The Lost One
Page 77
122 “We were called … changing a word”: R. Allen, interview.
122 “Oh, yes, he … many, many, things”: Marian Marsh, interview.
123 “For the first … its outer edges”: Ager, “Lorre Expounds.”
123 “he takes more … of the credit”: Thirer, Screen Views and News: “Peter Lorre Sails, High in Praise of Hollywood.”
123 “It was a … was practically unnoticed”: Peter Lorre, “The Role I Liked Best …,” Saturday Evening Post, June 11, 1949.
123 “exceptionally handsome … dark brown hair”: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment, translated by Constance Garnett (New York: Vintage, 1950), p. 2.
123 “He was attractive … friends right away”: Marsh, interview.
123 “Everybody warned me … helpful and sincere”: “News and Gossip of the Week,” Film Weekly, Nov. 16, 1935.
124 “Joe looked like … directs in pictures”: Arnold, Lorenzo Goes to Hollywood, pp. 272–73.
124 “an actor is … idea of his”: Sternberg, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, p. 113.
124 “Peter tried to … worry, it’s different’”: Marsh, interview.
124 “You see, to … things he does”: Eleanor Barnes, “British Film Raider,” unidentified newspaper clipping, PLS.
125 “When I am … a fever pitch”: “Inventions of Satan,” unidentified clipping, Peter Lorre file, BFINL.
125 “he is overwrought … he is working”: Rosalind Shaffer, “Lorre’s Wife Describes Horror Artist as Charming Husband,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Aug. 4, 1935.
125 “more readily identified … actual physical breakdown”: C. Lorre, interviews.
125 “Peter was really … back of it”: Marsh, interview.
125 “Lorre plays … force and finish”: Bland Johaneson, “Lorre Dazzling Murderer at Music Hall,” New York Daily Mirror, Nov. 21, 1935.
125 “Lorre bares the … flashes of histrionics”: “Crime and Punishment,” Daily Film Renter (London), Dec. 21, 1935.
125 “Lorre keeps it on a high level”: Star (London), March 16, 1936.
125 “Mr. Lorre provides a … greatest thespic efforts”: unidentified newspaper clipping, PLS.
125 “It was a … every possible laugh”: Graham Greene, “The Genius of Peter Lorre,” World Film News, July 1936
125 “He has no … a detective story”: Andrew Sennwald, “‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT’—The French and American Film Versions Are a Study in Contrasts,” NYT, Nov. 24, 1935.
125 “frequent gleams of … into profitable zombies”: Joseph Alsop Jr., “Two Versions of ‘Crime and Punishment,’” New York Herald-Tribune, Dec. 1, 1935.
126 “thought Lorre was … the psychotic murderer”: Edwin Blum to author, Feb. 26, 1975.
126 “So in this … didn’t do anything”: ibid., March 27, 1975.
126 “Dostoievskian dimension … above a mask”: Franz Theodor Csokor to Ferdinand Bruckner, Nov. 28, 1936, in Csokor, Zeuge einer Zeit, p. 129.
126 “Lorre in New Horror Role”: Cameron, “Lorre in New Horror Role.”
126 “is by no … but great tragedy”: Buchanan, “REAL and UNREAL Horror.”
126 “a comparatively normal … not for pathologists”: Pelswick, “Crime and Punishment, His New Film.”
126 “childlike martyr, radiant in redemption”: “Crime and Punishment,” Time, Dec. 2, 1935.
126 “baleful and spineless by turns”: “Dostoievsky Doubled,” Daily Herald (London), March 13, 1936.
127 “just a good detective story”: D.W.C., “‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT’—Behind the Cameras.”
127 “butchering … character compromise”: Joseph Anthony and S.K. Lauren, “Novel into Film,” Film Weekly, March 21, 1936.
127 “Peter Lorre is … the American script”: Sennwald, “‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT’—The French and American Film Versions.”
128 “within the limits … to his audience”: Andrew Sennwald, “Crime and Punishment,” NYT, Nov. 22, 1935.
128 “Now Lorre has … means of expression”: f.s., “Schuld und Sühne,”Neue Freie Presse (Vienna), ca. 1936, PLS.
128 “The difference between … wood pulp fictioneer”: Sennwald, “‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT’—The French and American Film Versions.”
128 “There are many … childish, undignified work”: “Peter Lorre, Tactician.”
128 “though he never … knew the answers”: Greenson, interview.
129 “There is great … his pathological abnormalities”: Kennedy, “Monarch of Menace.”
129 “An actor … the character, utterly”: Harry Lang, “He’s an INSIDE Actor,” Screen Book, Dec. 1937.
