Casablanca Opens Two Summer Movie Series

Every summer, many movie theaters offer a series of classic films, and this week, Casablanca (1942) will open the season at the Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas.

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019, the Montalban Theatre presents Casablanca on the venue’s rooftop oasis – an open-air cinema with a large screen, projector, noise-cancelling head-phones, freshly popped popcorn, and blankets if the night is chilly.

Doors open at 6 pm, with time to get drinks and dinner at the bar and concession stand, before the movie begins just after sunset, approximately 8 pm.

Tickets range from $18 for a Lounge Seat to $50 for a Love Seat with popcorn. Tickets may be purchased in advance through the venue’s website.

The Montalban Theatre is located at 1615 Vine Street, in Los Angeles, California.

Parking is available in the Modern Parking Inc lot, located at 1627 Vine Street.

For more information, please call the theater at 323-461-6999.

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On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the historic Paramount Theatre, located in Austin, Texas, begins the 44th year of its annual summer classic film festival with Casablanca. The theme – “Crazy in Love”.

The movie, shown in 35mm, will begin at 7:30 pm.

Members of the Paramount Film Fan Club are invited to kick off the annual film fest at a special Opening Night Party, beginning at 6:15 pm. Complimentary beer, wine, and popcorn will be served. And admission to Casablanca is free!

Noah Isenberg, the Chair of UT’s Department of Radio-TV-Film and the author of We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood’s Most Beloved Movie (W.W. Norton, 2017), will introduce and discuss the movie before the screening begins.

Ticket prices are $12 for Regular admission, with a $1 preservation fee included. Film Fan Club members may attend Casablanca for free.

The Paramount Theatre is located at 712 Congress Avenue, in Austin, Texas.

Parking is available at the One American Center parking garage, located at 600 Congress Avenue, one block from the Paramount. Parking is also available at meters throughout downtown Austin. More information about parking, as well as directions to the cinema, may be found on the Paramount Theatre website.

For more information, please call the Paramount at 512-472-5470.

The summer film festival will run until Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. The full schedule is available on the Paramount website.

Pittsburgh Cinema Presents The Maltese Falcon

Lorre fans in the area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are in for a special treat this weekend when the historic Hollywood Theater presents The Maltese Falcon (1941) in the main auditorium on Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12, 2019, as part of their "Hollywood’s Classic Hits" series.

The Maltese Falcon will be shown at 10 am on both Saturday and Sunday.

Admission is $6 for all seats. For members of the Theatre Historical Society, admission is $5. Tickets may be purchased at the box-office or online through the cinema’s website. A nominal booking fee will be charged for each ticket purchased online.

Opening in 1926 as a silent movie house, the Hollywood Theater is located at 1449 Potomac Avenue, in the Dormont area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Parking is available along Potomac Avenue, as well as many nearby streets. Parking is also available at a public parking lot located at 2921 Glenmore Avenue. The Hollywood Theater is within two blocks of the Potomac T Station. More information about parking and directions is available on the venue’s website.

For more information, please call the Hollywood Theater at 412-564-1225.

Lorre-Bogart Movies in Cinemas on May 8

On Wednesday, May 8, 2019, Lorre fans in Denver, Colorado, and Alameda, California, will have the opportunity to catch Peter with his pal Humphrey Bogart when The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Casablanca (1942) will be on the screens of two historic cinemas.

In Denver, The Maltese Falcon will be shown at the Mayan Theatre as part of the venue’s Wednesday Classic Film series.

Show times are 2 pm and 7 pm.

Admission is $8.50 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased at the box-office, as well as on-line through the Mayan Theatre website. A nominal fee of $1.50 will be charged for each ticket purchased on-line.

Built in 1930, the Mayan Theatre is located at 110 Broadway, between E. 1st and E. 2nd avenues in the Baker District of Denver, Colorado.

Parking is available in the lot located at 120 Lincoln Street, one block behind the Mayan Theatre. After 5 pm on weekdays, the lot directly behind the cinema is available for parking.

In Alameda, California, Casablanca will be shown at the Alameda Theatre and Cineplex as part of the venue’s Spring Classic Film series on Wednesdays.

Show times are 2:25 pm, 4:40 pm, and 7 pm.

