The Lost One

Home > Other > The Lost One > Page 72
The Lost One Page 72

by Stephen D. Youngkin


  Climax! “The Fifth Wheel” (CBS, Feb. 9, 1956). 60 min. William Lundigan, host. Cast: Hume Cronyn, Peter Lorre (Normie), Bonita Granville, James Gleason, Arthur Treacher, Buddy Baer, John Lupton.

  The Ed Sullivan Show, “The John Huston Story” (CBS, July 1, 1956). 60 min. Ed Sullivan, host. Guests: John Huston, Gregory Peck, Edward G. Robinson, Jose Ferrer, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Lauren Bacall, Burl Ives, Vincent Price, Billy Pearson.

  Climax! “The Man Who Lost His Head” (CBS, July 26, 1956). 60 min. William Lundigan, host. Cast: Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre (Ho), Debra Paget, John Ericson.

  Encore Theater, “Queen’s Bracelet” (NBC, Sept. 15, 1956). 30 min. Cast: Victor Jory, Mari Aldon, Peter Lorre (Emil Murdock), Ralph Clanton.

  The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS, Sept. 29, 1956). 60 min. Jackie Gleason, host; Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Joyce Randolph. Guests: Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre (cameo), Rudy Vallee, Edward G. Robinson, ZaSu Pitts, Bill Boyd (“Hopalong Cassidy”).

  Playhouse 90, “Sizeman and Son” (CBS, Oct. 18, 1956). 90 min. Cast: Eddie Cantor, Farley Granger, Mona Freeman, Peter Lorre (Karp), Larry Dobkin, Carol Morris.

  20th Century–Fox Hour, “Operation Cicero” (CBS, Dec. 26, 1956). 60 min. Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Maria Riva, Peter Lorre (Moyzisch), Edward Fronz, Alan Napier, Romney Brent, Gregory Gay, Gavin Muir, Leon Ashin, Ivon Triesault.

  Playhouse 90, “Massacre at Sand Creek” (CBS, Dec. 27, 1956). 60 min. Peter Lorre, host. Cast: John Derek, Everett Sloane, Gene Evans.

  Collector’s Item, “The Left Fist of David” (pilot episode, Feb. 1957). 30 min. Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre (Mr. Munsey), Whitney Blake, Thomas Gomez, Eduard Franz, Dick Ryan, Dick Winslow, Harvey Parry.

  The Red Skelton Show, “Clem’s Oil” (CBS, March 5, 1957). 30 min. Red Skelton, host. Guests: Carol Channing, Peter Lorre (“Small Boy,” unbilled cameo).

  Playhouse 90, “The Last Tycoon” (CBS, March 14, 1957). 90 min. Cast: Jack Palance, Keenan Wynn, Peter Lorre (Pete Zavras), Viveca Lindfors, Lee Remick, Robert Simon, John Hudson, Reginald Denny, Art Batanides, Tom Laughlin.

  Climax! “A Taste for Crime” (CBS, June 20, 1957). 60 min. Bill Lundigen, Mary Costa, hosts. Cast: Michael Rennie, Peter Lorre (Benny Kellerman), Beverly Garland, Marsha Hunt.

  Playhouse 90, “The Fabulous Irishman” (CBS, June 27, 1957). 60 min. Cast: Art Carney, Katharine Bard, Michael Higgens, Eli Mintz, Charles Davis, Peter Lorre.

  Collector’s Item, “Appraise the Lady” (second pilot, Nov. 1957). 30 min. Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre (Mr. Munsey), Eva Gabor, Susan Morrow, Andrew Duggan, Gladys Hurlbut, William Schallert, Ted Marcuse, Colin Campbell, Mack Williams.

  The Red Skelton Show (CBS, Nov. 5, 1957). 30 min. Red Skelton, host. Guest: Peter Lorre (next-door neighbor, Appleby’s backyard barbecue sketch).

  Playhouse 90, “The Jet-Propelled Couch” (CBS, Nov. 14, 1957). 90 min. Cast: Donald O’Connor, David Wayne, Peter Lorre (Dr. Ostrow), Gale Gordon, Phyllis Avery.

  Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “The Diplomatic Corpse” (CBS, Dec. 8, 1957). 30 min. Alfred Hitchcock, host. Cast: George Peppard, Mary Scott, Peter Lorre (Tomas Salgado), Isobel Elsam.

  Playhouse 90, “Turn Left at Mt. Everest” (CBS, April 3, 1958). 90 min. Cast: Fess Parker, Peter Lorre (Tenzing Phillips), Paul Ford, Patricia Cutts, Arnold Stang.

  Milton Berle Starring in the Kraft Music Hall (NBC, Dec. 24, 1958). 30 min. Milton Berle, host. Guests: Peter Lorre (Santa Claus), Anne Jeffreys, Robert Sterling, George Arnold Ice Revue.

  The Red Skelton Show (CBS, May 12, 1959). 30 min. Red Skelton, host. Guests: Peter Lorre (scientist, mad scientist sketch).

  The Red Skelton Show (CBS, Nov. 17, 1959). 30 min. Red Skelton, host. Guests: Peter Lorre (Appleby the Weatherman), Mercedes McCambridge.

  Five Fingers, “Thin Ice” (NBC, Dec. 19, 1959). 60 min. Cast: David Hedison, Luciana Paluzzi, Paul Burke; Guests: Peter Lorre (Colonel), Alan Young, Brett Halsey, Alan Napier.

  Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Man from the South” (CBS, Jan. 3, 1960). 30 min. Alfred Hitchcock, host. Cast: Peter Lorre (South American gambler), Steve McQueen, Neile Adams, Tyler McVay.

  What’s My Line? (CBS, Feb. 14, 1960). 30 min. John Daley, host. Panel: Steve Allen, Martin Gabel, Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen. Mystery Guest: Peter Lorre.

  The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (NBC, Feb. 15, 1960). 105 min. Hugh Downs, guest host. Guests: Peter Lorre, Helena Carroll, Lester James, Dody Goodman, Alexander King.

  I’ve Got a Secret (CBS, Feb. 17, 1960). 30 min. Gary Moore, host. Panel: Bill Cullen, Betsy Palmer, Henry Morgan, Bess Myerson. Mystery Guest: Peter Lorre.

  Playhouse 90, “The Cruel Day” (CBS, Feb. 24, 1960). 90 min. Cast: Van Heflin, Cliff Robertson, Phyllis Thaxter, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre (Algerian café owner), Nehemiah Persoff, Charles Bronson, Miko Oscard, Thano Rama.

  Mike Wallace Interviews (WNTA-TV, March 8, 1960). 30 min. Mike Wallace, host. Guest: Peter Lorre.

  Wagon Train, “The Alexander Portlass Story” (NBC, March 16, 1960). 60 min. Cast: Robert Horton. Guests: Peter Lorre (Alexander Portlass), Morgan Woodward, Sherwood Price, Bern Hoffman.

  The Red Skelton Show (CBS, May 24, 1960). 30 min. Red Skelton, host. Guests: Peter Lorre (Zurium, “Clem and the Beanstalk”), Mamie Van Doren.

  Rawhide, “Incident of the Slavemaster” (CBS, Nov. 11, 1960). 60 min. Cast: Eric Fleming, Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley. Guests: Peter Lorre (Victor Laurier), John Agar, Theodore Newton, Lisa Gaye.

  Checkmate, “The Human Touch” (CBS, Jan. 14, 1961). 60 min. Cast: Anthony George, Doug McClure, Sebastian Cabot. Guests: Peter Lorre (Alonzo Pace-Graham), June Vincent, Ronald Long, Rebecca Welles, Ken Lynch.

  The Best of the Post, “The Baron Loved His Wife” (synd., Jan. 21, 1961). 30 min. Cast: Peter Lorre (Baron), Ingrid Goude.

  Peter Lorre Playhouse (pilot episode, June 1961). 30 min. Peter Lorre, host.