129 “Acting is like … an incurable addict”: Maude Cheatham, “Gruesome Twosome,” Movie Show, March 1946.
129 “the only thing … others need stimulants”: Surmelian, “Sh! Meet PETER LORRE.”
129 “was an entrance … into the soul”: Greenson, interview.
129 “Peter Lorre’s mind … for his role”: Calvet, interview
129 “the appearance of … the human soul”: Surmelian, “Sh! Meet PETER LORRE.”
129 “very far apart … know the difference”: Kanter, interview.
130 “Closely obliged to their spiritual origins”: Wächter, Theater im Exil, p. 138.
130 “an inborn gift … of modern life”: Mann and Mann, Escape to Life, p. 269.
131 “That was the … winging it, innocently”: Wilder, interview, March 31, 1986.
132 “In any case … looking little animal”: Buchanan, “REAL and UNREAL Horror.”
133 “When we wanted … he could do”: Ivor Montagu to author, June 1, 1975.
133 “extremely deceptive”: Hitchcock, interview.
134 “waves a comically … he’s beaten you”: Secret Agent, shooting script, undated, BFINL.
134 “Mich [Michael Balcon] … first ‘rougher’ alternative”: Montagu to author, Dec. 20, 1977.
134 “at the moment … it, except ourselves”: Montagu to author, Oct. 8, 1977.
135 “this part … problems between us”: Montagu to author, June 1, 1975.
135 “That Lorre needed … was no doubt”: John Croydon to author, Feb. 15, 1988.
135 “Shakespearean highbrow”: John Gielgud to author, Jan. 2, 1981.
136 “He displayed it … left the set”: Croydon to author.
136 “Sheer rubbish … say no more”: Montagu to author, Oct. 26, 1984.
136 “something of Lorre’s … friends know it”: Gottlieb, Hitchcock on Hitchcock, p. 20.
137 “rather a jolly … a fine art”: “Sinister—But with a Difference,” Film Weekly, Dec. 7, 1935.
137 “plays one of … in make-up”: B.R. Crisler, “Secret Agent,” NYT, June 13, 1936.
137 “He is one … ice within it”: Otis Ferguson, “Wings over Nothing,” New Republic, June 24, 1936.
137 “Dear Untier, for … the owl begins”: Lovksy, diary, author’s collection.
138 “very sick … we will pay”: Cecilie Lorre to Dr. Oskar Samek, Feb. 8, 1936, in Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek, Karl Kraus contra, p. 289.
138 “showed his original … Raskolnikov film”: Franz Theodor Csokor to Ferdinand Bruckner, Karsamstag, 1936, in Csokor, Zeuge einer Zeit, p. 117–18.
138 “Doctor Mallaire … are best suited”: “Radio Reports,” Variety, May 13, 1936.
138 “best suited for … approaching bedtime hour”: “Bogey Lorre on Radio Kiddie Hour,” The Face behind the Mask, pressbook, 1941.
139 “Dimitri is a … nobody knows about”: script conference, Aug. 23, 1936, CDM BYU.
140 “I have wanted … for many years”: Ruth M’Tammany, “Peter Lorre Deserts Horror Roles to Play Napoleon,’” Indianapolis Times, Nov. 25, 1936.
140 “for full artistic … work in both”: Robert Garland, “Hollywood’s Mr. Hyde,” Nov. 15, 1936, unidentified newspaper clipping, PLS.
140 “Ironically, I was … held no surprises”: Whitaker, “Many Stars Seek Role of Napoleon.”
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140 “new angle”: “Lorre as ‘The Little Corporal,’” undated newspaper clipping, BFINL.
140 “Most Napoleon plays … on the screen”: M’Tammany, “Peter Lorre Deserts Horror Roles.”
141 “If I were … myself inside him”: Tildesley, “Behind the GREASE PAINT.”
4. SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHEE MONKEY
Epigraphs: Peter Lorre in Crack-Up (1937); Peter Lorre, quoted in Marsh, “Lorre’s Stage Experience.”
1. Reference to casting of Crack-Up, “Director Sketches the Cast He Wants,” Crack-Up, pressbook, 1937.
2. On September 10, 1936, the actor had signed a one-picture (Crack-Up) commitment with Fox guaranteeing him four weeks’ employment at $2,500 per week. Although the Hollywood Reporter (Oct. 30, 1936) noted that Lorre had headed east with a term contract in his pocket, according to his “Synopsis of Employment Contract,” the agreement didn’t officially commence until November 30, 1936. The contract, which carried six one-year options, guaranteed him forty weeks’ employment at $1,250 per week the first year. If renewed, his salary would jump $250 per week the first two years, $500 the next two, $750 a fifth, and $1,000 the sixth and final year. The studio reserved the right to lend his services to any other producer of motion pictures and stipulated that Lorre should furnish “all modern wardrobe; producer shall furnish all costumes.” He was also required to cancel his verbal agreement with Gaumont-British “to render services in one (1) motion picture,” possibly The Monster. TCFLF UCLA.