Admission for adults is $9 for the 2:25 pm show and $12.50 for the 4:40 pm and 7 pm shows. Admission for military, seniors age 60 and older, and children age 11 and under is $9 for all shows. Tickets may be purchased at the box-office, as well as on-line through the Alameda Theatre website. A nominal fee of $1 will be charged for each ticket purchased on-line.

Built in 1932 as the town’s movie palace, the Alameda Theatre is located at 2317 Central Avenue in Alameda, California.

Parking is available in the lot across the street from the Alameda.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005), Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the friendship of Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart, beginning with The Maltese Falcon, the first movie in which they co-starred. Soon after Casablanca, their third movie together, Peter was signed to a contract with Warner Brothers and came into the most satisfying and lucrative period of his personal and professional life.

The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre may be purchased from Amazon U.S., Amazon Canada, and Amazon U.K, as well as other booksellers. Click on any of these links, and the order page will open.

Lorre Radio Play Airs Over SiriusXM

Peter Lorre fans with access to the SiriusXM Radio Radio Classics channel are in for a special treat the week of Monday, May 6, 2019 – Peter’s Suspense episode, “A Moment of Darkness” (Apr. 20, 1943), featured in the programming block When Radio Was.

“A Moment of Darkness” will air these dates and times ~

Monday, May 6, 2019 –
10:30 am Pacific, 1:30 pm Eastern

Thursday, May 9 –
10:30 am Pacific, 1:30 pm Eastern

Sunday, May 12 –
4:30 pm Pacific, 7:30 pm Eastern

Satellite radio provider SiriusXM airs Radio Classics over Channel 148. 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 SiriusXM radio website.

Summertime with Lorre Movies on TV

As spring becomes summer, Lorre fans have many movies to look forward to on the Turner Classic Movies channel, as well as other channels.

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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May, 2019

Mary brings a handful of Lorre movies on Turner Classic Movies, including some shown only occasionally on the channel.

May 5 (Sun), 6:30 am, Antenna TV – The Jack Benny Program (Jan. 22, 1963). Peter Lorre was a guest on Jack Benny’s radio show several times, but this episode is his first and only guest appearance on Jack’s television show, broadcast over CBS.

May 7 (Tues), 1:30 am, MeTV – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “The Diplomatic Corpse” (Dec. 8, 1957). Peter Lorre makes the first of two appearances on this anthology series, broadcast over CBS.

May 14 (Tues), 4 pm, MeTV – Wagon Train, "The Alexander Portlass Story" (Mar. 16, 1960). Peter Lorre plays an archaeologist in search of Montezuma's treasure.

May 14 (Tues), 3:30 am, TCM – They Met in Bombay (1941). The TCM primetime theme is “Meet Cute”, featuring movie couples who meet up in a “meet cute” situation. TCM celebrates the cinema "meet cutes" every Tuesday in May, including this “meet cute” between two jewel thieves (Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell) working against each other to steal a fabulous diamond pendant during the Empire Day celebration in Bombay, India. They also meet the equally cute Peter Lorre, who plays Capt. Chang, skipper of the freighter Lotus Lilly – and who agrees to take the escaping duo to Hong Kong, for a price.

May 16 (Thurs), 8 pm, TCM – Hollywood Canteen (1944). The primetime theme is "Women on the Homefront", tonight featuring movies celebrating :The War Effort". Like many actors during the war years in Hollywood, Peter happily volunteered his time at the famous Hollywood Canteen. Here, he teams with Sydney Greenstreet as themselves, playing off their sinister screen images as they help singer Patty Andrews escape from a hopeless dance partner. Lynne Olson, author and World War 2 historian, joins TCM host Ben Mankiewitz at the WW2 Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.

May 31 (Fri), 12:45 pm, TCM – Mad Love (1935). The daytime theme is “30s Horrors”, including Peter Lorre’s first American film.

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June, 2019

June brings only a couple of Lorre movies to the TCM schedule.

June 7 (Fri), 2:30 pm, TCM – The Maltese Falcon (1941). The daytime theme is "Original and Remake" – not quite correct in this case, since the movie airing before The Maltese Falcon (1941) is itself a remake of the classic mystery novel – Satan Met a Lady (1936) at 1 pm, with Bette Davis and Warren William in a comic take on the detective film.

June 21 (Fri), 1:30 am, MeTV – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Man From the South" (Mar. 13, 1960).

June 24 (Mon), 6 am, TCM – The Big Circus (1959). TCM's daytime theme is "On the Road", and The Big Circus is the story of a traveling circus whose players contend with calamities as well as sabotage on the road.

