on actual trial transcripts. On Monday, May 10, 2010, the play will be rebroadcast over BBC Radio 4, FM only, at 2:15 p.m., British Standard Time.

Lorre fans around the world may listen over the BBC Radio 4 website. And for one week following transmission, the play will be available through the BBC 4 website’s iPlayer.

In his Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin details what happened following the trial. Months after Peter's death on March 23, 1964, Eugene Weingand reapplied and was permitted to change his name legally to "Peter Lorre, Jr". He also pursued a career in acting, appearing in small roles in Made-for-TV movies such as The Cat Creature (1973) and an episode of Get Smart! (1965) as a suspected KAOS agent.

And he didn’t mind letting other people believe – incorrectly – that he was the son of the real Peter Lorre.

Update:

"Peter Lorre vs Peter Lorre" is now available for MP3 download through Amazon. More information, including links, can be found on the Peter Lorre on Radio page on the official website of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre.

Stranger on the Third Floor On-Screen, Apr. 23, 2010

2010-04-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

As part of their series “The Newspaper Picture”, the Film Forum in New York City will be showing Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) on a double-bill with While the City Sleeps (directed by Fritz Lang, 1956).

Newspaper reporter Michael Ward (John McGuire) finds his career on the rise when he covers the sensational story of a local café owner’s murder and the suspect’s (Elisha Cook Jr) arrest and trial. But when his odious third-floor neighbor is killed in the same way, Michael fears he could be arrested on circumstantial evidence – unless his loyal fiancée Jane (Margaret Tallichet) can track down a mysterious stranger (Peter Lorre) lurking around Michael’s boarding house . . . .

Show-times for Stranger on the Third Floor are 1 p.m., 4:40 p.m. and 8:25 p.m. The 8:25 p.m. screening will be introduced by a special guest – Catherine Wyler, daughter of actress Margaret Tallichet and director William Wyler.

The Film Forum is located at 209 West Houston Street, between 6th and 7th avenues, in New York City. For more information, please call the Box Office at (212) 727-8110. Directions, including parking and public transportation, can be found here at the Film Forum website.

Tickets may be purchased at the theater on the day of the showing only. The Film Forum’s pricing policy for a double feature – two films for the price of one – is in effect for this screening.

Lorre Films on TV This Spring

2010-04-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

Lorre movies from several different studios are on the Turner Classic Movies schedule over the next three months.

Peter Lorre's page on the TV Now website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.

All times are Eastern Standard.

April, 2010

Apr. 19 (Mon.), 6 p.m. – All Through the Night (1942). As Pepi, Peter appeared in his second film with pal Humphrey Bogart, and his first with Karen Verne, who in 1945 became the second Mrs. Lorre.

Apr. 30 (Fri.), 8 p.m. – Background to Danger (1943). Peter Lorre plays Russian spy Nikolai Zaleshoff, working with and against American agent Joe Barton (George Raft). Watch for the scene in the Zaleshoffs' apartment – during filming of this sequence, Raft took exception to Peter's smoking and scene-stealing and decked him. Peter's stuntman Harvey Parry, who also doubled him on the Mr. Moto films of the late 1930s, tells the story in Stephen Youngkin's book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre.

May, 2010

A rarely-televised Lorre film is the lone entry on the schedule this month.

May 24 (Mon.), 8:15 a.m. – The Face Behind the Mask (1941). One of the few films in which Peter took the leading role. He plays Janos Szabo, a Hungarian watchmaker who immigrates to the U.S., but finds his new life utterly changed when he becomes horribly scarred in a fire.

June, 2010

This month is Peter Lorre's 106th birthday, and a couple Lorre films that don't usually get much play will be shown.

June 4 (Fri.) – Peter Lorre at sea in:

They Met in Bombay (1941) at 6 a.m. – "Oh, but this is no passenger ship, sir," Capt. Chang (Lorre) tells Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell, jewel thieves attempting to escape Bombay (now Mumbai) aboard the Chinese skipper's tramp steamer. "Of course, almost anything may be done for money." And for Capt. Chang, that includes double-crossing his passengers for the £50,000 reward on their heads.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) at 10 p.m. – A ship of another kind – a "submerging boat" – is the setting for Peter Lorre's only film at the Walt Disney studio. To publicize the film, Peter appeared with his 20,000 Leagues co-stars on two episodes of Disneyland, the Disney television program: "The Disneyland Story", Oct. 27, 1954, the series' premiere episode; and "Monsters of the Deep", Jan. 19, 1955, which highlighted the film's set-piece: a fight with a giant squid.

Many Lorre movies have been remastered and packaged in DVDs loaded with extra features. For more information on the films of Peter Lorre released to home video, head to the DVD — VHS section of The Lost One website.

Happy viewing!

Daemen College Screens M on Apr. 19, 2010

2010-04-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Apr. 19, 2010, the classic German film M will be shown in the Wick Center – Charles J. Wick Campus Center – at Daemen College in Amherst, NY. Chris Wilson, Director of Computer Services on campus, will be the commentator.

The program begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Daemen College is located at 4380 Main Street in Amherst, NY. Parking is available behind the Wick Center, as well as other locations on campus.