3. Reference to Lorre’s health problems, “Peter Lorre’s Collapse May Lag Lensing ‘Moto,’” HR, Feb. 8, 1937.
4. No Hero was serialized by the Post under the same title, March 30–May 4, 1935.
5. Reference to Warner Bros.’ purchase of screen rights to No Hero, “Story Buys,” Variety, Oct. 9, 1935, and Metro’s purchase of Think Fast, Mr. Moto, “Story Buys,” Variety, July 29, 1936; under “News of the Screen,” Dec. 8, 1937, Variety also announced that Fox had purchased Alfred Cohn’s Death at the Artist’s Ball as one of the Mr. Moto series for Peter Lorre.
6. The Moto movies were not released in the order they were filmed, which was Think Fast, Mr. Moto; Mr. Moto Takes a Chance; Thank You, Mr. Moto; Mr. Moto’s Gamble; Mysterious Mr. Moto; Mr. Moto’s Last Warning; Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation; and Danger Island.
7. A sixth, Mr. Moto in Baghdad, by John Reinhardt, had only reached the treatment stage by December 23, 1938.
8. Churchill was visiting the set of Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938).
9. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Nov. 13, 1936, after the “preview click” of Charlie Chan at the Opera, which costarred Boris Karloff, the “New ‘Chan’ Films [would] Have 2 Stars,” including a villainous Peter Lorre opposite Warner Oland in the next installment of the series, Charlie Chan at the Olympics. However, once successfully established as Mr. Moto, Lorre stepped down only twice during the three-year run into small roles that did not damage his new image as a screen hero.
10. The suspension of services and compensation for reasons of illness were added to the present term of the actor’s employment, pushing back the renewal date of his contract from November to December 1937 and from December 1938 to January 1939. Lorre’s unpaid leaves of absence were not always prearranged. He had been advised on February 28, 1938, that Mysterious Mr. Moto would begin shooting in the early part of March. When Sol Siegel moved up the date from March 14 to March 11, the studio “tried from March 7th to contact him but were unable to do so; finally his agent located him on March 11th at a Sanitarium and that was the first we knew of his being ill.” Lew Schreiber to George Wasson, memo, March 16, 1938, TCFLF UCLA.
11. “Peter contributed absolutely nothing to the characterization of Moto,” commented Foster at our interview. When I read his statement back to him, he cringed and looked hurt, not for himself, but for Lorre, whom he had plainly maligned, given the obvious evidence to the contrary on screen.
12. The Mr. Moto adventure described by Parry is Mr. Moto’s Last Warning.
13. Lorre made Fox’s “star” list only once during his three-year tenure there. His situation was not unique. Fox poorly balanced the salaries of its contract players against their actual box-office power. In 1936 Sylvia Sidney took home $225,812 to number one star Shirley Temple’s $121,422. If some actors were not paid enough, others were paid too much. The Independent Theatre Owners Association complained, “Practically all of the major studios are burdened with stars—whose public appeal is negligible—receiving tremendous salaries necessitated by contractual obligations.” Stars that were “poison at the box office”—Mae West, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn—took “millions out of the industry and millions out of the box office.” Hollywood Reporter, April 28, 1938; May 3, 1938.
14. Lorre’s car reportedly turned over twice when struck by another vehicle. Although Celia sustained a fractured wrist when thrown from the auto, Peter, trapped in the back seat, suffered no injuries. “I owe my good fortune to Harvey Parry, Duke Green and other Hollywood stunt men,” he said, explaining his narrow escape. “When they made me an honorary member of their group, I memorized their rules for safety. One rule was: ‘In case of an auto crash, lie down immediately on the floor of the car.’” “Stunt Men Avert Mishap to ‘Moto,’” Washington Post, Dec. 1, 1938.
15. Reference to 20th Century–Fox abandoning four of its seven movie series, Douglas Churchill, “Mr. Goldwyn Storms the Heights,” NYT, Jan. 8, 1939.
16. “Another reason given for the decline in the popularity of the Peter Lorre series,” said Variety, “is that the character of Moto could not be made entirely sympathetic, because it would make him too much like Charlie Chan.” “Moto Outo,” Variety, June 28, 1939.
