Hitchcock Festival Includes Lorre

Lorre fans in the area of Palo Alto, California, will have the opportunity to catch Peter in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and Secret Agent (1936) on the screen of an historic movie theater when the Stanford Theatre presents “Hitchcock, Master of Suspense” – a month-long salute to British director Alfred Hitchcock.

Secret Agent will be shown Wednesday and Thursday, March 27 and 28, on a double-bill with The 39 Steps (1935). Secret Agent will begin at 7:30 pm.

The Man Who Knew Too Much will be shown Wednesday and Thursday, April 3 and 4, on a double-bill with Sabotage (1936). The Man Who Knew Too Much will begin at 5:55 pm and 9:10 pm.

The Hitchcock festival runs from Friday, March 8, to Sunday, April 14, 2019. The complete schedule is available on the Stanford Theatre website.

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

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

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

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

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

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin discusses the making of The Man Who Knew Too Much and Secret Agent, including interviews with director Alfred Hitchcock and executives at Gaumont-British, the studio producing the movies.

Although he spoke no English other than “yes” and “no”, Peter Lorre convinced Hitchcock he commanded the language by laughing uproariously at the director’s jokes when they first met. During the making of The Man Who Knew Too Much, Peter had the help of a tutor in English. He also translated all of his dialogue into German to understand the meaning.

And while filming The Man Who Knew Too Much, Peter sent for his long-time German girlfriend Celia Lovsky to come to England from France. They became husband and wife at Caxton Hall in London.

In addition to two movies directed by Hitchcock, Peter also made two appearances on the 1950s and 1960s anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

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

Hitchcock Fest at Red Barn Includes Lorre Film

The Red Barn Theater’s series of movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock continues on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013 in Saugatuck, Michigan, with Secret Agent (1936), the second Lorre-Hitchcock collaboration. The full schedule is available on the Red Barn website.

The program will begin at 6:30 pm upstairs in the Big House with a television show from the classic era of TV. Secret Agent will follow at 7 pm.

Tickets are available at the door. The suggested donation is $5.

Free popcorn will be available. Other concessions are $1.

The Red Barn Theater is located at 3657 63rd Street, in Saugatuck, Michigan. A Google map of directions to the theater is available on the Red Barn website. Parking is available at the theater.

For more information, please contact the theater at (269) 857-5300.

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin discusses the making of Secret Agent through interviews with director Alfred Hitchcock. The Gaumont-British film was Peter’s second and final movie with Hitchcock. Peter would not work again on a Hitchcock production until the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he appeared in two episodes of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

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

Harvard Film Archive Screens Two Lorre Hitchcock Films

The Harvard Film Archive’s summer film series “The Complete Alfred Hitchcock” will include two movies Peter Lorre made with the famed director – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and Secret Agent (1936).

The Man Who Knew Too Much will be shown Sunday, July 28, 2013, at 7 pm, followed by The Skin Game (1931).

Secret Agent will be shown the following Sunday, Aug. 4, at 7 pm, followed by Rich and Strange (1931).

Both films will be shown in 35mm film. The series will run from July 11 to September 28 and includes nine silent movies recently restored by the British Film Institute and accompanied by live piano. The full schedule may be found on the Harvard Film Archive’s website.

The Harvard Film Archive Cinematheque is located in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at 24 Quincy Street, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Directions to the HFA are available on the HFA website. For more information, please call the HFA at (617) 495-4700.

Tickets may be purchased at the Cinematheque on the lower level of the Carpenter Center 45 minutes before showtime. Members of the Harvard Film Archive may reserve tickets in advance for special event screenings.

Ticket prices are $9 for regular admission and $7 for Non-Harvard students, Harvard faculty and staff, and senior citizens. Special Event Ticket Prices are $12 for all patrons. Discounts are available for Harvard Film Archive members. More information about tickets may be found on the HFA website.

Parking is available at meters on Broadway and Harvard streets. The metered parking is free after 8 pm. The Harvard Film Archive is easily reached by public transportation, particularly the MBTA Red Line. More information about parking, including a map, is located on the HFA website.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen D. Youngkin discusses Peter Lorre’s experiences working with Alfred Hitchcock at Gaumont-British in the early 1930s. During filming of The Man Who Knew Too Much, Peter was able to take a break and marry his long-time love Celia Lovsky. Still in scar make-up and frosted hair for the part of Abbott, leader of the anarchists in London, Peter exchanged marriage vows with Celia at Caxton Hall in the West End. Although the marriage ended in 1945 with Peter's marriage to second wife Karen Verne, Peter and Celia remained close friends to the end of Peter’s life on March 23, 1964.