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July, 2019

July brings a handful of Lorre movies, including films shown frequently on the Turner Classic Movies channel.

July 3 (Wed), 1:30 am, TCM – Casablanca (1942).

July 11 (Thurs), 1:45 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942). The daytime theme is "Dressed by Orry-Kelly". Orry-Kelly was the professional name of Orry George Kelly, an Australian costume designer who dressed many Warner Bros. actresses between 1932 and 144, including Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.

July 23 (Tues), 3:30 pm, TCM – The Big Circus (1959). TCM salutes Rhonda Fleming, including this Irwin Allen-directed movie set in a traveling 3-ring circus. Fleming plays a publicist trying to help keep the circus afloat, while Peter performs in and out of clown make-up.

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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.

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.

Happy viewing!

The Maltese Falcon on SiriusXM Schedule

Peter Lorre’s old-time radio performances don’t receive much play on SiriusXM Radio’s Radio Classics channel, but when they do, it’s a special treat for Lorre fans to hear over a radio an appearance as it might have been broadcast when it originally aired.

During the week of Monday, April 29 to Sunday, May 5, 2019, the Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater episode, “The Maltese Falcon”, will air these dates and times over Radio Classics, Channel 148 on the Sirius XM radio dial ~

Monday, April 29, 2019 –
8 pm Pacific, 11 pm Eastern

Wednesday, May 1 –
2 am Pacific, 5 am Eastern

Friday, May 3 –
2 pm Pacific, 5 pm Eastern

Satellite radio provider SiriusXM airs Radio Classics over Channel 148. 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 SiriusXM radio website.

Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater originally aired “The Maltese Falcon” on Sept. 20, 1943. In this adaptation of the classic 1941 movie, Peter Lorre appeared with his fellow cast-mates Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet in the roles they created onscreen.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin discusses Peter Lorre’s career on radio. The appendix of The Lost One lists Peter’s complete-to-date radio credits.

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.

Sirius XM Schedule Includes Two Lorre Programs

During the week of Apr. 22 to Apr. 28, 2019, the Radio Classics channel – Channel 148 on the SiriusXM radio dial – will air two Lorre-hosted episodes of Mystery Playhouse, both of which aired originally as episodes of the Mollé Mystery Theatre.

"Nightmare" (Nov. 28, 1944) will air these dates and times ~

Monday, April 22, 2019 –
9:30 pm Pacific

Tuesday, April 23 –
12:30 am Eastern

Thursday, April 25 –
7:30 am Pacific, 10:30 am Eastern

Sunday, April 28 –
1:30 pm Pacific, 4:30 pm EST

"Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" (Feb. 27, 1945) will air these dates and times ~

Tuesday, April 23, 2019 –
8:30 pm Pacific, 11:30 pm Eastern

Friday, April 26 –
4:30 pm Pacific, 7:30 pm Eastern

Satellite radio provider SiriusXM airs Radio Classics over Channel 148. 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 SiriusXM radio website.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen Youngkin discusses Peter Lorre’s career on radio. Mystery Playhouse was an Armed Forces Radio Services (AFRS) series that rebroadcast episodes originally airing on mystery and suspense series such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. North, The Whistler, and Mollé Mystery Theatre. Commercials were edited out of these episodes, and a new opening and closing was recorded specially for Mystery Playhouse. These new Mystery Playhouse episodes were then shipped out on vinyl records to American military bases around the world for the entertainment of men and women serving during World War II.

Peter was one of several hosts of the Mystery Playhouse series. He would frequently greet the audience with “Hello, Kreeps!” and introduce the program with his characteristic dry sense of humor. A visit to the Green Room to preview the next installment would typically end the program, as Peter "closed the doors of the Mystery Playhouse" and bid the audience "Good night. Sleep tight!"

The appendix of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre lists Peter’s radio credits, including the Mystery Playhouse episodes he is known to have hosted.

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.

Moto Movie Scheduled for Syracuse Cinephile Society

The Syracuse Cinephile Society continues their 2019 Spring Season of classic movies with a mystery double-feature on Monday, April 22, 2019 – The Phantom of Crestwood (1932) and Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937), the first in a series of eight films in which Peter Lorre played intrepid Japanese detective Mr. Moto.

All films in the series are shown at the Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant, located at 689 North Clinton Street in Syracuse, New York. Parking is available in the lot beside the restaurant.

