Buffalo Movie Expo Includes Lorre

Lorre fans attending the second annual Western New York Movie Expo this weekend in the Buffalo area of New York state are in for a treat – a screening of Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939) on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017.

The film will begin at 10:45 pm in the Main Screening Room.

The Movie Expo runs from Friday, Sept. 1, to Monday, Sept. 4, 2016.

Admission is $40 for the full weekend. Daily admission on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is $12 for general admission, and $10 for students with proper ID. On Monday, admission is $6 for everyone. More information about tickets is available on the Expo's website.

Admission includes two screening rooms, as well as a large dealers’ room filled with posters and autographs, records and magazines, cameras and projectors, and more. The full schedule of documentaries, silent and sound movies, short subjects, and special presentations is available on the Movie Expo’s website.

The Western New York Movie Expo will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Airport, located at 4201 Genesee Street, across from Buffalo Niagara Airport (BUF) in Cheektowaga, New York – and 10 miles from downtown Buffalo. Room discounts are available for Expo attendees staying at the hotel. More information about the hotel, as well as directions, is available on the Expo’s website.

Parking is available at the Hilton Garden Inn. Parking is free for both hotel guests and Expo attendees not staying at the hotel.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of the Mr. Moto series, including interviews with Norman Foster, who directed six of the eight Moto films; and Harvey Parry, veteran stuntman who doubled for Peter in the series, as well as Peter’s stint at Warner Bros.

Initially excited about playing the enigmatic Japanese character, Peter soon became bored as the series wore on, and 20th Century-Fox cast him in no other movies. As a guest on radio shows during 1937 to 1939, he was introduced as “Mr. Moto” and appeared in “Mr. Moto” sketches. He was soon heard to say, “I didn’t run away from home to become Mr. Moto.”

Long in public domain, Mr. Moto’s Last Warning was remastered, along with the other seven films, and released in two box-sets with many extra features, such as documentaries on the Moto series participants and original film trailers. Both box-sets are available to purchase through Amazon links on the website for The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre.

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

Labor Day with Lorre at the Stanford Theatre

The historic Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, California, salutes classic films of the Warner Bros. studio, including the Peter Lorre double-feature of The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Casablanca (1942) over Labor Day weekend, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Sept. 2, 3, and 4, 2017.

The Maltese Falcon will be shown at 5:40 pm and 9:30 pm on all three days.

Casablanca will be shown at these times ~

• Saturday, Sept. 2 – 3:40 pm and 7:30 pm
• Sunday, Sept. 3 – 3:40 pm and 7:30 pm
• Monday, Sept. 4 – 7:30 pm only

The Warner Bros. film fest runs from Sunday, July 2, to Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. The complete schedule is available on the cinema’s website.

Before and after the 7:30 pm showing of Casablanca, 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.

Opening in 1925, the Stanford Theatre was Palo Alto’s premier movie theater. Most of the classic films the cinema now plays – including many Lorre movies – appeared in this cinema on their initial run, when the program changed two or three times a week. On the venue’s website are the original weekly schedules from 1925 through to 1961. The Maltese Falcon opened at the Stanford on Jan. 29, 1942, for a 3-day run from Thursday to Saturday, on a double-bill with Design for Scandal.

Casablanca opened at the Stanford on Feb. 24, 1943, for a 4-day run from Thursday to Saturday, on a double-bill with The Hidden Hand, plus the Donald Duck cartoon, “Spirit of ‘43”.

In 1987, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation purchased and restored the cinema. Now owned by the Stanford Theatre Foundation, the cinema presents classic Hollywood movies.

Casablanca at the Central Texas Film Society

On Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, the Central Texas Film Society will present a free showing of Casablanca (1942) at the Azalee Marshall Cultural Activities Center, in Temple, Texas. One Sunday every month, the Central Texas Film Society presents a free showing of a classic, best-loved movie at 2 pm.

The movie will be shown in the Frank W. Mayborn Auditorium, located in the Cultural Activities Center.

The program begins at 2 pm with commentary and historical content about Casablanca. The program ends with notes about the filming of Casablanca.

Admission is free for everyone. Refreshments will be available for purchase before the movie – popcorn for $2 a bag, and bottles of water and soda for $1 each.