Peter Lorre was 26 when famed German director Fritz Lang cast him in the role of a serial child murderer who terrorizes Berlin and is finally brought to justice by the Underworld. It was a role that catapulted Lorre to fame, contracts with American movie studios, and a place in motion picture history.

But it wasn’t his first time before the movie cameras. It was his second.

Lorre’s first movie was a silent film called Die verschwundene Frau (The Missing Wife), released in 1929 through Österreichisches Filmindustrie and directed by Karl Leiter. Peter appeared in the small role of a patient visiting a dentist, and his participation in the film was a secret he took with him to the grave. He told no one – not his brothers, not Celia Lovsky, with whom he was living at the time, and not the many reporters who interviewed him over the years. It wasn’t until 1996, during the restoration of a nitrate print found in a Belgian archive that his first screen appearance was revealed.

Photos of Peter as the dental patient are included in Stephen D. Youngkin’s Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre. The Missing Wife is discussed in Chapter 1, “Facemaker”, while the production of M is chronicled in Chapter 2, “M is for Morphine”.

Arsenic and Old Lace On-Screen Apr. 17-18, 2010

2010-04-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

In Arsenic and Old Lace, Peter Lorre’s character Dr. Einstein nips continuously from a bottle of Scotch he keeps in his jacket pocket. This weekend, Lorre fans in New Haven, CT, can enjoy mimosas before viewing Arsenic and Old Lace at the Criterion Cinema, one of the Bow Tie Cinema chain.

This Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 17 and 18, 2010, Arsenic and Old Lace will be shown at the Criterion Cinema as part of their classic film series “Movies and Mimosas”. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. The program begins at 11 a.m.

General admission is $5. For Criterion Club members, admission is $4 with the Club Loyalty card. Tickets may also be purchased on-line through the theater’s website.

The Criterion Cinema is located at 86 Temple Street, at the corner of Temple and George streets, New Haven, CT. Discount parking is available directly across the street in the Temple Street garage. On weekends, valet parking is also available across the street. For showtimes and information, please call the Criterion Cinema at (203) 498-2500.

Filmed in the fall of 1941, Arsenic and Old Lace was Peter’s second movie at Warner Brothers, following The Maltese Falcon. It would not be released until October 1944, after the Broadway play ended its run. By then, Peter was a year into his contract with Warners and at the height of his career, with frequent radio appearances and a tour of dramatic readings on the stages of the largest movie theaters on the East Coast – in addition to such classic Warners films as Casablanca and The Mask of Dimitrios.

All Through the Night at the Brooklyn Public Library

2010-04-11T00:20:00.000-07:00

As an entry in the film series "War and the City", All Through the Night (Warner Bros., 1942) will be shown at the Central Library branch of the Brooklyn Public Library on Tuesday, April 13, 2010.

The program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Dweck Center – Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture. Admission is free.

The Central Library branch is located at 10 Grand Army Plaza, in Brooklyn, NY. For more information, please call (718) 230-2100.

In All Through the Night , Peter Lorre plays Pepi, the piano-playing hitman of a gang of Nazi saboteurs (or “Fifth Colyuminsts”, as Humphrey Bogart calls them) planning to destroy an American military vessel in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It was the second film Peter made with his pal Bogie – and his first with Karen Verne (billed as Kaaren Verne).

For his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), Stephen Youngkin interviewed director Vincent Sherman on the making of the film – and the off-screen romance between Peter and Karen, who married on May 25, 1945. Sherman also joined Bogart biographer Eric Lax on the audio commentary track for All Through the Night, included in the Humphrey Bogart: Signature Collection, Vol. II (2006).

It’s Rondo Time Again!

2010-04-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

It doesn’t look like much – a small gray bust of a 1940s horror-film actor – but to those lucky enough to win one, it’s as precious as any prize.

It’s the Rondo – a yearly award where the voters are ordinary fans of science-fiction, horror, and fantasy, and the categories include Movies, TV, DVDs, Restorations, Books, Magazines, Magazine Covers, Websites, Blogs, Fan Events, and more.

In the spring of 2006, Stephen D. Youngkin’s book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky) won the Rondo for Best Book of 2005.

This year, there are two other Lorre items on the ballot:

#4 – Best Classic DVD Collection: Among the nominees is the 4-film, 2-disc box-set Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics, released Oct. 6, 2008, and including You’ll Find Out (1940), co-starring Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi in their one and only on-screen teaming in this comic take on the “old dark house” horror staple.

#12 – Best Magazine Article of 2009: Among the nominees is “Peter Lorre: The Lost One Is Found”, written by Herbert Shadrak for the Cinema Retro website, Apr. 4, 2009. The article is both an interview with author Stephen Youngkin and a discussion of Lorre’s career.

Voting is by eMail only and ends Saturday, April 3, at midnight, Eastern Standard Time. The official ballot and instructions, as well as the history of the awards and a list of past winners, can be found here on the Rondo website.

The winners will be announced on the Rondo website as well as the Classic Horror Film Board, in the folder “Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards”.

Happy voting!