Directions to the Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant are available on the Cinephile Society's website.

The program begins at 7:30 pm, but attendees who plan to come for dinner are recommended to arrive no later than 6:15 pm, in order to finish dinner by 7:30 pm.

Admission to the Syracuse Cinephile Society event is $3 for Cinephile members, and $3.50 for non-members. Annual membership in the Syracuse Cinephile Society may be purchased for $5.

The 2019 Spring Schedule began on Monday, Mar. 18, and will run until Monday, June 24, 2019. The full schedule for the Monday Night Series is available on the Syracuse Cinephile Society website.

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 Harvey Parry, who doubled for Peter on stunts throughout the Moto series, as well as several movies at Warner Bros. in the 1940s; and Norman Foster, who directed Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) and five other Moto films.

Although initially interested in playing the intrepid – and globe-trotting – Japanese importer for whom detecting is a hobby, Peter soon grew of the character. Continually addressed as "Mr. Moto" by the public, playing Mr. Moto in sketches on the radio variety series of the late 1930s, and getting few opportunities to appear in non-Moto projects at 20th Century-Fox all added to Peter’s disappointment with the series.

In 2006 and 2007, 20th Century-Fox remastered and restored all eight of the Moto films, hired John Cork and his production company Cloverland to produce a unique documentary – including interviews with Stephen Youngkin – for each movie, and released the series in two DVD box-sets with additional extras.

Purchase Mr. Moto, Volume 1, from Amazon.

Purchase Mr. Moto, Volume 2, from Amazon.

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.

Mad Love at TCM Film Fest 2019

The theme of this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival is “Follow Your Heart: Love at the Movies”, and Lorre fans attending the annual fest are in for a special treat – a showing of Mad Love (1935) in the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California, on Sunday, April 14, 2019.

Special guest Bill Hader will host the film, which begins at 9:15 am.

Although Festival Passes are no longer available, individual tickets for Mad Love may be purchased at the Egyptian Theatre for $20. Students with a valid Student ID may purchase a ticket for $10.

The Egyptian Theatre is located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Parking is available in several lots near Hollywood Boulevard. One of the largest in the area is the Hollywood and Highland lot, located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, with entrances on Highland Avenue and Orange Drive. More information about the Hollywood and Highland lot is available on the parking lot’s website.

Now in its 10th year, the TCM Classic Film Festival runs from Thursday, April 11, to Sunday, April 14, 2019. The full schedule is available on the festival website.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of Mad Love, Peter’s first American film.

“Magnificent Obsessions” is the TCM festival’s category for Mad Love – and appropriate, as the movie tells the story of Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre), a brilliant European surgeon who heals crippled children and soldiers disfigured in war, and his love from afar of the actress Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake), who appears nightly on the stage of the Theater of Horrors in Paris, France.

Disappointed to discover Yvonne is married, Dr. Gogol nevertheless has an opportunity to ingratiate himself with her when her husband Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive) is injured in a train wreck. Dr. Gogol replaces Stephen’s crushed hands with those of an executed knife-throwing murderer Rollo (Edward Brophy) – with unexpected results.

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.

Sirius XM Salutes Lorre Co-Star Harry Morgan

Every week, old-time radio host Greg Bell celebrates actors’ birthdays on his Sirius XM Radio channel Radio Classics. He salutes Peter Lorre's birthday the week of June 26 with a "Love for Laszlo" two-hour block of four of Peter's radio shows.

And the week of April 8 to 14, 2019, Peter's co-star Harry Morgan gets the birthday star treatment with four programs – two episodes of Mystery in the Air, “The Queen of Spades” (Sept. 11, 1947) and "The Black Cat" (Sept. 18, 1947) ; followed by two episodes of This Is Your FBI, "Floating Stickup" (Dec. 8, 1950) and "Backstage Shakedown" (Nov. 10, 1950).

The Morgan tribute will air these dates and times –

Sunday, April 7, 2019 ~
9 pm Pacific

Monday, April 8, 2019 ~
12 midnight Eastern

Wednesday, April 10 ~
5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern

Saturday, April 13 ~
3 am Pacific, 6 am Eastern

Satellite radio providers Sirius and XM air Radio Classics over channel 148. 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 Sirius XM radio website.

As "The Voice of Mystery", Harry 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.

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, 1947.

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 September, 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.

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.