November 17, 2014

Peter Lorre at Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center

The Skirball Cultural Center, in Los Angeles, California, features Lorre films Casablanca (1942) items on display and The Conspirators (1944) on-screen.

The exhibition “Light and Noir: Exiles and Emigres in Hollywood, 1933-1950” discusses those European actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, and more who escaped Adolf Hitler and the Nazis when they came to power and journeyed to Hollywood.

A major feature of the exhibit is Casablanca, whose cast is largely comprised of émigré actors – Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Conrad Veidt, Helmut Dantine, S.Z. Sakall, Marcel Dalio, and Madeleine LeBeau, among many others – as well as the director, Hungarian-born Michael Curtiz. Included are a variety of costumes, props from Rick’s Café Americain, film clips, and lobby cards and reviews published on the film’s release in November, 1942.

The exhibit runs from Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, to Sunday, Mar. 1, 2015.

Complimenting the “Light and Noir” exhibit will be lectures, seminars, courses, and salons. From November, 2014, to February, 2015, the Skirball’s free “Classic Film” series will feature the work of emigres.

On the Skirball schedule will be The Conspirators (1944), Peter’s sixth movie with Sydney Greenstreet, and starring Paul Henreid, Hedy Lamarr, and Victor Francen. The Conspirators will be shown on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014, at 1:30 pm.

Admission to the Skirball, including the exhibit “Light and Noir”, is $10 for adults; $7 for seniors 65 and older, as well as full-time students; and $5 for children ages 2 to 12. Admission is free for Skirball members, as well as children younger than 2 years old. On Thursdays, the Skirball is free for everyone.

Admission to The Conspirators, as well as any movie in the "Classic Film" series, is free for everyone.

The Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 North Sepulveda Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California.

Parking is available on-site in the North Lot, the northern underground parking garage located at the end of the Skirball’s main driveway. Parking is also available nearby in the East Lot, the eastern underground parking garage, located across Sepulveda Boulevard.

More information about parking and ticket prices, as well as directions, may be found on the Skirball website.

The Skirball Cultural Center may also be reached at (310) 440-4500.

November 14, 2014

Goethe-Institut Presents Lorre’s Der Verlorene

Peter Lorre’s first and only directorial effort Der Verlorene (1951) will be on-screen at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City on Friday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. The screening is co-presented by the Goethe-Institut New York as part of the series “The Climate of Vienna – The Austrian Film Museum at Fifty”.

Der Verlorene will be shown at 9 pm on Friday, Nov. 14, and at 3 pm, on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014.

Der Verlorene will be preceded by These Are the Men (1943) an 11-minute film by Alan Osbiston and Dylan Thomas; and Eigruber-Audienz 1940 (1940), a 3-minute movie.

The “Climate of Vienna – The Austrian Film Museum at Fifty” will run from Nov. 12 to Nov. 16, 2014. Other films on the schedule are available on the Anthology Film Archives website.

Tickets are $10 for general admission, and $8 for students and seniors.

The Anthology Film Archives is located at 32 Second Avenue, in New York City, New York.

The archive is served by both subways and buses. Directions, as well as public transportation information, may be found on the archive’s website.

For more information, please call (212) 439-8700.

More information parking and ticket prices, as well as hours, may be found on the Goethe-Institut website.

In his book The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the troubled making of Der Verlorene (1951) in a full chapter, including interviews with actors and crew before and behind the cameras.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre is available for the Kindle and Nook, in addition to hard-bound and soft-bound editions.

October 31, 2014

Lorre Lovers, Spend Halloween with Peter

Peter Lorre fans will have an opportunity to catch Lorre comedy-horror films on screens large and small this Halloween season.




Tales of Terror at Richmond’s Poe Museum

The Poe Museum, in Richmond, Virginia, will kick off a Vincent Price weekend on Halloween night with a showing of Tales of Terror (1962).

Hosted by the actor’s daughter Victoria Price, “Pop Goes to the Movies” begins at 6 pm with a costume contest and a Poe Look-Alike Contest, both judged by Ms. Price and a panel of special guests. Tales of Terror will follow the contests, introduced by Ms. Price.

Admission for the evening is $20. The proceeds will benefit the Poe Museum’s education programming.

The Poe Museum is located at 1914-16 East Main Street, in the Shockoe Bottom district of Richmond, Virginia. Opened in The Old Stone House in 1922, the museum is just blocks from Edgar Allan Poe’s first home in Richmond, as well as his first job, the Southern Literary Messenger.

Free parking is available in the museum’s lot, as well as surrounding neighborhood streets.




Vincent Price Marathon on MGM-HD Television Channel

On Halloween, the cable TV channel MGM-HD will present “The Price of Fear”, a marathon of nine Vincent Price horror movies, including two films co-starring Peter Lorre and more comedy than horror – The Raven (1963) and The Comedy of Terrors (1964).