Peter Lorre on Radio – Mar. 6, 2010

2010-03-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

Old-time radio fans – as well as fans of Peter’s work in radio – may want to tune in on Saturday, March 6, 2010, to Chicago radio station WDCB, where Those Were the Days, hosted by Steve Darnall, airs series’ episodes from the Golden Age of radio – including original commercials.

The program airs from 1 to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Today’s line-up, titled “Radio Goes to the Cats”, includes “The Black Cat”, the penultimate installment in Peter Lorre’s 13-week NBC series Mystery in the Air. Based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, this episode tells the story of Charles (Lorre), who strangles his pet cat and is then haunted by his deed when a cat with similar markings shows up.

Today’s complete schedule of 30-minute programs:

Mysterious Traveler (July 2, 1944), “Queen of the Cats”

Father Knows Best (Apr. 2, 1953) – Bud starts a business selling Panama cats

The Shadow (Jan. 12, 1947), “The Cat and the Killer”

Claudia (Nov. 24, 1947), Claudia gives her cat Shakespeare a bath

Frontier Gentleman (Aug. 10, 1958), “The Cat Man”

Fibber McGee and Molly (Oct. 14, 1947), Teeny’s cat hides under the McGees’ front porch

Mystery in the Air (Sept. 18, 1947), “The Black Cat”

Those Were the Days may be heard over WDBC 90.9 or through streaming audio on the station’s website.

Each installment of Those Were the Days is also available on demand for one week, beginning the following Tuesday, through the Nostalgia Digest website. To listen to the most recent broadcast, click on the dial on the image of the antique radio.

Mystery in the Air was a summer replacement series for The Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Show. On June 26, 1947 – his 43rd birthday – Peter appeared at the close of Bud and Lou’s final show of the season to announce his upcoming series. Beginning July 3, and for 12 weeks following, Lorre starred in mystery and suspense stories “culled from the four corners of world literature”, as well as some original radio scripts, such as “The Marvelous Barastro”. The series ended on Sept. 25, 1947, with an adaptation of Peter’s own film version of Crime and Punishment (Columbia, 1935).

For his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), Stephen Youngkin interviewed Harry Morgan, “The Voice of Mystery” and host of Mystery in the Air, about his experiences working with Lorre on the show. His recollections are amusing and enlightening – as Peter Lorre was an actor who played to the microphone and ended each program bathed in perspiration because he had just given a fantastic vocal performance.

In the Appendix, The Lost One also includes a list of Peter Lorre’s radio credits, many of which are available for purchase through internet dealers such as Radio Showcase.

Take a Class on "Peter Lorre"

2009-10-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

From Oct. 6 to Nov. 3, 2009, Lorre fans in Vero Beach, Florida, will be able to study the life and career of the classic film actor.

“The World of Peter Lorre” will be offered through the Education and Film Department at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. Warren Obluck, the museum’s film studies coordinator, will lead the discussions and screen several Lorre movies, including M (1931), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Beat the Devil (1953), and Silk Stockings (1957).

In addition, Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) – the first of the eight Mr. Moto detective films Lorre made at 20th Century-Fox in the late 1930s – will be shown in serial style at the beginning of each class session.

The 5-week class will be held in the Leonhardt Auditorium every Tuesday, beginning Oct. 6 and ending Nov. 3. Two sessions are available – afternoons at 1:30 p.m. and evenings at 7 p.m. The cost is $55, $45 for Museum members.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is located in Riverside Park, at 3001 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach, Florida. Free parking is available on campus.

Registration for the fall term began Sept. 8 and continues during Museum hours in the Education Wing or at the main lobby Visitor Services desk throughout the term. Students may register in-person between 4 and 6 p.m., or by phone between 5 and 6 p.m.

For information about registration or any classes, contact Ellyn Giordano, Museum Art School Manager, (772) 231-0707, extension 116. For more information on “The World of Peter Lorre”, call (772) 231-0707, extension 136.

Why a class on Peter Lorre? As instructor Warren Obluck stated in a recent interview with TCPalm, Lorre was “so amazingly talented and so remarkably underused in the United States that audiences never had the opportunity to discover what he was all about.” Through Peter’s movies and a discussion of his personal life, Obluck intends to help students “understand Lorre’s range as an actor.”

Text for the “World of Peter Lorre” course is not announced on the VBMA’s website – but a good choice would certainly be Stephen D. Youngkin’s The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), Peter’s authorized biography.

My Favorite Brunette On-Screen, Sept. 23, 2009

2009-09-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

The comedy-mystery My Favorite Brunette (Paramount, 1947) is the Curator’s Choice for September at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Bob Hope stars as baby photographer Ronnie Jackson, who longs to be a private detective like his next door office neighbor Sam McCloud (Alan Ladd). He gets the chance when he’s mistaken for McCloud by Dorothy Lamour. Hired to find her missing uncle, Ronnie gets more than he bargained for when he runs up against a gang of criminals led by Major Simon Montague (Charles Dingle) and his “hitman” Kismet (Peter Lorre).

The film begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are free.

The Tri-Cities Historical Museum is located in two separate buildings. My Favorite Brunette will be shown in the Akeley Building, at 200 Washington Ave., Grand Haven, Michigan.

