6. Before being admitted to the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Lorre was required to deposit $180 in the Inmates’ Trust Fund, which he did on March 3, 1947. U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
7. According to “Briefs from the Lots,” Variety, Feb. 26, 1947, Lorre had signed to appear as a heavy in Republic’s Crime Passionelle. The film was not made.
8. Reference to Karen Verne on Lorre as subject of “The Swamp,” Powers, interview.
9. Director Joseph Losey wrote Brecht, “I am doing everything in my power to get a [film] production of GALILEO…. The problems with GALILEO have by now become very clear and definite. They are 1) the Johnson Office objections to the theme and you, 2) The universal executive opinion that Laughton is not a sufficient draw to carry the picture.” Joseph Losey to Brecht, May 19, 1948, in James Lyon Collection.
10. Lorre’s appearance in a television production of The Overcoat cannot be confirmed. According to his agent, Lester Salkow, “Peter wanted to make it into a first-rate film. It was the kind of character he felt would be a new emergence for him.” Salkow, interview.
11. In an interview for Der Spiegel, Sept. 27, 1950, given during his stay at Dr. Wigger’s Kurheim in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Lorre claimed that Nebenzal had asked him to reprise the role of Hans Beckert in the remake of M but that he had turned down the offer: “I’m not going to make the same thing twice.”
12. In 1945 the Hollywood Democratic Committee and Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions merged to form HICCASP, described by Larry Ceplair and Steven Englund as “the leading popular front alliance of liberals and radicals in postwar Hollywood.” The nonpartisan political organization blocked out a progressive agenda for world peace that included Allied unity, support of the United Nations, the peaceful use of atomic energy, labor and civil rights activism, and opposition to HUAC. Inquisition in Hollywood, p. 229.
13. Two potentially promising projects had fallen through in 1948. Lorre had earlier signed for $50,000 with independent producers Harry Joe Brown and Casey Robinson to appear in Rain before Seven, with the agreement that he would be paid even if the picture wasn’t made. When it wasn’t, the actor filed a $54,166 lawsuit for damages. “Lorre Asks for 54G to Make Rain,” Variety, Feb. 25, 1948. According to the German press in August 1948, Lorre also was scheduled to appear in Man in the Eiffel Tower (1949), which featured Charles Laughton as George Simeon’s famous sleuth Inspector Maigret. Burgess Meredith, who took over direction from Irving Allen and starred as the sinister knife-grinder, remembered nothing of Lorre’s involvement at any stage of production. Meredith, interview.
14. For reference to the troubled production history of Quicksand, see “Rooney-King Film Set, Off ‘Quicksand,’” HR, Feb. 3, 1949; “‘Quicksand’ to Be Recast If Rooney Fails to Show,” HR, Feb. 7, 1949; “‘Quicksand’ Part of Hughes Nass’r Deal,” HR, Feb. 22, 1949.
15. According to Alastair Young, no show of support was forthcoming.
16. During her marriage to James Powers, Karen made several more attempts to take her life. In 1967 she finally succeeded.
17. Lorre listed his net income at $28,991.64 for 1947 and $18,986.42 for 1948. Petition for leave to file voluntary petition in bankruptcy without schedules, In the Matter of Peter Lorre, Bankrupt, May 20, 1949, Case No. 47613-W, in the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of California, Central Division, p. 1., National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Records Center—Los Angeles, Record Group 21, Records of the U.S. District Court, Central Division, Southern District of California, Bankruptcy Case Files, 1941–1950, box G15, case file 47613.
QUOTATION SOURCES BY PACE NUMBER
279 “a beefy guy … cash there was”: Rooney, Life Is Too Short, pp. 206, 235.
280 “narcotic … gamble on Lorre”: Briskin, interview.
280 “Peter had no … kind of man”: J. Silverstone, interview.
280 “He always had … a show-offy way”: Ives, interview.
280 “Peter was greatly … than he took”: J. Silverstone, interview.
280 “There was little … to the bellboy”: Lester Salkow, interview.
281 “apparently … his professional activities”: Dr. D.D. Le Grand, Admission Summary, Personal History, March 24, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
281 “When I told … was not misplaced”: Kirkley, “Theater Notes.”
282 “You’re crazy to go out there”: I. Yergin, interview, Dec. 31, 1973.
282 “pulling in a … of the trade”: “Roxy, N.Y.,” Variety, Feb. 19, 1947.
282 “What makes a … while he’s on”: Kountze, “Typed Actor Is Boring.”
