The Lost One
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326 “I’d be a … live without acting”: “Biography of Peter Lorre,” Paramount Pictures, May 16, 1947, MHL AMPAS.
327 “the morale of the enemy civilian population”: Middlebrook, Battle of Hamburg, p. 74.
327 “a dark period in November”: Bartning, interview.
327 “palpable actuality … picture without retouching”: “Peter Lorres Reportage-Stil,” Der Verlorene, pressbook, 1951.
327 “Lorrealismus”: Gunter Groll, “Der Verlorene,” Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich), Oct. 20, 1951.
327 “It shall be … a new realism”: “Plauderei aus dem Paradies,” Die Welt (Hamburg ed.), Jan. 29, 1951.
327 “film beauties … was naturally correct”: Johanna Hofer Kortner to author, April 6, 1976.
327 “comprehending the human … and clear detail”: “Ein Künstler an der Kamera,” Der Verlorene, pressbook, 1951.
328 “Everyone was more … convinced of this”: Bartning, interview.
328 “a fantastic constructor … testing new starts”: Eggebrecht to author, May 26, 1983.
328 “talked about the … their own words”: “Peter Says He’s Very Well,” Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal, Feb. 24, 1960.
328 “A formulation in … degree of authenticity”: “Peter Lorres Reportage-Stil.”
328 “I won’t tell … I’ll be murdered”: Eismann, “Weltberühmter ‘Mörder.’”
328 “the kind of … a jam session”: “Peter Lorre—Between Chimp & Art: Veteran Performer Projects Own Prod. Team While Touring with Simian Co-Star,” Variety, Sept. 5, 1962.
328 “This was different … have ever seen”: Eggebrecht to author, Aug. 10, 1983.
328 “well kept corner … sorts of things”: Bartning, interview.
331 “played around with this scene terribly”: ibid.
332 “Lorre said to … mysterious after all”: Trowe, interview.
334 “pinching something from … is empty again”: Bartning, interview.
335 “Then during the … a crazy moment”: ibid.
335 “There were several … believability in it”: Daniel Haller, interview.
335 “was very rare … well into expression”: Lotte Rausch to author, Jan. 12, 1978.
336 “I never heard … him at once”: Bartning, interview.
336 “Because he knew … them as friends”: Rausch to author.
336 “unity of spirit”: Porges, “Film ist Gemeinschaftswerk.”
336 “He loved his … of an echo”: Rausch to author.
336 “loosened self-consciousness … able to lie”: Trowe, interview.
336 “working under Peter … as his partner”: Mannhardt, “Peter Lorre war mein Regisseur!”
337 “Everything that could … resorting to drugs”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
337 “a worried, troubled, and harried individual”: Lindesmith, Addiction and Opiates, p. 41.
337 “a poor self-image … of, and disrespected”: Pradan, Drug Abuse, p. 202.
337 “a state of … flow of ideas”: Lindesmith, Addiction and Opiates, p. 27.
337 “He would suddenly … just be lost”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
338 “Although he never … hidden from us”: Rausch to author.
338 “He didn’t want … at Lorre’s feet”: Bartning, interview.
338 “Oh, yes … one before me”: Inge Landgut to author, May 6, 1985.
338 “He wanted money … to get it”: Pressburger, interview, Jan. 1, 1983.
338 “I remember still … him 200 marks”: Bartning, interview.
338 “Look, you have … am a partner”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
338 “How he did … other people down”: Bartning, interview.
339 “on condition that … of the film”: Arnold Pressburger Papers.
339 “He had, I … was always gone”: Bartning, interview.
339 “Without it, he … take my cigarette’”: Steven Gaydos, “Eurotrak: The Euro-Hollywood Axis,” Variety, June 14, 2004.
339 “He didn’t just … the next dawn”: Cummings to author.
339 “timely nervousness”: Manes Kadow, “Das Unheimliche Gesicht,” Frankfurter Neue Presse, Sept. 20, 1951.
339 “the tired sadness … the seemingly unimportant”: Herbert Timm, “‘Der Verlorene’—ein revolutionierender Film,” Weser Kurier (Bremen), Nov. 17, 1951.
340 “The main problem … to be about”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
340 “Lorre wanted just … to be included”: Bartning, interview.
340 “stress of circumstances”: Friedrich Schiller, Sämtliche Werke (Stuttgart: JG. Cotta Nachf., 1904–5), 11:163, quoted in Stahl, Friedrich Schiller’s Drama, p. 82.
340 “psychopathic hero”: NYT, Sept. 23, 1951.