For more information, contact the museum at (616) 842-0700.

To help publicize My Favorite Brunette, Peter Lorre made a guest appearance on Bob Hope’s radio program, The Pepsodent Show, on May 13, 1947. With a little “creep” music from Pepsodent Show bandleader Desi Arnaz, Hope and Lorre spoof the radio series Inner Sanctum Mysteries.

Lorre Films This Fall

2009-09-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

With the combined archives of the Warner Bros., MGM, and RKO studios, the cable TV channel Turner Classic Movies runs more Peter Lorre movies than any other American television channel. From now until New Year’s Eve, Lorre fans have much to look forward to.

Peter Lorre’s page on the TV Now website lists the Lorre films scheduled on various television channels over a 2-week period.

All times are Eastern Standard.

September, 2009

Claude Rains is TCM’s “Star of the Month” for September. The schedule includes both films he made with Peter Lorre.

Sept. 2 (Wed.), 10:15 p.m. – Casablanca (1942). Peter Lorre appears in the pivotal role of Ugarte, who gets the action going by leaving with Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) two valuable letters of transit.

Sept. 16 (Wed.), 8 p.m. – Passage to Marseille (1944). As the convict Marius, Peter Lorre joins four other Devil’s Island prisoners (Bogart, George Tobias, Philip Dorn, and Helmut Dantine) to escape and fight for France in the early days of World War II. The story’s unusual “flashback-within-flashback” structure follows the novel, Men Without Country, by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

Sept. 17 (Thurs.), 2 a.m. – Hollywood Canteen (1944). Peter Lorre plays himself in a short scene he and Sydney Greenstreet wrote, spoofing their screen image as nefarious characters. “Hey, Sydney, doesn’t that constitute ‘mayhem’?” “Definitely, Peter!”

Sept. 18 (Fri.), 6 p.m. – Strange Cargo (1940). As Monsieur Pig, Peter Lorre loves Joan Crawford and reports escaped convicts – such as Clark Gable – to the authorities in a penal colony in French Guiana.

October, 2009

October means Halloween and horror films on Turner Classic Movies. This month, the following horror and non-horror Lorre films will be shown.

Oct. 4 (Sun.), 6:15 a.m. – The Beast With Five Fingers (1946). The second of only two serious horror films Peter Lorre made in his career. His librarian Hilary Cummins seeks answers in astrology books and escape from the hand of his deceased employer (Victor Francen).

Oct. 4 (Sun.), 7:45 a.m. – Mad Love (1935). Peter’s first horror film, and his first film in the U.S. He plays the brilliant surgeon Dr. Gogol, who grafts the hands of an executed knife-thrower onto the wrists of a concert pianist – not realizing the hands would remember their previous deadly skill.

Oct. 7 (Wed.), 12 p.m. – All Through the Night (1942). As Pepi, a Nazi spy operating in New York City with a gang of Nazi spies, Peter Lorre played a character similar to his Hans Beckert in M – a murderer pursued by both the police and underworld figures. It was Peter’s second movie with his pal, Humphrey Bogart. And his first and only film with Karen Verne, who in 1945 became the second Mrs. Lorre.

Oct. 10 (Sat.), 6 a.m. – Tales of Terror (1962). As the drunken Montressor Herringbone, Peter Lorre appears in the middle segment of this trio of Edgar Allen Poe tales and brings a comic touch to the horrific proceedings.

Oct. 17 (Sat.), 10 a.m. – Passage to Marseille (1944).

Oct. 27 (Tues.), 9:15 a.m. – Beat the Devil (1954). As Julius O’Hara, Peter Lorre teamed up for the last time with Humphrey Bogart and director John Huston in this satire filmed on location in Italy.

Oct. 31 (Sat.), 5:15 a.m. – Mad Love (1935).

The Hallmark Movie Channelwill air 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) on these dates:

Oct. 9 (Fri.), 8 p.m.
Oct. 10 (Sat), 1 p.m.
Oct. 21 (Wed.), 10:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 (Thurs.), 7 p.m.

November, 2009

November brings two Lorre films that are TCM staples, as well as movies that don’t get as much play.

Nov. 2 (Mon.), 12 p.m. – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). Peter Lorre’s Dr. Einstein is a private plastic surgeon to a murderer in this humorous Halloween tale of two sweet old ladies whose “charity” involves disposing of elderly gentlemen with a glass of elderberry wine – laced with a potent mixture of arsenic, strychnine, and just a pinch of cyanide.

Nov. 8 (Sun.), 12 p.m. – The Maltese Falcon (1941). Peter Lorre’s performance as Joel Cairo, in search of a fabulous golden jewel-covered statuette, led to a contract with Warner Brothers – and a lifelong friendship with Humphrey Bogart.

Nov. 18 (Wed.), 6 a.m. – You’ll Find Out (1940). Kay Kyser and his “Kollege of Musical Knowledge” band provided the musical interludes in this “mysterious old house” horror-comedy. Teaming up for the first (and only) time with horror-film stars Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre also appeared with the two actors on Kyser’s radio show to promote the movie.