282 “He knew what … could possibly know”: Capra, interview.
282 “As his audience … following it down”: Kanter, interview.
282 “Those kids! … times a day”: “Bobby Soxer Rush Has Peter Lorre Referring to Freud,” New York Telegram, March 14, 1945.
282 “heavy declamation … a hearty salvo”: “Roxy, N.Y.”
282 “I was unable … was not successful”: Statement of Peter Lorre, Feb. 27, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
283 “stay on drugs … to justify same”: Statement of Colonel Garland H. Williams, district supervisor, Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Feb. 28, 1947, USPHS, DHHS.
283 “a reason to … up to him”: Anslinger, Protectors, p. 181.
284 “Everyone was crying … had to be”: I. Yergin, interview, Dec. 31, 1973.
284 “movies … Protestant … work”: Inmate’s Admission Data Sheet, March 3, 1947, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
284 “FRIEND, Irving YERGIN … transmitted to him”: Power of Attorney, March 5, 1947, Treasury Department, U.S. Public Health Service, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
284 “The patient … for previous addictions”: Dr. D.D. Le Grand, Admission Summary, Personal History, March 24, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
284 “pleasant, friendly and … over his situation”: ibid.
284 “rather disgusted with himself because of depression”: Clinical Record, Ward Surgeon’s Progress and Treatment Record, Federal Security Agency, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, March 16, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
284 “CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY … WEEK LOVE LASLO”: Peter Lorre, telephone telegram to Irving Yergin, April 2, 1947, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
284 “negative transference”: Dr. Wm. F. Ossenfort, Medical Director in Charge, Admission Summary, April 16, 1947, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
284 “under any other … are, nevertheless, real”: Dr. D.D. Le Grand, Admission Summary, Personal History, March 24, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
285 “I am satisfied with the … defend my rights”: Peter Lorre, statement, ca. late March 1947, Federal Security Agency, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
285 “as they have … discharged as ‘cured’”: Dr. D.D. Le Grand, Progress Release Report. U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, April 15, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
285 “Never in his … such a problem”: I. Yergin, interview, Dec. 31, 1973.
285 “been treated well … be very good”: Dr. Wm. F. Ossenfort, Admission Summary, April 16, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
285 “remain off work”: Dr. D.D. Le Grand, Progress Release Report, April 15, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
285 “is feeling fine … 7 years ago”: Karen Lorre to Mr. and Mrs. Cowell(?), Federal Security Agency, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, April 20, 1947, USPHS DHHS.
286 “was very unhappy … more than justified”: I. Yergin to Dr. Wm. F. Ossenfort, April 23, 1947, U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Fort Worth, USPHS DHHS.
286 “as much radio work as possible”: Peter Lorre, interview, May 8, 1947, Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Los Angeles, USPHS DHHS.
286 “Alcohol and narcotics … produces mental addiction”: Brecht to Dr. Gruenthal, Jan. 2, 1947, in Brecht, Werke, Briefe 2: 29:
409.
286 “racket”: Brecht to Reyher, March, 1947, in Brecht, Letters, p. 422.
286 “that his situation … at his sickness”: Brecht to Gruenthal, Jan. 2, 1947, in Brecht, Werke, 29:410.
286 “It might be”: quoted in Lyon, Brecht in America, p. 213.
287 “I saw many … ghastly blissful smile”: “The Swamp,” in Brecht, Poems, p. 381. (Replansky’s translation has been published under the title “A Hollywood Elegy” in Bentley, Brecht-Eisler Song Book, pp. 47–50.)
287 “For nearly a … in his profession”: Brecht to Gruenthal, Jan. 2, 1947, in Brecht, Werke, 29:409.
287 “the addiction itself … to have achieved”: Greenson to author, Sept. 10, 1973.
287 “Once again many … Lorre’s muddled affairs”: Brecht to Reyher, March 1947, in Brecht, Letters, p. 422.
287 “I need Lorre … humans and animals”: Brecht to Gruenthal, Jan. 2, 1947, in Brecht, Werke, 29:409–10.
288 “Lorre may straighten … it too expensive”: Reyher to Brecht, March 23, 1947, reprinted in Lyon, Brecht’s American Cicerone, p. 198.
288 “Naturally, we would … in New York”: Brecht to Reyher, middle-to-end of March 1947, in Brecht, Werke, 29:414.
288 “just came across … herewith to you”: Paul Kohner to Lorre, July 30, 1952, Paul Kohner Collection, Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin.