  Here’s Hollywood (NBC, July 21, 1961). 30 min. Helen O’Connell, host. Guests: Peter Lorre, Bobby Rydell.

  Mrs. G. Goes to College, “First Test” (CBS, Oct. 11, 1961). 30 min. Cast: Gertrude Berg, Cedric Hardwicke, Skip Ward. Guest: Peter Lorre (Dr. Kestner).

  The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (NBC, Nov. 16, 1961). 105 min. Jack Paar, host. Guests: Peter Lorre, Cedric Hardwicke, Les Paul, Mary Ford, Leona Anderson.

  Mrs. G. Goes to College, “The Trouble with Crayton” (CBS, Dec. 6, 1961). 30 min. Cast: Gertrude Berg, Cedric Hardwicke, Mary Wickes, Skip Ward. Guests: Peter Lorre (Dr. Kestner), Karyn Kupcinet, Philip Coolidge, Robert Emhardt.

  Tell It to Groucho (CBS, May 3, 1962). 30 min. Groucho Marx, host. Guests: Peter Lorre, Bonnie Pruden.

  Route 66, “Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing” (CBS, Oct. 26, 1962). 60 min. Cast: Martin Milner, George Maharis. Guests: Peter Lorre (himself), Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Martita Hunt, Conrad Nagel, Sally Gracie, Bill Berger, Jeannine Riley, Ralph Stanley.

  The Steve Allen Show (synd., Jan. 14, 1963). 90 min. Steve Allen, host. Guests: Jennie Smith, Peter Lorre, Stan Getz, Lee Roy Minaugh.

  The Jack Benny Show (CBS, Jan. 22, 1963). 30 min. Cast: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie Anderson, Don Wilson. Guests: Peter Lorre (Luverne Goodheart), Joanie Summers.

  The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC, Jan. 25, 1963). 105 min. Johnny Carson, host. Guest: Peter Lorre.

  The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (ABC, Feb. 20, 1963). 30 min. Tennessee Ernie Ford, host. Guest: Peter Lorre.

  The Hy Gardner Show (WOR, March 3, 1963). 60 min. Hy Gardner, host. Guests: Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff.

  The Merv Griffin Show (NBC, March 4, 1963). 55 min. Merv Griffin, host. Guests: Peter Lorre, Jack Benny, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Bobby Breen.

  The Dupont Show of the Week, “Diamond Fever” (NBC, March 24, 1963). 60 min. Cast: Theodore Bickel, Peter Lorre (Archie Lefferts), Sidney Blackmer, Martin Brooks, Jeri Archer, Katharine Sergava, Ted D’Arms, Val Bisoglio, Lani Miyazaki.

  77 Sunset Strip, “5,” part 1 of a 5-part episode (ABC, Sept. 20, 196
3). 60 min. Cast: Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Guests: Burgess Meredith, Richard Conte, Walter Slezak, Patricia Rainier, Diane McBain, Lawrence Mann, Jimmy Murphy, Wally Cox, Herbert Marshall, Ed Wynn, Peter Lorre (gypsy), Keenan Wynn, William Shatner, Joseph Schildkraut.

  Kraft Suspense Theatre, “The End of the World, Baby” (NBC, Oct. 24, 1963). 60 min. Cast: Gig Young, Nina Foch, Peter Lorre (Frederick Bergen), Katherine Crawford.

  NOTES

  ABBREVIATIONS

  ALSCUCLA Arts Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University Research Library, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

  BFINL British Film Institute National Library, London

  CDM BYU Cecil B. DeMille Archives, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Utah

  DSC UCLA Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

  EHA Elisabeth-Hauptmann-Archiv, Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Künste, Berlin

  FLC USC Fritz Lang Collection, Cinema-Television Library, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles

  FML USC Feuchtwanger Memorial Library, Specialized Libraries and Archival Collections, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles

  HR Hollywood Reporter

  HWS Handschriftensammlung, Wiener Stadtbibliothek, Austria

  JHC John Huston Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles

  JWC USC Jack L. Warner Collection, Cinema-Television Library, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles

  LAT Los Angeles Times

  MHL AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles

  MPAA PCA Motion Picture Association of America, Production Code Administration Files, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles

  MWC HRHRC Mike Wallace Interviews Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Univ. of Texas, Austin

  NYT New York Times

  PKC AMPAS Paul Kohner Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles

  PL FBI Peter Lorre FBI file

  PLS Peter Lorre scrapbook, author’s collection

  TCFC USC 20th Century–Fox Collection, Cinema-Television Library, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles

  TCFLF UCLA 20th Century–Fox Film Corporation, Legal File, Collection 95, Arts Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

  TCLC Theater Collection of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York

  UAC WCFTR United Artists Collection, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Madison

  USPHS DHHS U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland

  WBA USC USC Warner Bros. Archives, School of Cinema-Television, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles

  PROLOGUE

  Epigraphs: Peter Lorre, interview by Elwood Glover, Assignment, Canadian Broadcasting Network (CBC), May 29–31, 1962, CBC Archive, Ottawa, Ontario; Otto Fenichel, “On Acting,” Psychoanalytic Quarterly 15 (1946): 149; M (1931).

  QUOTATION SOURCES BY PAGE NUMBER

  2 “Look what we’ve got here”: Jeff Snyder, “Famed Actor’s Daughter Testifies against Buono,” Los Angeles Daily News, March 4, 1983.

  2 “Look, it is … am the murderer”: Jean Straker, “Such a Modest Murderer,” Film Pictorial, May 9, 1936.

  3 “against the grain … amount of inhibition”: Peter Lorre, interview by Helen O’Connell, Here’s Hollywood, NBC-TV, July 21, 1961.

  3 “It’s a racket … wrote a book”: Peter Lorre, interview by Jack Paar, The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar, NBC-TV, Nov. 16, 1961.

  1. FACEMAKER

  Epigraph: Peter Lorre, quoted in “Peter Lorre, ‘Horror’ King, Quite Willing to Be ‘Typed,’” LAT, July 28, 1935.

  1. Lorre’s surname is correctly spelled either with an umlaut (Löwenstein) or without (Loewenstein). Because American-made typewriters and keyboards do not carry the German character, modern usage favors the latter variation, as did Lorre himself.

  2. The biographical register contains vital information, personal description, and record of military service.

  3. Lorre’s first name is often given as Ladislav, the Slovak spelling.

  4. After the German Opa, meaning Grandpa.

  5. Austrian support of Bulgaria aroused resentment toward Emperor Franz Joseph and also very possibly influenced Loewenstein to leave Romania, which declared war on Austria-Hungary on August 22, 1914, siding with Great Britain, Russia, France, and Italy.

  6. According to Andrew Lorre, the Czech government also expropriated property held by Loewenstein in the Tatra Mountains near the Russian frontier.

  7. All translations from non-English sources are by the author unless otherwise indicated.

  8. Franz Theodor Csokor also remembered Lorre working at the Zivnostenkabanka (Unincorporated Business Bank) in the Herrengasse. Zeuge einer Zeit, p. 128. Oskar Taussig kept his situation with the Anglo-Österreichischen Bank until 1925, when he stepped into a senior position with the Österreichischen Bundesbahn (Austrian State Railway).

  9. In America, Reisch scripted a wide range of films, from Ninotchka (1939) to Journey to the Center of the Earth (1960).

  10. “Little art” is “prose works of short length,” including “short stories, sketches, anecdotes, essays, reviews, feuilletons, and aphorisms.” Segel, Vienna Coffeehouse Wits, p. 29.

  11. According to Segel, Sigmund Freud also popped in at Café Herrenhof from time to time. Ibid., p. 27.

  12. Stegreif means literally “stirred up” or “warming up quickly.” Moreno, Psychodrama, 1:180.

  13. Lorre told co-worker Gustav Fröhlich that he had been “so bitterly poor that he had to sleep with his grandmother in her bed.” Fröhlich to author, Jan. 12, 1980.

