Heights Theater Screens Lorre Comedy Classic

On Monday, September 30, 2024, Peter Lorre fans in the area of Columbia Heights, Minnesota, can celebrate the 80th anniversary of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with a viewing of the classic murder-comedy on the big screen of the Heights Theater.

The 35mm print will be shown at 7:30 pm.

Tickets are $15 for all seats. Tickets may be purchased at the box office, as well as online through the cinema’s website. A nominal booking fee will be added to each ticket purchased online.

The Heights Theater is located at 3951 Central Avenue Northeast, at the corner of Central Avenue and Gould Avenue, in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, a northeast suburb of Minneapolis.

Free parking is available in the lot beside the Heights, as well as beside the Heights on the Dairy Queen side – but not directly behind the Heights. This lot belongs to the United Methodist Community Church. Cars parked in the church’s parking lot will be towed. More information about parking, as well as directions to the cinema, are available on the Heights website.

The historic Heights Theater was built in 1926 as a neighborhood movie house, as well as local stage and vaudeville theater. Surviving fires, a bombing, and a tornado, the cinema has been restored to its former glory – and may well have shown Arsenic and Old Lace during its original run in 1944.

Lorre fans can relive those days at the Heights on Monday, September 30, 2024 – including hot buttered popcorn with real butter!

El Segundo Cinema Screens Lorre Classics

This fall, the historic Old Town Music Hall, located in El Segundo, California, will present two classic Peter Lorre films – M (1931) and The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Peter Lorre’s first sound movie M will be shown on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 2:30 pm and 7 pm.

Lorre fans planning to attend the 2:30 matinee are advised to allow for extra time to get to the cinema, as El Segundo’s Main Street fair will take place on Saturday, September 28, from 9 am to 5 pm.

Ticket prices are $12 for adults and children, and $10 for seniors age 61 and older. Tickets may be purchased at the box office, which opens 30 minutes before show time. Tickets may also be purchased online through the cinema’s website. A nominal charge will be added to each ticket purchased online.

The Old Town Music Hall is located at 140 Richmond Street, near the Los Angeles International Airport, in El Segundo, California. Directions to the theater are available on the venue’s website.

Parking is available in the lot beside the Old Town Music Hall.

Lorre fans should then mark their calendars – The Maltese Falcon will be shown on Sunday, November 3, 2024, at 2:30 pm.

For more information, please contact the cinema at 310-322-2592.

Annapolis Pub Screens Free Lorre Films

The 1747 Pub, located in the historic Reynolds Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland, continues its Sunday night “Dinner and a Classic” free movie program in the outdoor Beer Garden with three Peter Lorre films in September and October, 2024 – Casablanca (1942), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).

Lorre films will be shown these dates and times ~

• Casablanca – Sunday, September 29
• The Maltese Falcon – Sunday, October 6
• Arsenic and Old Lace – Sunday, October 13

Each movie begins at dusk, approximately 6:30 pm.

Come between 4 and 7 pm and enjoy Happy Hour or a meal at the 1747 Pub. The kitchen is open until 10 pm, and full bar service is available throughout the evening. Scheduled movies are listed on the Events Calendar page of the tavern’s website. Interested in staying overnight? Lodging is available in the Reynolds Tavern.

The Beer Garden at the 1747 Pub is located directly behind Reynolds Tavern and has an entrance on Franklin Street.

Reynolds Tavern is located at 7 Church Circle, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Parking is available in the South Street Lot, located at 130 South Street, off Church Circle, in Annapolis, Maryland. More information about the South Street Lot is available on the Annapolis Parking website.

For more information, please call the Reynolds Tavern at 410-295-9555.

Dine with Ugarte in San Francisco

Peter Lorre fans in California’s San Francisco Bay Area can enjoy a special treat in September and October, 2024 – a showing of Casablanca (1942) with dinner at Foreign Cinema, the “dinner and a movie” restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Showings of Casablanca will continue through Wednesday, October 9, 2024.

Dinner is served from 5 pm to 10 pm Monday through Saturday, and 5 pm to 9 pm on Sundays, but the 35mm print of Casablanca will not begin until dusk each night, when it’s dark enough to see the movie against the giant back wall facing the outdoor courtyard area of the restaurant.

Foreign Cinema is located at 2534 Mission Street, between 21st and 22nd streets, in San Francisco, California.

Parking is available in the Mission Bartlett Garage, located at 3255 21st Street. The Mission Bartlett Garage is within easy walking distance of Foreign Cinema.

Bon appétit!

Lorre Classic Radio Shows on SiriusXM

Lorre fans with access to the satellite radio service SiriusXM will have two opportunities during the week of September 2, 2024, to catch two episodes of Peter’s anthology series Mystery Playhouse, airing over the Radio Classics channel – “Nightmare” and “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”.

Greg Bell, host of the Radio Classics channel, observes two anniversaries this week, beginning Monday, September 2, and ending Sunday, September 8.