Nov. 23 (Mon.), 1:30 a.m. – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). Peter Lorre’s first English-speaking film role and first collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock led to a contract with Columbia Studios, passage to America with his wife Celia Lovsky, U.S. citizenship, and a long career in American films, radio, television, and stage.

Nov. 27 (Fri.), 12 a.m. – The Shaggy D.A. (1976). Not exactly a “Peter Lorre film”, but it’s one of many films featuring a Lorre-like character – in this case, a Boston Terrier plotting with several other dogs (among them, Humphrey Bogart as a bloodhound and Mae West as a poodle) to escape from the pound.

Nov. 28 (Sat.), 6 p.m. – Casablanca (1942).

December, 2009

Humphrey Bogart is December’s “Star of the Month” on TCM, and among the films scheduled are all five of the movies he made with Peter Lorre.

Dec. 1 (Tues.), 6:30 a.m. – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934).

Dec. 3 (Thurs), 11 a.m. – Three Strangers (1946). Peter Lorre’s Johnny West is an innocent who gets caught up in a sensational murder trial – and becomes partners with Jerome Arbutny (Sydney Greenstreet) and Crystal Shackleford (Geraldine Fitzgerald) on a sweepstakes ticket. On meeting Joan Lorring, who plays his love interest, Icy Crane, Peter kidded her by saying, “All of my dreams of playing with the most glamorous women, and here is my first romantic part, and look what I get to play with!”

Dec. 7 (Mon.), 2:15 a.m. – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Dec. 16 (Wed.), 6 a.m. – Becoming Attractions: Humphrey Bogart (1996). This documentary on the promotion of Bogart through his movie trailers at Warner Brothers includes discussions of the four films he made with Peter Lorre at the studio in the early 1940s.

Dec. 16 (Wed.) – A Bogart-Lorre triple feature with:
All Through the Night (1942) at 4:15 p.m.,
The Maltese Falcon (1941) at 8 p.m., and
Casablanca (1942) at 10 p.m.

Dec. 22 (Tues.), 1 a.m. – Silk Stockings (1957). As the Russian comissar Brankov, Peter Lorre enjoyed himself in a part that called for singing and dancing with co-stars Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Jules Munshin, and Joseph Buloff.

Dec. 23 (Wed.), 11 a.m. – Passage to Marseille (1944).

Dec. 30 (Wed.), 11:30 p.m. – Beat the Devil (1954).

Many of these movies have been remastered and packaged in DVDs loaded with extra features. For more information on the films of Peter Lorre released to home video, head to the DVD – VHS section of The Lost One website.

Happy viewing!

Students! “Peter Lorre” Class Begins in October!

2009-09-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

From Oct. 6 to Nov. 3, 2009, Lorre fans in Vero Beach, Florida, will be able to study the life and career of the classic film actor.

“The World of Peter Lorre” will be offered through the Education and Film Department at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. Warren Obluck, the museum’s film studies coordinator, will lead the discussions and screen several Lorre movies, including M (1931), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Beat the Devil (1953), and Silk Stockings (1957).

The 5-week class will be held in the Leonhardt Auditorium every Tuesday, beginning Oct. 6 and ending Nov. 3. Two sessions are available – afternoons at 1:30 p.m. and evenings at 7 p.m. The cost is $55, $45 for Museum members.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is located in Riverside Park, at 3001 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach, Florida. Free parking is available on campus.

Registration for the fall term begins Sept. 8, at 4 p.m. and continues during Museum hours in the Education Wing or at the main lobby Visitor Services desk throughout the term, beginning Sept. 28. Students may register in-person between 4 and 6 p.m., or by phone between 5 and 6 p.m.

For information about registration or any classes, contact Ellyn Giordano, Museum Art School Manager, (772) 231-0707, extension 116. For more information on “The World of Peter Lorre”, call (772) 231-0707, extension 136.

Text for the “World of Peter Lorre” course is not announced on the VBMA’s website – but a good choice would certainly be The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, the authorized biography of Peter Lorre, written by Stephen D. Youngkin.

Scent of Mystery at the ArcLight Hollywood, Sept. 8, 2009

2009-09-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Peter Lorre fans in the Los Angeles area are in for a special treat. The 1960 film Scent of Mystery will be shown at the ArcLight Hollywood on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009.

Billed as Holiday in Spain for this showing – the title given to the “scent-less” version of the film – the movie tells the story of a British tourist (Denholm Eliott) who accidentally discovers a plot to murder a young woman (Beverly Bentley). With a genial cabdriver (Peter Lorre) as his chauffeur, the intrepid tourist follows the would-be victim through Spain in an attempt to rescue her.

Holiday in Spain will be shown on a double-bill with The Golden Head, which begins at 8 p.m. Holiday in Spain is scheduled for 10 p.m.

The ArcLight Hollywood is located at 6360 W. Sunset Boulevard, between Vine and Ivar, in Hollywood. A 7-level parking garage is located close to the theater, which offers a maximum of 4 hours validation of $2 with the purchase of a movie ticket. Regular rates apply after the validation period.

