Brattle Salutes The Maltese Falcon Anniversary

Seventy-five years ago on Oct. 3, 1941, Peter Lorre fans were treated to the release of what became Peter’s first movie at the Warner Bros. studio – The Maltese Falcon (1941). The classic mystery also introduced Peter to Sydney Greenstreet, with whom he would team up for another eight movies at the studio. And to Humphrey Bogart, who became one of Peter’s two closest friends, the other being German playwright Bertolt Brecht, who arrived in Los Angeles in the fall of 1941.

The Brattle Theatre, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will celebrate the 75th anniversary with showings of a 35mm print of The Maltese Falcon on Monday through Thursday, Oct. 3, 4, 5, and 6, 2016.

Show times are 4:30 pm, 7 pm, and 9:30 pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday, Oct. 6, the film will be shown at 8:30 pm only.

General admission tickets are $9 for shows starting before 5 pm and $11 for evening shows. Admission for military personnel (with valid ID), students (with valid ID), and Brattle members is $9 for any showing. Admission for children age 12 and under and seniors is $8 for any showing.

Tickets may be purchased on-line through the cinema’s website. From the “Calendar” drop-down menu or the Maltese Falcon webpage, click the “Buy Tickets” button. A nominal fee be added to all on-line purchases.

The Brattle Theatre is located in Brattle Hall, at 40 Brattle Street, a block from Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Also located in the building are the Algiers Café and the Alden and Harlow Restaurant. The cinema’s entrance is on the left side of the building – look for the sidewalk poster case and the marquee.

Parking is available at meters around Harvard Square, as well as nearby parking garages. The Brattle Theatre box office will validate parking tickets at the Charles Square Garage and the University Place Garage.

The Brattle Theatre is well-served by public transportation – both MBTA bus routes and the subway.

More information about parking and public transportation, as well as directions, is available on the Brattle Theatre website.

For more information, please call the cinema at (617) 876-6837.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses the making of The Maltese Falcon through interviews with director John Huston. While the film’s success led to a Warner Bros. contract for Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre continued to be hired by the studio on a picture-by-picture basis. From the fall of 1941 to the spring of 1943, Peter appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace (released in 1944), All Through the Night (1942), and Casablanca (1942).

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