17. In 1957 the Japanese sleuth made his way to television in “The Return of Mr. Moto,” a Pulitzer Prize Playhouse episode starring Harold Vermilyea and Eva Gabor. He made another appearance some years later when in 1965 Fox released The Return of Mr. Moto, an unnoteworthy effort destined for obscurity, starring Henry Silva.
18. According to the first-draft continuity script of Lancer Spy, dated April 16, 1937, Lorre had been cast in the small but pivotal role of American agent Captain Spencer van Ryn, who works undercover—as Hauptmann Paul von Gourmach—in the service of the story’s principal villain, Count Gottfried Zo von Hollen, played by Sig Rumann. By October, however, all reference to the van Ryn/von Gourmach character had been dropped from the script and Lorre had been elevated from eleventh billing to the thirdbilled Major Sigfried Gruning. TCFLF UCLA.
19. Reference to Lorre testing for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Louella O. Parsons, “Peter Lorre Will Play Title Role in ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame,‘” LAT, Oct. 8, 1937.
20. Reference to Lorre turning down starring role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 20th Century–Fox press release, MHL AMPAS.
21. While film scholars alternately credit both G.W. Pabst and Irish novelist Liam O’Flaherty with authorship—and for creating the part of the wireless operator with Lorre in mind—Paramount Unproduced Stories (Jan. 1966) cites Waclaw Panski as author of the original story, O’Flaherty of a treatment, and Grover Jones of a screenplay. Two additional screenplays list no author. MHL AMPAS.
22. Lorre signed his salary, $2,150, over to William Morris Agency, to which he was indebted “for the purchase of necessaries of life for myself and my immediate family.” Assignment, Oct. 18, 1939, private collection.
23. Stranger on the Third Floor cost $171,000. RKO defined an A picture as one “for which the budget is $400,000.00 or more or $300,000.00 or more and in connection with which a recognized female star is employed.” Mr. Schwab to Mr. Winkler, June 11, 1940, Inter-Department Communication, RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Studio Collection, ALSC UCLA.
24. Lorre actually turned in a total of ten weeks’ work for $21,000, with $7,000 allotted to Stranger on the Third Floor.
25. Reference to contract between RKO Pictures Inc. and Peter Lorre, May 29, 1940; William
Morris Agency Inc. to RKO Radio Pictures Inc., June 13, July 26, 1940, RKO Radio Pictures Inc., Studio Collection, ALSC UCLA.
26. A commercially available video copyrighted and marketed by International Historic Films runs 62 minutes.
QUOTATION SOURCES BY PACE NUMBER
142 “Colonel Gimpy was … to horrify audiences”: “Horror of Horror Star Quits Screen,” Crack-Up, pressbook, 1937.
143 “not got within … they ever will”: C.A. Lejeune, “Crack-Up,” Observer (London), Feb. 28, 1937.
144 “marvelously written”: Whitaker, “Many Stars Seek Role of Napoleon.”
144 “We had anticipated … and with Bruckner”: Kingsley, interview.
144 “A number of … I don’t know”: “Jinx Pursues Peter Lorre in His Role in Napoleon,” Detroit Evening Journal, Dec. 31, 1936.
145 “a new Chinese … a Chinese background”: John P. Marquand to Helen Howe, Feb. 11, 1934, quoted in Millicent Bell, Marquand: An American Life (Boston: Little, Brown, 1979), p. 204.
145 “With the ignorance … sight is strange”: JPM manuscript notebook, quoted ibid., p. 218.
145 “Japanese G Man”: “Next Week,” Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 5, 1936.
146 “carpentry work”: Adelaide Hooker Marquand to Blanche Ferry Hooker, March 28, 1936, quoted in Bell, Marquand, p. 249.
146 “two stories written … upon the same”: George Wasson, interoffice correspondence to Sol Wurztel, W.B. Dover, Julian Johnson, and Clay Adams, Dec. 20, 1937, TCFLF UCLA.
146 “make one picture … our staff writers”: George Wasson, interoffice correspondence to Sol Wurtzel and John Stone, May 21, 1937, TCFLF UCLA.
146 “sausage factory”: Foster, interview.
147 “small man, delicate, almost fragile”: John P. Marquand, Think Fast, Mr. Moto (New York: Popular Library, 1977), p. 10.
147 “Peter was so … except the eyes”: Foster, interview.
147 “Acting comes from … so you appear”: 20th Century–Fox publicity release, MHL AMPAS.
147 “Mr. Moto is … as he does”: Tildesley, “Behind the GREASE PAINT.”