Tickets may be purchased over the theater's website, at the theater, over the phone, or at ArcLight kiosks. Seats may be selected in advance.

Scent of Mystery is a rarely-seen film, never released to DVD or VHS. Long-thought lost, it surfaced in the 1980s for a couple showings on television. The ArcLight’s print is reportedly not the best, with faded colors and a magenta haze.

During its original run in January, 1960, Scent of Mystery was accompanied by odors released into the theater at key moments to provide clues to the mystery – or as director Jack Cardiff put it, “whiff gags”. Unfortunately, an efficient method of clearing the auditoriums’ air between showings was not available, and Scent of Mystery and “Smell-O-Vision” were a short-lived novelty.

A discussion of the making of Scent of Mystery can be found in Chapter 9 of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005), by Stephen D. Youngkin.

Peter Lorre Films in Two Venues on August 8, 2009

2009-08-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

Two of Peter Lorre’s Warner Brothers classics – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and Casablanca (1942) will be shown in different cities this Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009.

Arsenic and Old Lace at the Palace Theater in Cleveland, OH

2009-08-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Palace Theatre, one of four grand old theaters built in the 1920s, rescued from demolition and lovingly restored in Cleveland’s historic Playhouse Square, will be showing a number of classic and modern films in August as part of their annual “Cinema at the Square” festival, now in its 12th year.

On Saturday, Aug. 8, Arsenic and Old Lace is on the schedule, with a showtime of 8:30 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults, and $4 for students, seniors, and children under 12. A series pass, good for 6 movies, is available for $15. The ticket office is located in the lobby of the State Theater and opens from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on show days. Tickets may also be ordered by calling (216) 241-6000 or (866) 546-1353, or online through the Playhouse Square website.

The Palace Theatre is located at 1501 Euclid Avenue, in Cleveland, Ohio. Parking is available at E. 15th and Chester Avenue, with an enclosed walkway from the garage to the theater. Prepaid parking passes may be purchased for $7.50 at the ticket office.

Arsenic and Old Lace was Peter Lorre’s second film for Warner Brothers; he began work on the picture shortly after wrapping on The Maltese Falcon in the fall of 1941. However, the movie would not be released until October 1944, when the play ended its run on Broadway. By then, Peter Lorre was under contract at Warners and a valued member of their stock company.

Casablanca at a Secret “Drive-In” in Stamford, CT

2009-08-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Lehrfield’s Stamford “Drive-In” Theater will be running their summer film series from June until Labor Day weekend. Not actually a “Drive-In Theater”, but a recreation of the drive-in theater experience of yesteryear by a small group of film-lovers, with a huge outdoor screen and film projectors, not DVD players. Attendees bring blankets and lawn chairs to sit on the grass.

Refreshments include free popcorn, popped in a movie theater style popcorn machine, and any chips, dip, and other snacks brought by the other moviegoers. Beverages, such as soda, beer, or wine, are “bring your own”.

On Saturday, August 8, Casablanca (1943) will be shown at 8 p.m., preceded by movie trailers of coming attractions, cartoons, and a short subject.

Attendance is by invitation only. To join the mailing list and receive directions, complete the form located on the “theater’s” Home Page and here.

Casablanca was the third movie Peter Lorre made at Warner Bros. with his pal Humphrey Bogart. Peter later claimed he made more money playing the set’s roulette wheel between takes than he did in the small, but pivotal role of Ugarte, who begins the film’s main action by leaving with Rick Blaine (Bogart) a pair of valuable exit visas.

The Man Who Knew Too Much Onscreen in Arcata, CA

2009-06-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

The historic Arcata Theatre has been around since 1938, opening with the 20th Century-Fox film Thin Ice, starring Fox players Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power. Peter Lorre films such as entries in the Mr. Moto series were no doubt on the schedule at one time, too. But on Sunday, June 21, the Arcata Theatre Lounge will be showing a film from 1934 – Lorre’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (Gaumont British), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Show times are at 4 p.m., 6:05 p.m., and 8 p.m. The box office will open 15 minutes before each show.

Admission is $4 before 6 p.m., and $5 after 6 p.m.

All screenings are 13 and over. Anyone under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The Arcata Theatre Lounge is located at 1036 G. Street in Arcata, CA.

Peter Lorre spoke very little English – only “yes” and “no”, picked up from his days in the foreign exchange department at the Anglo-Österreichischen Bank in Vienna – when Hitchcock and his producer Ivor Montague cast him as Abbott, the anarchist leader in The Man Who Knew Too Much. But two to three months later, with the help of an English-language tutor, plus mentally translating his lines into German to understand their meaning, Peter had more than a working knowledge of English by the time filming began.

And during filming – and in full wardrobe and make-up – he also took time out to marry his long-time love, Celia Lovsky, who had come with him from Paris.

Peter’s success in this film led to a contract with Columbia Studios, and a long journey from Southampton, England, to New York City, to Los Angeles and the start of his film and radio career in Hollywood.

“Addicted to Bad Ideas” in Toronto, June 12, 2009

2009-06-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

The World/Inferno Friendship Society will bring their show Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre’s 20th Century to Toronto, Canada, on Friday, June 12, 2009, at 11 p.m. They will perform as part of the Luminato festival at the Phoenix Concert Theatre.