The festival begins at 11 am on Oct. 31 and includes the following movies:
  • 11 am – Theater of Blood
  • 1 pm – The Abominable Dr. Phibes
  • 3 pm – Dr. Phibes Rises Again
  • 4:50 pm – The Raven
  • 6:35 pm – The Pit and the Pendulum
  • 8:15 pm – The Haunted Palace
  • 10 pm – The Fall of the House of Usher
  • Midnight – The Masque of the Red Death
  • 2 am – The Comedy of Terrors



The cable television channel ME-TV will show Peter Lorre’s Route 66 episode, “Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing” at 3 am (EST) on Oct. 31.

Playing himself, Peter joined Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr in the episode.




When Peter Lorre died suddenly at age 59 on Mar. 23, 1964, Vincent Price was asked to deliver the eulogy at Peter’s memorial service, held at the Pierce Brothers Mortuary two days later on Mar. 25. As co-star with Peter on a total of five movies, beginning in the late 1950s, Price agreed.

The eulogy is printed in full in the final chapter of the Lorre biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, written by Stephen D. Youngkin.

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

October 29, 2014

M Onscreen at Houston’s 14 Pews

The independent venue 14 Pews, located in Houston, Texas, will present Peter Lorre and director Fritz Lang’s first sound movie M on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014.

The film will begin at 7:30 pm.

General admission to 14 Pews is $10 for all seats. Admission is free for all 14 Pews members.

14 Pews is located at 800 Aurora Street, in the East Sunset Heights area of Houston, Texas.

The venue is dedicated to the tradition of storytelling, as expressed through film, theater, music, dance, and the arts.

For more information, please call the venue at (281) 888-9677.

October 9, 2014

Aberdeen Cinema Presents M Oct 10-16, 2014

The Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen, Scotland, begins a week-long showing of Peter Lorre’s first sound movie M (1931) on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014, and ending Thursday, Oct. 16.

M will be shown on the following days and times.
  • Friday, Oct. 10 – 11 am
  • Saturday, Oct. 11 – 8:40 pm
  • Monday, Oct. 13 – 11 am
  • Tuesday, Oct. 14 – 8:40 pm
  • Wednesday, Oct. 15 – 3:15 pm
  • Thursday, Oct. 16 – 11 am
Admission for evenings and weekends is £9 for adults, £6 for concessions, and £5 for children 15 and under. For Belmont Filmhouse members, admission is £7.50 for adults and £4.50 for concessions.

Matinee prices are £7.50 for adults, £5.50 for concessions, and £5 for children 15 and under. For Belmont Filmhouse members, matinees are £6 for adults and £4 for concessions.

Admission to 11 am showings are £3.50 for all seats, and £1.50 for Belmont Filmhouse members.

More information about tickets is available on the cinema’s website.

Tickets may be purchased through the Belmont Filmhouse website or by calling the cinema at 01224 343 500. No booking fees are added to any online order.

The Belmont Filmhouse is located at 49 Belmont Street in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The cinema is well-served by public transportation. Parking is limited near the cinema. More information about public transportation may be found on the Belmont’s website.

October 2, 2014

The Maltese Falcon Kicks off N. Carolina Film Noir Fest

The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, will begin their film noir festival “Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know: The Unreliable Men of Film Noir” with a screening of Peter Lorre’s first Warner Bros. movie The Maltese Falcon (1941) on Friday, Oct. 3, 2014.

The Maltese Falcon begins at 8 pm in the Museum Auditorium, located in the East Building of the Art Museum. NCMA film curator Laura Boyes will introduce each film.

Admission for each movie is $7 for adults, and $5 for MCMA members, children age 7 to 18, and college students with ID. Series tickets are not available.

Tickets may be purchased through the North Carolina Museum of Art website. Click the green “Buy Tickets” button. Tickets purchased online may be printed at home or left for will-call at the auditorium. A fee will be added to each online order.

The festival will run from Friday, Oct. 3 to Friday, Nov. 21, 2014. The full schedule is available on the North Carolina Museum of Art website. All films will be shown in 35mm prints.

The North Carolina Museum of Art is located at 2110 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Parking is available in the Blue Ridge Lot, on the right after entering the Museum complex. Additional parking is available behind the West Building, on the left after entering the Museum complex. More information about parking may be found on the museum website.

For more information, please contact the museum at (919) 839-6262.

September 29, 2014

Penn Cinema Monday Film Series Includes Casablanca

As part of their annual “Monday Night Movie” series at the Penn Cinema in Lititz, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware, Casablanca (1942) will be shown Monday, Sept. 29, 2014.

The film begins at 7 pm in both locations, with an encore at 10 am on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the Lititz theater.

Tickets are $10 for adults, and $8 for seniors and children.

Tickets may be purchased at each cinema’s box office before the show, as well as online through the Penn Cinema website, which opens to the Fandango site. A processing fee of $1.25 will be added to each online purchase.

The Penn Cinema in Lititz is located at 541 Airport Road, in Lititz, Pennsylvania. For more information, please call (717) 626-7720

The Penn Cinema in Wilmington is located at 401 S. Madison Street, in Wilmington, Delaware. For more information, please call (302) 656-4314.