The Azalee Marshall Cultural Activities Center is located at 3011 North 3rd Street, in Temple, Texas. Directions are available on the venue’s website.

Parking is available in the lot in front of the Cultural Activities Center.

For more information, please call the venue at 254-773-9926.

Fall into Fall With Lorre on TV

As the days grow shorter and summer moves into fall, Peter Lorre fans can find many Lorre movies on television and Turner Classic Movies.

All times shown 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.

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August, 2017

August means “Summer Under the Stars” on the Turner Classic Movies channel, but this year, only one actor in the spotlight includes Lorre movies.

Aug. 9 (Wed), 4:30 am, Movies! Network channel – Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938). An early entry in the popular movies series.

Aug. 17 (Thurs), 1:30 pm, TCM – They Met in Bombay (1941). Today is Rosalind Russell Day, and the Russell films today include the only movie she made with Peter.

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September, 2017

A handful of Lorre movies continues this month on the Turner Classic Movies channel.

Sept. 1 (Fri), 10 pm, TCM – Muscle Beach Party (1964). TCM throws an "End of Summer Beach Party' as summer unofficially ends and fall begins. Peter Lorre’s only appearance in American International Pictures’ successful "Beach Party" movie series was playing in theaters at the time newspapers were running Peter’s obituary on his passing at age 59 on March 23, 1964, and his funeral two days later.

Sept. 3 (Sun), 5 am, Movies! Network – Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939).

Sept. 12 (Tues), 3:45 am, TCM – Beat the Devil (1954). TCM salutes Jennifer Jones as September's "Star of the Month" with this comic take-off on The Maltese Falcon (1941). Jones takes the Mary Astor role, a woman who tends to lie rather than tell the truth – until the very end.

Sept. 12 (Tues), 4 am, Movies! Network – Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939).

Sept. 13 (Sun), 4:30 am, Movies! Network – Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939).

Sept. 14 (Thurs), 6:15 am, TCM – Casablanca (1942). TCM's daytime theme is "A Good Cry" – and Lorre fans may well feel like a good cry as his character Ugarte is dragged from Rick's cafe, under arrest for murder.

Sept. 18 (Mon), 4 am, MeTV – 77 Sunset Strip, "5" (originally broadcast Sept. 20, 1963). The 1963 season of this mystery adventure series opened with a 5-part episode titled "5" and featured many top stars as guests. Peter Lorre appeared in Part 1, as "The Gypsy". MeTV will broadcast all five episodes this week – Part 2, Sept. 19 (Tues); Part 3, Sept. 20 (Wed); Part 4, Sept. 21 (Thurs), and Part 5, Sept. 22 (Fri), each at 4 am.

Sept. 19 (Tues), 1 am, MeTV – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Man from the South" (originally broadcast Mar. 13, 1960).

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October, 2017

October brings Halloween, and Halloween brings Peter’s first horror movie in the United States.

Oct. 2 (Mon), 2 pm, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943). The daytime theme is "Joan Monday", with a day of films starring or featuring an actress named "Joan", including Joan Fontaine in her first film with Peter Lorre. Years later, the two would work together in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961).

Oct. 9 (Mon), 2 pm, TCM – Silk Stockings (1957). TCM's daytime theme "Cole Porter" includes this musical remake of Ninotchka (1939), with a singing and dancing role for Peter Lorre, as one of a trio of Soviet commissars seduced by the charms of Paris.

Oct. 12 (Thurs), 7 am, TCM – Hotel Berlin (1945). TCM's daytime theme "Hotel Happenings" begins with this Warner Bros. film set in a fine hotel in Berlin in the final days of World War II.

Oct. 17 (Tues), 4 pm, THIS TV channel – Tales of Terror (1962). Peter Lorre appears in "The Black Cat", the second of three stories adapted from Poe, and each starring Vincent Price.

Oct. 21 (Sat), 8:30 am, GetTV – Peter Lorre: The Master of Menace (1996). Originally shown on the Arts and Entertainment channel's series Biography, this one-hour documentary features interviews with Stephen D. Youngkin, author of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), and many actors and directors who worked with Peter throughout his career.

Oct. 22 (Sun), 4 pm, TCM – All Through the Night (1942).