289 “finely-shaded and … than modest anticipation”: “Mystery in the Air,” HR, July 7, 1947.
289 “For grisliness and … in an enclosure”: “Poe and Lorre’s ‘Telltale Heart’ Chills Airwaves,” Daily Variety, July 7, 1947.
289 “I have never … way or another”: Morgan, interview.
290 “The impressionists had … faces at himself”: Brandt, interview.
291 “Peter is in … do something worthwhile”: Elisabeth Hauptmann to Ivor Montagu, Aug. 19, 1947, Ivor Montagu Collection, BFINL.
291 “you can get … you’ll hate yourself”: Crockett, “Lorre Less Maniacal in Real Life.”
291 “sex and text”: Fuegi, Brecht and Company, p. 147.
291 “kick in the … with the windmills”: Lorre to Montagu, May 12, 1947, Ivor Montagu Collection, BFINL.
291 “who is extremely … it in England”: Montagu to Lorre, Sept. 22, 1947, ibid.
292 “No prospects for … thinking of Switzerland”: Brecht, Journals, March 24, 1947, p. 365.
292 “it was meant … explain to you”: Hauptmann to Montagu, Aug. 19, 1947, Ivor Montagu Collection, BFINL.
292 “It would be … to the companies”: Montagu to Lorre, Sept. 22, 1947, ibid.
292 “Lorre is no … ‘dated’ and distasteful”: Joseph Losey to Brecht, May 19, 1948, James Lyon Collection.
293 “touching affection of … is completely happy”: Brecht, Texte für Filme, 2:617–23.
294 “exerted a profound … of epic theater”: Lyon, Brecht in America, p. 84.
294 “very Chaplinesque”: Lenya, interview.
294 “even as he … of the people”: “[Autobiographische Notizen des Clowns Emaël],” in Brecht, Texte für Filme, 2:625.
295 “dyed-in-the-wool … a few drinks”: Martin, interview.
295 “Top honors … the previous Slimanes”: A.H. Weiler, “CASBAH,” NYT, May 3, 1948.
295 “Lorre as the … among the best”: Ruth Waterbury, “‘Casbah’ Has Everything,” Los Angeles Examiner, April 15, 1948.
296 “If you want … have more names”: I. Yergin, interview, June 23, 1976.
296 “bland cherub who … tell a lie”: Meadow, interview.
296 “local bigots … buzz off”: Buckley, Hornes, p. 160.
296 “They’re only tourists … desk and left”: I. Yergin, interview, June 23, 1976.
297 “That poor Ernst … Jews, so what”: Frazier, The One with the Mustache, p. 216.
297 “not to affiliate … more important work”: PL FBI.
297 “the most important … the ‘far left’”: “Foreign Nationality Groups in the United States,” Memorandum by the Foreign Nationalities Branch to the Director of Strategic Services, no. 187, May 12, 1944, PL FBI.
297 “she was Americanizing … worker would seem”: Bentley, interview.
298 “that in any … freedom of speech”: U.S. Congress, House, Investigation of Un-American Activities, 75th Cong., 3rd sess., May 26, 1938, Cong. Rec., vol. 83, pt. 7, pp. 7569–70.
298 “not as a … on in Washington”: Dunne, Take Two, p. 193.
299 “American citizens [including … of our Constitution”: “Hollywood Fights Back!” HR, Oct. 28, 1947.
299 “not a fighter”: Powers, interview.
300 “solely in the … Bill of Rights”: Bogart, “I’m No Communist.”
300 “found themselves lined … frankly, un-American”: Hamilton, Writers in Hollywood, p. 293.
300 “de facto trials”: Dunne, Take Two, p. 191.
300 “one of the … of glamor Reds”: Fagan, Documentation of the Red Stars in Hollywood, pp. 100, 72.
300 “the trip was … our brains out”: “The Bogarts Regret,” Newsweek, Dec. 15, 1947.
300 “as one of … Eugen Friedrich Brecht”: PL FBI.
300 “Are you now … of any country”: Bentley, Thirty Years of Treason, p. 209.
301 “get out”: Shutan, interview.
301 “When they accused … time to leave”: Don Ogden Stewart and Ella Winter, interview by James Lyon, Sept. 11, 1972, quoted in Lyon, Brecht in America, p. 335.
301 “miasma of fear, hysteria and guilt”: Huston, An Open Book, p. 129.
301 “a fine tooth … Hollywood is vital”: Fagan, Documentation of the Red Stars in Hollywood, p. 100.