Celebrating the 81st anniversary of the mystery series Mollé Mystery Theatre, Bell presents a two-hour block of episodes, including “Nightmare” (November 28, 1944), “Last Night” (February 22, 1946), “Night Must Fall” (April 12, 1946), and “St. Louis Lady” (August 23, 1946).

And in honor of the 58th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s science-fiction TV series Star Trek, Bell hosts a two-hour block of radio shows scripted by Trek writers Roddenberry, Theodore Sturgeon, and Robert Bloch, as well as an episode starring Trek regular DeForest Kelly, who played the starship Enterprise doctor McCoy.

The Molle Mystery Theatre 81st anniversary block will air these dates and times ~

Monday, September 2 ~
1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern

Wednesday, September 4 ~
5 am Pacific, 8 am Eastern

The Star Trek anniversary block includes – X-Minus One, “Mr. Costello, Hero” (July 3, 1956), written by Theodore Sturgeon; Mollé Mystery Theatre, “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” (February 27, 1945), written by Robert Bloch; Suspense, "Fleshpeddler" (August 8, 1957), with DeForest Kelley; and Have Gun, Will Travel, “Helen of Abajinian” (January 4, 1959), written by Gene Roddenberry.

The Star Trek block will air these dates and times ~

Wednesday, September 4 ~
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

Thursday, September 5 ~
11 pm Pacific

Friday, September 6 ~
1 am Eastern

Sunday, September 8 ~
7 pm Pacific, 10 pm Eastern

The Radio Classics channel airs over Channel 148 on the SiriusXM dial. Subscribers may listen to the channel through their car radio, computer, or the SiriusXM app on their cell phone. Not a subscriber? Take SiriusXM for a three-month test drive for just one dollar.

Specially-edited Mollé Mystery Theatre episodes frequently aired over the Armed Forces Radio Series program Mystery Playhouse, often hosted by Peter Lorre. Other mystery and horror series airing on the Mystery Playhouse were The Whistler, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, among others.

Peter Lorre also has a connection with the TV series Star Trek. His first wife Celia Lovsky guest-starred in the second season opener “Amok Time” on September 13, 1967, as the Vulcan priestess T’Pau, in a Spock-featured episode involving the Vulcan science officer’s wedding – turned fight to the death between Spock and Captain Kirk.

Happy listening!

Fall Into Autumn with Lorre

The leaves are falling, cooler temperatures are on the way, and Peter Lorre films are on the Turner Classic Movies channel, Talking Pictures TV in England, and the Movies! Network channel in the United States.

American times shown are Eastern Standard.

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September, 2024

In September, Lauren Bacall is the "Star of the Month" on TCM, and in celebration of what would have been her 100th birthday, Monday evenings will feature her classic movies, including the only film she made with Peter Lorre.

Sept 6 (Fri), 0:45 am, Talking Pictures TV – The Chase (1946).

Sept 9 (Mon), 12:30 am, Turner Classic Movies – Confidential Agent (1945). "Star of the Month" Lauren Bacall has only one scene with Peter Lorre, her husband Humphrey Bogart's friend, in this spy thriller starring Charles Boyer in 1930s London.

Sept 10 (Tues), 10:20 am, Talking Pictures TV – Double Confession (1950).

Sept 11 (Wed), 8 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942). This month, TCM turns the spotlight on 52 directors, including Michael Curtiz, who directed this classic wartime romance, starring Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, and Peter Lorre.

Sept 27 (Fri), 7:10 am, Talking Pictures TV – Casbah (1948).

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Sneak Peek at October, 2024

October means Halloween and spooky movies. On TCM, horror actor Bela Lugosi is the "Star of the Month", including the only film he made with Peter Lorre.

Oct 3 (Thurs), TCM – Mad Love (1935). TCM salutes "Creepy Cinema" with Mario Cantone, including Peter's first American movie.

Oct 9 (Wed), TCM – You'll Find Out (1940). "Star of the Month" Bela Lugosi appeared several times with fellow horror actor Boris Karloff, but only once with Peter Lorre, in this musical comedy starring Kay Kyser and his College of Musical Knowledge band. Kay and company are hired to play for a young debutante's 21st birthday in a mysterious mansion with seances, hidden panels, and attempts on the birthday girl's life before she can inherit a fortune.

Oct 14 (Sat), TCM – Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). A mansion with 13 bodies buried in the cellar is the setting for this dark comedy about two little old ladies with an unusual charity.

Oct 30 (Wed), TCM – The Beast with Five Fingers (1944). On Halloween Eve, TCM gets the celebration going with a day of horror movies, including this classic set in an Italian villa where a dead pianist's severed right hand wreaks havoc.

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Many of these and other Lorre movies and television programs 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 many brick-and-mortar shops, as well as these online merchants ~

• Amazon U.S.
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon U.K

Happy viewing!