Oct. 25 (Wed), 8 am, TCM – The Constant Nymph (1943). TCM's daytime theme is "Joan Fontaine".

Oct. 29 (Sun), 2 pm, THIS TV channel – The Comedy of Terrors (1964).

Oct. 29 (Sun), 12 midnight, THIS TV channel – Tales of Terror (1962).

Oct. 31 (Tues), 10 am, TCM – Mad Love (1935). Happy Halloween! TCM celebrates Halloween with a full day of horror movies. MGM introduced Peter Lorre to American audiences in 1935 in this horror film about a brilliant Parisian doctor (Lorre) whose love for actress Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) leads him to perform a daring operation to save her concert pianist husband Stephen’s (Colin Clive) hands – with disastrous results.

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

In The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Peter’s movies, including interviews with many of the directors, writers, actors, and crew who worked with Peter.

A complete list of Peter’s movies and television credits is available in the book’s Appendix.

Purchase The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre from Amazon.

Happy viewing!

Vancouver Noir Fest Includes Lorres

From August 3 to 24, 2017, The Cinemateque in Vancouver, British Columbia, celebrates film noir with showings of classic noir, including Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre in The Maltese Falcon (1941).

The Maltese Falcon will be shown on these dates and times –

• Aug. 5, Saturday – 6:30 pm – with Double Indemnity and The Glass Key
• Aug. 6, Sunday – 8:35 pm – with The Glass Key and Double Indemnity
• Aug. 7, Monday – 4:30 pm – The Glass Key and The Night Editor

Tickets for The Maltese Falcon may be purchased through the Cinemateque website. On-line tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.

Double and triple bill tickets are also available.

An annual membership of $3 is also required for attendees 15 and older.

The full schedule for the film noir fest is available on the Cinemateque’s website.

The Cinemateque is located at 1131 Howe Street, between Helmoken and Davie streets, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Parking is available on the streets near the Cinemateque. Parking is also available at the Holiday Inn, located at 1110 Howe Street, across the street from the Cinemateque.

The venue is also well-served by public transit, including several bus lines. More information about public transportation and parking is available on the Cinemateque website.

For more information, please contact the cinema by calling 1-604-688-8202.

Lorre Classic at the Memphis Orpheum

As part of their summer movie series, the historic Orpheum, in Memphis, Tennessee, will present The Maltese Falcon (1941) on Friday, July 14, 2017.

Doors open at 6 pm. Before the movie begins at 7 pm, patrons are invited to test their Maltese Falcon knowledge with a trivia contest in the lobby, enjoy a drink special, pose for photos in the photo booth with special movie-themed props and quotes, and enjoy a performance by the cinema’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ.

Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for children age 12 and younger. A 10-pack of tickets for any film may also be purchased for $60. Tickets may be purchased at the Orpheum box office or through the Orpheum website by clicking the “Buy Tickets” button.

The Orpheum is located at 203 South Main Street, at the corner of Beale and South Main streets, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

Parking is available at 51 Peabody Place, a public parking lot across the street from the Orpheum. More information about this public lot is available on the Downtown Memphis website.

More information about parking, as well as directions to the cinema, may be found on the Orpheum website.

For more information, please call the Orpheum at 901-525-3000.

Louisville Cinema Filmfest Includes Lorre Films

Lorre fans in the Louisville, Kentucky, area will have two opportunities to enjoy seeing Peter in an historic cinema this summer – the Louisville Palace will present Mad Love on Saturday, July 8, and Arsenic and Old Lace on Saturday, July 22, 2017.

Both movies will begin at 8 pm, with the theater doors opening at 7 pm.

Tickets are $5 for all seats. A Season Pass for the summer film festival is also available for $40. And on Saturdays, attendees can purchase a pre-show buffet for $15.

The festival will run from Friday, July 7, to Saturday, August 5. The full schedule is available on the Palace website.

The Louisville Palace is located at 625 South 4th Street, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Parking is available in several covered lots near the theater. Closest to the Palace is the Fifth Street Garage, located at 630 South 4th Avenue. More information about parking, as well as directions to the Palace, is available on the venue’s website.

Lorre Film at the Stanford Theatre This Weekend

As part of their salute to “Classic Comedy”, the historic Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, California, will show Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) this weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 2, 3, and 4, on a double-feature with Harvey (1950).