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

Secret Agent, Casablanca at the AFI Silver

Lorre fans will have an opportunity to catch two Peter Lorre movies at the American Film Institute theater in Silver Spring, MD, this weekend when both Secret Agent (1936) and Casablanca (1942) will be shown.

In honor of Alma Reville – Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock – and her contribution to her husband’s work, the AFI presents Mr. and Mrs. Hitchock, a series of Hitchcock movies from Feb. 3 to Apr. 10, 2013. Included in the retrospective is Secret Agent (1936), for which Alma Reville received on-screen credit as one of the screenwriters.

Casablanca is among the Special Engagements at the AFI.

Secret Agent will be shown on the following dates and times:

• Saturday, Feb. 16 – 1 pm
• Sunday, Feb. 17 – 5:25 pm
• Wednesday, Feb. 20 – 7:15 pm

Casablanca will be shown on these dates and times:

• Saturday, Feb. 16 – 7:15 pm
• Sunday, Feb. 17 – 3:15 pm
• Monday, Feb. 18 – 5:15 pm

Tickets are $11.50 for general admission; $9 for seniors 65 years and older, students, and the military (with proper ID); and $7 for children 12 and under. For AFI members, admission is $8.50. AFI Member Passes will be accepted for all movies in both series.

Tickets for may be reserved on-line through the AFI Silver website. Click the “Buy Tickets” button, then scroll to the title Secret Agent or Casablanca, click the link and select a show date and time. Tickets reserved on-line must be claimed at the box office with the same credit card used to make the reservation. The AFI Silver accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover credit cards.

Tickets may also be purchased at the AFI Silver box office, which opens 30 minutes before the first film of the day.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road, at the intersection of Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue, in Silver Spring, MD. Directions to the cinema may be found on the AFI Silver website.

Parking is available in several public parking decks close to the theater. Most convenient is the Wayne Avenue garage, located at 921 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD. Parking at the Wayne Avenue garage is free on weekends and after 8 pm on weekdays. More information on parking can be found on the AFI Silver website, under Parking.

Secret Agent at the AFI in Silver Spring, MD

The American Film Institute theater in Silver Spring, MD, presents Spy Cinema, a series of espionage films from June 29 to Sept. 19, 2012 – and included in the retrospective is the Alfred Hitchcock classic Secret Agent (1936).

Show times for Secret Agent:

• July 14, Saturday – 6:30 pm
• July 15, Sunday – 11 am
• July 16, Monday – 7 pm

Tickets are $11.50 for general admission; $9 for seniors 65 years and older, students, and the military (with proper ID); and $7 for children 12 and under. For AFI members, admission is $8.50. AFI Member Passes will be accepted for all movies in the Spy Cinema series.

Tickets for may be reserved on-line through the AFI Silver website. Click the “Buy Tickets” button, then scroll to the title Secret Agent, click the link and select a show date and time. Tickets reserved on-line must be claimed at the box office with the same credit card used to make the reservation. The AFI Silver accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover credit cards.

Tickets may also be purchased at the AFI Silver box office, which opens 30 minutes before the first film of the day.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road, at the intersection of Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue, in Silver Spring, MD. Directions to the cinema may be found on the AFI Silver website.

Parking is available in several public parking decks close to the theater. Most convenient is the Wayne Avenue garage, located at 921 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, MD. Parking at the Wayne Avenue garage is free on weekends and after 8 pm on weekdays. More information on parking can be found on the AFI Silver website, under Parking.

For his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, author Stephen D. Youngkin interviewed Alfred Hitchcock on Oct. 17, 1973, as the director recalled working with Peter on Secret Agent and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934).

But while The Man Who Knew Too Much marked the start of Peter’s screen association with Hitchcock,Secret Agent essentially ended it.

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 was postponed from its original air-date of Jan. 3, 1960, as CBS considered its gruesome storyline inappropriate for the holiday season. Although Hitchcock hosted the episodes, neither was among those he himself directed.

Hitchcock Retrospective in Silver Spring, MD

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.