TCM Celebrates Greenstreet Birthday

The Turner Classic Moves channel often celebrates the birthdays of their popular actors with a day devoted to their films, and on Friday, December 27, 2024, Sydney Greenstreet gets the star treatment on what would have been his 145th birthday.

And Lorre fans are treated, too – during the marathon, five of the nine movies Peter and Sydney made together are on the schedule.

The movies include ~

• That Way With Women (1947) – 8:45 am
• The Maltese Falcon (1941) – 10:15 am
• Background to Danger (1943) – 12 noon
• Conflict (1945) – 1:30 pm
• The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) – 3 pm
• Three Strangers (1946) – 4:45 pm
• The Verdict (1946) – 6:30 pm

Happy birthday, Sydney Greenstreet!

Christmas Wishes from Peter Lorre and SiriusXM Radio

This year, Christmas Day falls on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, and as the holiday season draws to a close, host Greg Bell wraps up another December on the Radio Classics channel with a week filled with Christmas-themed episodes from many old-time radio series.

From Monday, December 23 to Sunday, December 29, Peter Lorre’s Suspense episode, “Back for Christmas” (1943) will air as part of a 2-hour block of Yuletide dramas, including ~

• Dark Fantasy, “House of Bread” (December 26, 1941)
• Suspense, “Back For Christmas” (December 23, 1943)
• Mysterious Traveler, “Christmas Story” (December 25, 1951)
• Romance of the Ranchos, “Christmas as San Gabriel” (December 24, 1941)

“Back for Christmas” will air these dates and times ~

Tuesday, Dec. 24 ~
1:30 am Pacific, 4:30 am Eastern

Thursday, Dec. 26 ~
3:30 pm Pacific, 6:30 pm Eastern

Sunday, Dec. 29 ~
3:30 am Pacific, 6:30 am Eastern

The full schedule of the week’s programming is available on Greg Bell’s website.

Satellite radio provider SiriusXM airs Radio Classics over channel 148. Subscribers may also listen to the programs over the internet or through the SiriusXM app on a Smart Phone or Smart Speaker. Not a subscriber? SiriusXM offers special trial deals through their website.

Originally airing December 23, 1943. “Back for Christmas” was Peter’s fourth of six appearances before the microphone of the anthology series, broadcast over CBS every Thursday night.

In the John Collier short story, Hubert Schumacher (Lorre), a Swiss professor of botany, digs a Devil’s Garden as a bed for rare orchids in the cellar of his estate. While his overbearing wife Hermione plans their trip to America and Hubert’s lecture tour, Hubert makes plans of his own – involving a new Mrs. Schumacher and the disposal of Hermione.

Plans go awry . . . . on all fronts.

In the pages of The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, Stephen D. Youngkin discusses Peter’s radio career. The book’s appendix includes a complete-to-date list of his radio work, much of which airs on the Radio Classics channel.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

December Holidays with Lorre

As the year 2024 comes to a close, a handful of Lorre movies are nestled amongst the holiday favorites on the Turner Classic Movies channel, Talking Pictures TV channel in England, and Movies! Network in the United States.

American times shown are Eastern Standard.

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December, 2024

The Turner Classic Movies channel celebrates the birthday of Sydney Greenstreet with a morning and afternoon of films featuring Peter Lorre's most frequent co-star at Warner Brothers.

Dec 1 (Sun), 2 pm, TCM – Casablanca (1942).

Dec 7 (Sat), 8 pm, MeTV – The Comedy of Terrors (1964). Horror host Svengoolie presents this comedy-horror film about a New England undertaker (Vincent Price) who drums up business by speeding "customers" to the grave – with the help of his assistant (Peter Lorre).

Dec 18 (Wed), 1:35 am, Talking Pictures TV – The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942). "Cellar Club" hostess Caroline Munroe introduces this comedy-horror film about a scientist (Boris Karloff) who comes up with a machine to produce "supermen" for the war effort, with the help of the local jack-of-all-trades (Peter Lorre).

Dec 19 (Fri), 6 am, TCM – Quicksand (1950). TCM's "Star of the Month" in December is Mickey Rooney, with plenty of movies starring the talented actor – including the only movie he made with Peter Lorre.

Dec 26 (Thurs), 12:45 pm, BBC Two – Casablanca (1942).

Dec 27 (Fri), 1:35 am, Talking Pictures TV – The Chase (1946).

Dec 27 (Fri), TCM – TCM celebrates the birthday of Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre's co-star in nine movies at Warner Brothers. The birthday line-up includes five of Peter's movies ~

• 10:15 am – The Maltese Falcon (1941)
• 12 noon – Background to Danger (1943)
• 3 pm – The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
• 4:45 pm – Three Strangers (1946)
• 6:30 pm – The Verdict (1946)

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Sneak Peek at January, 2025

Kick off the new year with a handful of Lorre movies.

Jan 3 (Fri), TCM – Stranger on the Third Floor (1940). TCM turns the primetime spotlight on "Was it all a Dream?" with several movies with dream sequences, ending with the classic film noir about the newspaper reporter (John McGuire) who encounters a stranger (Peter Lorre) in a long white scarf and soon suspects he may be a murderer.

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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!