Arsenic and Old Lace will be shown at these times ~

• Friday, June 2 – 7:30 pm
• Saturday, June 3 – 3:25 pm and 7:30 pm
• Sunday, June 4 – 3:25 pm and 7:30 pm

Before and after the 7:30 show, 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.

Opening in 1925, the Stanford Theatre was Palo Alto’s premier movie theater. Most of the classic films the cinema now plays – including many Lorre movies – appeared in this cinema on their initial run, when the program changed two or three times a week. On the venue’s website are the original weekly schedules from 1925 through to 1961.

Arsenic and Old Lace opened at the Stanford on November 5, 1944, for a 4-day run of Sunday through Wednesday.

In 1987, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation purchased and restored the cinema. Now owned by the Stanford Theatre Foundation, the cinema presents classic Hollywood movies.

Sacramento Museum Hosts Light and Noir Traveling Movie Exhibit

From May 16 to Oct. 15, 2017, the California Museum, located in Sacramento, California, will host the traveling exhibit “Light and Noir: Exiles and Émigrés in Hollywood, 1933-1950”, which highlights the history of émigrés who fled Europe and Hitler and found work in the American film industry.

Casablanca (1942) is one of sixteen movies discussed in the exhibit, including posters, costume and concept drawings, scripts, musical scores, lobby cards, and props from the “Rick’s Café” set.

While the plot of Casablanca deals with Europeans escaping from Hitler for the freedom of the United States, many of the actors in the cast were also European refugees who had come to America under similar circumstances – including Peter Lorre, whose black market character Ugarte sells exit visas to the desperate.

The traveling exhibit is organized by the Skirball Cultural Center, in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Admission to the California Museum is $9 for adults 18 and over; $7.50 for students with identification and seniors age 65 and over; and $6.50 for youth between ages 6 and 17. Children 5 years and under are admitted free. Members of the Museum, North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM), and Time Traveler are also admitted free.

Museum members are also invited to kick off the exhibit with the “Light and Noir Premiere Party”, to be held on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, from 5:30 to 8 pm. Inspired by an evening at Rick’s Café Americain, festivities include live jazz, roulette and craps games, and complimentary refreshments. Attendees are encouraged to wear period attire from the 1930s and 1940s.

Interested in the party but not a California Museum member? Not a problem! Join by 5 pm on Friday, May 5, 2017, and receive an exclusive invitation to the event. More information about the premiere party is available on the museum’s website.

The California Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm. The museum is closed on Monday. The museum is also closed on a number of federal holidays, including Independence Day, July 4.

More information about tickets and business hours is available on the museum’s website.

The California Museum is located at 1020 O Street, at the corner of 10th Street and O Street, in downtown Sacramento, California.

Parking is available in the public parking garage located at 1520 10th Street, directly across the street from the California Museum. The museum is also well-served by public transportation. Directions to the museum, as well as information about parking and public transportation, are available on the museum’s website.

For more information, please contact the California Museum at 916- 653-7524.

Wisconsin Library Film Series Includes Lorre

The Waupaca Area Public Library, in Waupaca, Wisconsin, concludes their “First Thursday Film Series” with a showing of Casablanca (1942) on Thursday, May 4, 2017 – in honor of veterans of all branches of the United States military.

The movie begins at 1:30 pm with a brief commentary by Dr. Jack Rhodes, who lectures in the Waupaca area on the rhetoric of film genres. Popcorn, soda, and theater treats will be served during the film.

Admission is free for everyone, and reservations are not necessary.

The Waupaca Area Public Library is located at 107 South Main Street, in Waupaca, Wisconsin.

Parking is available in the lot behind the library, as well as nearby streets.

For more information, please call the library at 715-258-4114.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen D. Youngkin recounts the making of Casablanca, a film to which Peter attached little importance and later claimed he made more money playing the roulette wheel on the “Gambling Room” set than he did acting before the cameras.

However, Casablanca did give Peter the opportunity to work for a third time with his off-screen buddy Humphrey Bogart, as well as earn him a contract with the Warner Bros. studio he is now so closely associated with.

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

Purchase The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre from Amazon.