Headed by Jack Terricloth, who performs as Peter Lorre, the show examines Lorre’s life through a total of 12 punk rock songs, while scenes from Lorre films appear on three large screens behind the band.

Why Peter Lorre? According to Jay Scheib, the show’s director, “He was always the guy who played guys who killed people. But he was a brilliant artist who worked with Hitchcock, Lang, and the best. He survived two World Wars. We are sympathetic to his life, which was this amazing arc of humanity." (Charleston City Paper, May 27, 2009)

The Phoenix Concert Theatre is located at 410 Sherbourne, Toronto, Canada.

Showtime is at 11 p.m. Doors open at 9 p.m.

Tickets are $35 and may be purchased through Ticketmaster online or by phone, at (416) 870-8000.

For more information on the World/Inferno Friendship Society, please visit the group’s website. Marc Overton’s interview with Jack Terricloth at Spoleto (Charleston, SC) is available on-line through Classical Public Radio. Scroll down to the entry dated “May 29, 2009” and click on the “Listen” icon at the Terricloth interview.

An Interview with Stephen Youngkin

2009-05-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Peter Lorre’s biographer, Stephen Youngkin, will appear May 26, 2009, on the internet radio program Dave White Presents, broadcasting over KSAV through their website Tuesdays, 7:30 to 9 p.m. on the West coast, and 10:30 to midnight on the East coast.

Dr. Wesley Britton, author of four books on fictional espionage and co-host of Dave White Presents, will talk with Stephen about his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005).

Other guests on the show include – singer/songwriter Lindsay Rush, author Steve Cox (One Fine Stooge), musical group The FUMP, and The Dave White Singers.

Past installments of Dave White Presents are available through the archive at the Audio Entertainment Group website. Click on the Past Programs link, in the menu on the left side of the screen. All programs are also available to download as MP3 files.

Spend an Evening with Peter Lorre

2009-05-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

On Monday, May 4, 2009, the Turner Classic Movies channel will be showing back-to-back four of Peter’s best and most interesting films. They’re part of an evening of TCM host Robert Osborne’s Picks.

11:15 p.m. – Crime and Punishment (1935)

1:15 a.m. – Three Strangers (1946)

3:00 a.m. – The Verdict (1946)

Island of Doomed Men (1940) follows at 4:30 a.m.

Robert Osborne’s Picks begins at 8 p.m. with Payment Deferred and The Big Clock.

Other Lorre films in May include:

May 26, 8 a.m. – Hollywood Canteen (1944)

May 28, 2 p.m. – Silk Stockings (1957)

All times are Eastern Standard.

Casbah at the Hammer Museum, May 3, 2009

2009-05-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

Casbah (Universal, 1948) will be shown on Sunday, May 3, 2009, at the Billy Wilder Theater, located on the Courtyard level of the Hammer Museum in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.

On a double-bill with The Woman I Stole (Columbia, 1933), Casbah is the musical renake of Algiers (1938) and stars singer Tony Martin as the gentleman jewel thief Pepe le Moko and Martin Toren as Gaby, the French tourist whose love lures Pepe from the safety of the Casbah and into the arms of the police – Peter Lorre as Inspector Slimane.

As Slimane, Peter enjoyed playing the pursuer, instead of the pursued, and received numerous excellent notices for his work.

The Hammer Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd., on the northeast corner of Westwood and Wilshire boulevards in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles.

Parking is available under the Museum. After 6 p.m., there is a flat rate of $3. During the Museum’s operating hours, rates are $3 for the first three hours with a Museum stamp, and $1.50 for each additional 20 minutes.

Admission is free. The program begins at 7 p.m., with The Woman I Stole, followed by Casbah.

The program is an installment in the film series “From Casablanca to Sahara: Hollywood’s North Africa”, running from May 1 to June 29. The complete schedule is available here. Peter Lorre’s film Casablanca will be shown on Saturday, June 6.

Note: Several dealers on eBay are offering Algiers on DVD – and listing Peter Lorre as one of the cast. This is incorrect. Algiers stars Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr, and Joseph Calleia in the key roles – not Peter Lorre.

Cinema Retro Reviews The Lost One

2009-04-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Cinema Retro, the premier website for films and television of the 1960s and ‘70s, has published a review of the Peter Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (University Press of Kentucky, 2005).

In his article “Peter Lorre: The Lost One is Found”, Canadian film writer Harvey Chartrand discusses the book and includes an interview with the author, Stephen D. Youngkin.

And with Cinema Retro editor-in-chief Lee Pfeiffer a big fan of Peter Lorre's, an upcoming edition of the magazine may contain Chartrand's article, too.

Der Verlorene in London

2009-03-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, April 7, Der Verlorene – the only movie Peter Lorre directed, co-wrote (as an original screenplay, not a novel), and co-produced – will be shown in London at the Goethe-Institut, as part of the film series After the War, Before the Wall: West German Cinema 1945-60.

The Goethe-Institut is located at 50 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PH.

Admission is £3.

The show will begin at 7 p.m.