340 “Peter was until … his political views”: Eggebrecht to author, June 10, 1987.
340 “any kind of … must have been”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 145.
340 “It will not … foreground, but people”: Welt am Sonntag (Berlin ed.), Jan. 28, 1951.
341 “Five or six … the necessary reckoning”: Eggebrecht to author, March 17, 1985.
341 “feels naked without … for being German”: Orson Welles, “Thoughts on Germany,” Fortnightly, March, 1951, p. 145.
341 “Let the hour … our unrevolutionary people”: Thomas Mann to Brecht, in Mann, Briefe, vol. 2, 1937–1947 (Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 1963), p. 341.
341 “a bad and … cunning into evil”: Mann, “Deutschland und die Deutschen,” p. 1146.
341 “escape from reality … what really happened”: Arendt, “Aftermath of Nazi Rule,” pp. 343, 342.
341 “No one ever … a ‘new’ beginning”: Pachter, “On Being an Exile, p. 37.
342 “crimes have been … help to excuse”: Mann, “Deutschland und die Deutschen,” p. 1140.
342 “murderer because the … destroyed his equilibrium”: Peter Lorre, quoted in Granich, “Lorre: Mtorna con Lo sperduto.”
342 “learned nothing, understand nothing, regret nothing”: Thomas Mann to Erich von Kahler, Oct. 20, 1944, in Mann, Briefe, p. 397.
342 “Peter had a … became a pleasure”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
342 “the rupture between … back is dead”: Marcuse, Mein zwanzigstes Jahrhundert, p. 178.
343 “corporate cover”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
343 “terrific fight … accepted with joy”: Hans Grimm to Arnold Pressburger, Jan. 12, 1951, Arnold Pressburger Papers.
343 “assist Mr. Lorre … Lorre became impossible”: Grimm to Arnold Pressburger, March 18, 1951, ibid.
343” Gott führt uns … Pfui”: “Augen sehen dich an.”
344 “Naturally this theme … totally depressed situation”: Axel Eggebrecht to author, Dec. 31, 1975.
344 “We had always … after his ass”: Bartning, interview.
345 “because he tried like crazy”: Pressburger, interview, Oct. 1, 1985.
345 “Pressburger sat down … everything completely differently”: Bartning, interview.
345 “My suggestions were … certain things shorter”: Pressburger, interview, Oct. 1, 1985.
345 “murder and violence … and unbridled longings”: Graubuch, Staatsverlag DDR, Berlin, March 1967, p. 273.
345 “numerous … here continuously psychopathically”: Karg, “Das Untier vor den Toren.”
345 “The fact is … be a Lustmörder”: “Das ‘Untier’ antwortet.”
346 “censors did not … you of that”: Eggebrecht to the author, March 27, 1977.
346 “already suspicious”: Klaus Hebecker, “Psychologische Studie über die Diktatur,” Westfalenpost (Hagan), Sept. 11, 1951.
348 “enlightened explanation”: “Der Unaufgeklärte Mord—ein Zeitproblem!” Der Verlorene, pressbook, 1951.
348 “indictment and admonition raised to humanity”: “Zeitbericht und Lebensbeichte,” Der Verlorene, pressbook, 1951.
348 “essentially a showcase �
� Italian film industry”: Kotsilibas-Davis and Loy, Myrna Loy, p. 238.
348 “We were both … only help Lorre”: Pressburger, interview, Oct. 1, 1985.
348 “Rumor-mongers”: Hawkins, “This Year the Good Films,” p. 8.
348 “those films which … brotherhood of Nations”: “Some Aspects of the Twelfth International Exhibition of Art,” unidentified publication, BFINL.
348 “a great deal … semi-official sources”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
348 “was not included … enter the competition”: La Biennale di Venezia, press release, Sept. 8, 1951.
349 “Der Verlorene, seen … the Hitler regime”: Hawkins, “This Year the Good Films.”
349 “mad and disappointed … simply went out”: Bartning, interview.
349 “the hottest iron … of their minds”: Hans Hellmut Kirst, “‘Der Verlorene’—eine Fundgrube,” Münchner Merkur, Oct. 20, 1951.
349 “not large sums … poets—film poets”: Alexandre Alexandre, “Ansatz zum Wiederaufstieg des deutschen Films?” Der Mittag (Düsseldorf), June 30–July 1, 1951.
349 “possible to escape … German postwar movie”: W.M., Neue Filme: “Der Verlorene,” Südkurier (Konstanz), March 1, 1952.