The full schedule at the Lititz and Wilmington cinemas are available through each theater’s website.

Parking is available in each theater’s parking lot.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin describes the making of Casablanca, Peter’s third movie with Humphrey Bogart and his fourth at the Warner Bros. studio. Not yet under contract with the studio, Peter claimed he made more money playing roulette on the “gambling room” set between takes than he did working before the cameras. But it was his performance in Casablanca that finally sold the Warner brothers on the idea of signing him to a contract.

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

September 25, 2014

The Maltese Falcon Kicks off Seattle Film Noir Fest

Peter Lorre’s first Warner Bros. movie The Maltese Falcon (1941) kicks off the 37th annual film noir series “Live By Night” at the Seattle Art Museum on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014.

The movie begins at 7:30 pm in the Plestcheeff Auditorium.

Admission for the entire series is $68 for adults, and $63 for Seattle Art Museum members, as well as Film School, SIFF, SFI, and NWFF members.

A limited number of single-film tickets may be available on a first-come, first-served basis at 7:25 pm on the day of the show – for $8 cash or check at the auditorium door.

Tickets may be purchased through the Seattle Art Museum website. Tickets may be sent by eMail or left for will-call at the auditorium.

The festival ends Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The full schedule of nine movies is available on the Seattle Art Museum website. All films will be shown in 35mm prints.

The Seattle Art Museum is located at 1300 First Avenue, at the corner of First Avenue and Union Street, in Seattle, Washington.

Parking is available at the Russell Investment Center Garage, located at 1301 Second Avenue, in Seattle, Washington. Request a discount voucher for the garage at the Seattle Art Museum ticketing desk. More information about parking, as well as directions to the museum, may be found on the museum website.

For more information, please contact the museum at (206) 654-3100.

September 23, 2014

M Onscreen at ArcLight Cinemas

As part of their “International” series of movies made in Italy, France, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, and China, the ArcLight Cinemas chain in southern California shines the spotlight on Peter Lorre’s first sound movie, the German classic M (1931), this week at the Beach Cities and La Jolla theaters.

Beach Cities will show M on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, at 7:45 pm.

La Jolla will show M on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 7:05 pm.

Admission is $15.50 for adults, $10.75 for children ages 1 to 12, and $12.50 for seniors age 60 and up. Infants under the age of 1 must be charged the full adult price of $15.50.

ArcLight members receive a discount on each ticket and may also use their free “ArcLight Presents” tickets for any film in the series.

Tickets may be purchased at the ArcLight Cinemas box office or through the automated ticket kiosks located in the cinema lobby. Tickets may also be purchased online through the ArcLight website. The ticket will be sent to you by eMail, or you can also retrieve the ticket from the ticket kiosk in the theater, using the same credit card used to purchase the ticket online.

The Beach Cities ArcLight is located at 831 S. Nash Street, in El Segundo, California. For more information, please call the cinema at (310) 607-9630.

The La Jolla ArcLight is located at 4425 La Jolla Village Drive, in San Diego, California. For more information, please call the cinema at (858) 768-7770.

Parking at both locations is available in the cinemas’ parking lots.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of M through interviews with director Fritz Lang. The Lost One is available in both hard-bound and soft-bound editions, as well as eBooks on the Kindle and Nook.

September 18, 2014

Film Noir Fest in Portland Includes Three Strangers

Peter Lorre fans attending the “Noir City Portland” festival this weekend at the Hollywood Theatre will have an opportunity to catch a 35mm print of Three Strangers on the screen of a classic 1920s movie theater on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014.

The festival will run from Friday, Sept. 19, to Sunday, Sept. 20. Eddie Muller, founder of the Film Noir Foundation, will host each movie in the festival. The complete schedule is available on the Hollywood Theatre website. "Noir City Portland" is sponsored by the Portland State University School of Theatre and Film.

Three Strangers will begin at 3 pm.

Admission is $8 for all seats. Discounted admission is available to all members of the Hollywood Theatre.

Tickets may be purchased at the box office, as well as on-line through the cinema’s website. To receive their discount on-line, Hollywood Theatre members must first log into their account.

The Hollywood Theatre is located at 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard, between NE Sandy Boulevard and NE 41st Place, in Portland, Oregon.

Parking is available on the streets near the cinema. Parking is also available nights and weekends in the lot at the Broadway Medical Clinic, located at 4212 NE Broadway Street in Portland.

The Hollywood Theatre is also well-served by public transportation. Directions to the theater, as well as information about parking and buses, may be found on the cinema’s website.

For film and event information, please contact the Hollywood Theatre at (503) 281-4215. For theater information, please call (503) 493-1128.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin describes the making of Three Strangers through interviews with director Jean Negulesco and Peter’s co-stars Geraldine Fitzgerald and Joan Lorring.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre is available in eBook editions for the Kindle and Nook, as well as hardbound and paperback.