  14. In Moreno’s published account, the male actor is identified as Richard. “Peter was the pimp-murderer of the prostitute,” wrote Zerka Moreno. “He was not so designated in that book” (Moreno, Psychodrama, 1:4). Zerka Moreno to author, July 27, 1977.

  15. Alfred Kubin (1877–1959) was an illustrator, painter, and writer who specialized in the macabre. His fantastic and grotesque images of monsters and maimed humans appeared in many books, including German editions of the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Der Doppelgänger.

  16. Lorre also admired Altenberg and frequented one of the poet’s favorite haunts, the Café Central. Under the pseudonym Reimerich Kinderlieb, Frankfurt am Main physician Heinrich Hoffmann penned the popular nursery classic Der Struwwelpeter oder lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder für Kinder von 3–6 Jahren (Struwwelpeter or Amusing Stories and Comical Pictures with Beautiful Color Plates for Children Ages 3–6), which took a comically instructive look at the consequences of misbehavior.

  Both of Lorre’s brothers, Andrew and Francis, changed their names. “There is nothing sinister about this,” claimed Francis. “We all started out as ‘Loewenstein.’ In 1936 the Budapest side of the family changed to Lorant. Andrew took on Lorre (following Peter’s lead) when he and his wife immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1938.” Lorant to author, Nov. 21, 1979.

  17. The Lobe Theater closed in 1935. Renamed the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater in 1932, the Thalia Theater closed its doors in 1936. Both theaters were wholly destroyed during World War II.

  18. For Celia Lovsky, Peter tacked on the tale of a botched appendectomy at the hands of monks who dosed him with morphine without his knowledge. Lovksy, interview, Oct. 14, 1973.

  19. Reference to the casting of Lorre in Die Dreigroschenoper, PEM [Paul E. Marcus], “Mein Freund, der Versteller,” Darmstadter Echo, June 26, 1964.

  20. Kosterlitz changed his name to Henry Koster after coming to America.

  21. Friend and film critic Lotte H. Eisner recalled that “one day, in Hollywood, in the course of a big dinner, [Lorre] found himself opposite a Frenc
h director whose table manners were not much appreciated. He ate his soup with such noise that he disturbed everybody. Lorre leaned towards him and politely murmured, ‘Don’t put yourself to so much trouble, Monsieur. We’ll loop you later; for the moment we’re shooting silent.’” “Peter Lorre le Meurtrier.”

  22. Celia Lovsky remembered that Lorre was paid five thousand marks ($1,200) monthly. Lovsky, interviews Oct. 14, 1973.

  23. Although casting decisions rested with Aufricht and director Eric Engel, Lorre believed that Brecht brought his influence to bear on his behalf. Brecht scholar Klaus Völker maintained that only very talented beginners were signed for longer than one year at this time. Either Aufricht was mistaken or Lorre so impressed Brecht that he persuaded the theater manager to offer him a long-term contract. After all, it wasn’t his money. Völker to author, March 9, 1987.

  24. In an apparent effort to minimize the age difference, Lovsky placed Lorre at the Kammerspiele during this time.

  25. The Neuer Theater-Almanach credits Bratislav Lvovsky with composing Unter Cirkusleuten (together with R. Felden), 1905; Haus Gamineau, 1907; Die Irrfahrten des Odysseus, 1909; and Elga (opera libretto, with Richard Battka), 1910.

  26. On May 25, 1925, Lovsky wrote Schnitzler that she was a “loyal fan and big admirer of your art” and had been lucky enough to appear in his Komödie der Worte (Comedy of Words). Later that year, she realized her “dream for years” to play Johanna in the author’s Der einsame Weg (The Lonely Way). According to Schnitzler’s diary, Bratislav Lvovksy had sought to cultivate a personal connection with him some twenty years earlier, when he considered adapting one of his plays as an opera. Schiller Nationalmuseum, Deutsches Literatur Archiv, Marbach am Neckar, Germany.

 

‹ Prev