For booking information, call +44 20 75964000.

The troubled making of Der Verlorene is documented in Chapter 8, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre by Stephen Youngkin through interviews he took with many who worked on the film before and behind the cameras.

Peter would no doubt be pleased by the attention Der Verlorene (which he translated as The Lost One) has received since the 1980s.

Library Presents Arsenic and Old Lace

2009-03-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Mar. 29, the Elmwood Park Public Library will be showing Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) at 1:30 p.m. in the Ferrentino Meeting Room, first floor.

The library is located at 4 W Conti Pkwy, Elmwood Park, IL 60707.

For more information, call Adult Services at (708) 395-1219.

A Sad Anniversary

2009-03-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

On this date, 45 years ago, Peter Lorre died – a few months before his birthday in June. He was 59.

He was found in his nightclothes, lying on the floor near the window of the bedroom in his small apartment off Hollywood Blvd. Apparently, he had got up to close or open the window and suffered a massive stroke.

He passed without a will or making his final wishes known. He was in the process of divorcing his third wife, Annemarie, the mother of his 10-year-old daughter Catharine.

Two days later, on Mar. 25, Peter was prepared for burial at Pierce Brothers, directly across the street from the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. Vincent Price, then in rehearsal for a guest spot on Red Skelton's TV variety show, got an extra hour off at lunch to deliver the eulogy. Red Skelton closed his show, and he and his cast and crew were among the many attending the funeral.

Peter was cremated and inurned privately at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery. His niche is in Corridor C of the Alcove of Reverence, in the Abbey of the Psalms, located in the corner of the cemetery closest to Paramount Studios, where he once worked on the 1947 film My Favorite Brunette, with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour.

Several rumors about Peter's ashes have been floating around the internet for years. That his urn was stolen is one of them. That Annemarie Lorre, who died in 1971 and was cremated, has her ashes comingled with Peter's. I asked his authorized biographer Stephen Youngkin about that. His response: "I'm sure Peter and Annemarie are in separate urns. So many crazy rumors. No one in the family ever mentioned the ashes being stolen. Not even Cathy."

Stephen's book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre contains the full text of Peter's eulogy, as delivered by Vincent Price. It's a beautiful testament not only to Peter, but to all actors.

Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery is now known as Hollywood Forever. Tours of the cemetery and the graves of its many famous residents are regularly given by Karie Bible; her website Cemetery Tour gives information about times and prices.

You can leave "virtual" flowers for Peter at his entry on the Find A Grave website.

Rest in peace, Peter Lorre. "In the hearts of those who love you, you will live on."

Cinema Retro Reviews Lorre Bio

2009-03-22T23:35:00.000-07:00

Canadian writer Harvey Chartrand will be reviewing the Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005) for Cinema Retro, a website and magazine for films and TV programs of the 1960s and '70s.

Titled "Peter Lorre: The Lost One Is Found", the review will include an interview with the book's author, Stephen Youngkin.

Look for more information on the publication date right here – on The Peter Lorre News Blog!

New Lorre Fanlist

2009-03-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

A new Lorre fanlist is now available on-line – Sinister: The Peter Lorre Fanlisting. The site includes a biographical sketch, a list of Peter's films, Lorre icons, Lorre desktop wallpaper, and a member roster.

To learn more or join the group, click on the button above.

Peter at the Midtown Cinema

2009-03-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

If you live in the Harrisburg, PA, area – or within an easy drive to Harrisburg – the Midtown Cinema will be showing The Maltese Falcon beginning Friday, March 13, as part of their recent classic film program.

Admission is $6 for adults.

Yahoo Movies has information on showtimes. Enter the theater's zip code – 17102 – in the "Browse by Location" box.

Peter on TCM in March and April, 2009

2009-03-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Turner Classic Movies channel will be showing the following Lorre movies in March:

Mar. 5, Thursday – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), 6:30 p.m. EST
Mar. 10, Tuesday – The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), 12:15 p.m. EST
Mar. 24, Tuesday – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), 7:30 a.m. EST

And in April:

Apr. 17, Friday – The Maltese Falcon (1941), 8:00 p.m. EST

Plus – Apr. 15, Wednesday – The Shaggy D.A. (1976), 6:15 p.m. EST. Not exactly a "Peter Lorre" film, but in the "dog pound" sequence, there's a Boston terrier who sounds very much like Peter.

Enjoy!

Introduction

2009-03-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

I first became a fan of Peter Lorre's in 1973.

It was easy back then to be a Lorre fan. Independent TV channels ran his movies all the time – although they were frequently cut to fit a particular time slot. And in northern California, there were plenty of "art houses" showing classic films.

These days, it's still possible to catch Lorre films such as The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca in theaters. (In fact, The Maltese Falcon was chosen as the first installment in 2008 of The Big Read.)

The Turner Classic Movies channel now runs many of the Lorre films formerly shown on independent stations. And a number of Peter's movies are now on DVD -- remastered, with extras such as audio commentaries, documentary features, and original theatrical trailers.

In this blog, I hope to alert Lorre fans to showings of his movies, as well as any other "Lorre" news.

Stay tuned!