301 “Red Celebrities of … machine in America”: ibid., p. 5.
301 “TWO hundred of … supporters of Marxism”: ibid., p. 10.
301 “Stalin’s Stars”: Fagan, Red Treason in Hollywood, p. 61.
301 “to a tremendous PUBLIC DEMAND”: Fagan, Documentation of the Red Stars in Hollywood, title page.
301 “categorically establish[ed] the … Treason in Hollywood’”: ibid., p. 9.
301 “organized at the … form of Government”: ibid., p. 100.
301 “an extension of … in New York”: ibid., p. 62.
301 “Hollywood Stalinites”: ibid., title page.
301 “RED-BAITER”: ibid., p. 22.
301 “as soon as … have sincerely repented”: Fagan, Documentation of the Red Stars in Hollywood, p. 105.
302 “suitable … internationally-minded Austrian theatre”: Hans Kafka, “Hollywood Calling,” Aufbau, Nov. 9, 1945.
302 “I was attempting … be a star”: Walter Doniger to author, March 6, 1975.
302 “related in a … any societal strictures”: Doniger, interview.
302 “reflection of the … morality is survival”: ibid.
302 “They all acted … to that time”: Doniger to author.
303 “stand[ing] out … fattens his wallet”: “Rope of Sand,” HR, June 28, 1949.
303 “By his voice … ‘The Telltale Heart’”: Gertrude Wolf, “Peter Lorre Enacts Poe’s Terror Tale,” Columbus (Ohio) Citizen, Jan. 11, 1949.
303 “gags”: “Paramount, N.Y.,” Variety, May 18, 1949.
303 “breathless and spellbound”: Dick Lowe, “Peter Lorre Brings Real Dramatic Art to Olympia,” Miami Daily News, Jan. 21, 1949.
303 “Lorre finishes each … Barrymore played ‘Hamlet’”: “Peter Lorre Brings Classic to Life,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 25, 1949.
304 “I just felt … with the jokes”: Cagney, interview.
305 “Be nice to … care about her”: Riker, interview, May 2, 1987.
306 “I was hanging … and nothing helped”: Sykes, interview, Sept. 15, 1984.
306 “As soon as … me at all”: Verne to Martin Soloman, June 4, 1947, author’s collection.
306 “customers … high class prostitutes”: PL FBI.
306 “She always felt … the primary relationship”: Riker,
interview, June 21, 1987.
307 “With my sister … the guilty person”: Sykes, interview, Sept. 15, 1984.
307 “Brecht was saying … welcome to it”: Bentley, interview.
308 “first class actors … short guest appearances”: Brecht, Arbeitsjournal, 2:538.
308 “I think it … periodic addictive needs”: Greenson to author, Sept. 10, 1973.
308 “As middle man … times were over”: PEM, “Mein Freund, der Versteller.”
308 “get Lorre cheap … hotel and transportation”: Brandt, interview.
308 “when it comes … going first class”: Ives, interview.
309 “Whatever you do … sign your checks”: Eden, interview.
309 “He wanted to … would have squandered”: Wurtele, interview.
309 “Peter considered him … not a penny”: Eden, interview.
309 In October, 1947 … in back pay: Order to Appear before Labor Commission, Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Law Enforcement, Los Angeles, Oct. 29, 1947, EHA.
8. SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
Epigraphs: Zweig, World of Yesterday, pp. 354–55; Lorre, quoted in Peters, “Der Mörder mit der sanften Stimme.”
1. Reference to Lorre’s jaundiced condition, Willy Martin, “Kleines Filmportäts: Peter Lorre,” Neue Film (Wiesbaden), Jan. 2, 1951. During his nearly two-and-one-half-year stay in Germany, Lorre suffered bouts of what family and friends termed “yellow jaundice.”
2. Reference to Lorre’s treatment at Wigger’s Kurheim, Briskin, interview.
3. Reference to Lorre’s tour of veterans’ facilities in the Pacific Northwest and California, “Vet Hospital Tours Click, Lorre Tells H’d Committee,” HR, Oct. 18, 1948. Also among the thirty-one Hollywood personalities were John Hodiak, Ruth Warrick, Edgar Buchanan, Linda Darnell, William Demarest, William Holden, Clifton Webb, and Alan Young.
4. According to Fred Pressburger, Arnold took out a loan to secure further financing. James Powers maintained that Celia Lovsky also mortgaged her home at 1541 Crescent Heights on behalf of the picture. Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983; Powers, interview.
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