350 “regime of inhumanity … human and beast”: St-e, “Filmreportage aus unserer Zeit,” Hamburger Echo, Nov. 14, 1951.
350 “cannot mix a … a political system”: G-z, “Lustmord und Politik,” Stuttgarter Zeitung, March 1, 1952.
350 “how a man … universal and symbolic”: Groll, “Der Verlorene.”
350 “one cannot touch … with other crimes”: G-z, “Lustmord und Politik.”
350 “long and intensive … state can lead”: “Der Verlorene,” Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden (FBW), Sept. 7, 1951.
351 “Etched black on black”: Walter Bitterman, “Der Verlorene,” Rheinischer Merkur (Koblenz), Sept. 28, 1951.
351 “nihilistic fog”: Groll, “Der Verlorene.”
351 “burdens the senses … We need more”: Kadow, “Das Unheimliche Gesicht.”
351 “hopeless hero”: Karl Sabel, “In manischer Gier verloren,” Westdeutsche Allgemeine— Bochumer Anzeiger (Darmstadt), March 22, 1952.
351 “not worth pitying … soft drifting away”: W.M., “Der Verlorene.”
351 “jungle of art … zone of life”: Felix Hanseleit, “Grenzfall des Lebens—und der Kunst,” Kurier (Berlin), Nov. 17, 1951.
351 “the devilish workings … of our epoch”: Alexandre Alexandre, “Lorre ‘Der Verlorene’ von internationalem Format,” Abendpost (Frankfurt am Main), July 14, 1951.
351 “small boy’s picture of the resistance”: b.m., Der Verlorene,” Dü, Oct. 20, 1951, Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin.
351 “He alone convinces … a great actor”: Christian Ferber, “Verhängnisvolle Trinität,” Die neue Zeitung (Munich), Oct. 21, 1951.
351 “brilliantly moderated”: “Der Verlorene,” Mosk, Variety, Sept. 5, 1951.
351 “etches the hell … into our consciousness”: St. H., “Der sehr sympathische Massenmörder,” Lüdenscheider Nachrichten (Lüdenscheid), June 26, 1954.
351 “painful impressiveness”: Timm, “‘Der Verlorene,’”
352 “because barely before … suggestive in effect”: Groll, “Der Verlorene.”
352 “the lostness of … has ever shown”: Kirst, “‘Der Verlorene’—eine Fundgrube.”
352 “face doesn’t let go”: Timm, “‘Der Verlorene.’”
352 “Even the most … his own stereotype”: Gerd Schulte, “Der Verlorene,” Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (Hannover), March 15, 1952.
352 “the cultural advancement … development of taste”: “Verleihung der deutschen Filmpreise,” Der neue Film (Wiesbaden), April 28, 1952.
352 “lobende Anerkennun … the recent past”: L.W., “Der verlorene ‘Verlorene’: Ein Wort über den ‘Deutschen Filmpreis 1952,’” Oberhessiche Presse (Marburg), April 2, 1952.
352 “accusatory”: Eisner, “A la seconde vision.”
352 “idealized pleasures of country life”: Manvell and Fraenkel, German Cinema, p. 115.
352 “heather and heartache”: Bernd Lubowski, “Wiedersehen mit Peter Lorres einziger Regie,” Berliner Morgenpost, Nov. 25, 1988.
353 “hard-boiled melancholy”: Werremeier, “Alle Tot,” p. 263.
353 “They didn’t misunderstand … out of step”: Pressburger, interview, Dec. 1, 1983.
353 “The Germans must … into the future”: Erich Pommer, quoted in Manvell and Fraenkel, German Cinema, p. 108.
353 “a sensational thriller with political shading”: Eggebrecht, interview.
354 “The ‘lost one’ … could be understood”: Eisner, “A la seconde vision.”
354 “Lorre gives evidence … hopes of renewal”: Eisner, Haunted Screen, pp. 339–40.
355 “simply treated as … times without law”: “Peter Lorre Says He’s Very Well.”
355 “I must be … 60% of it”: “Peter Lorre—Between Chimp & Art.”
355 “not ever bring … other country’s politics”: Irene Thirer, “Movie Spotlight: Lorre: ‘Time Not to Make Money,’” New York Post, Aug. 28, 1962.
355 “He reached new … and significant silences”: Prairie Farkus, “Lorre’s Talents Shine in This Film,” New York Daily World, Aug. 3, 1984.
355 “an interesting expression … Lorre’s creative personality”: Vincent Canby, “Film: 1951 ‘Lost One,’ Directed by Peter Lorre,” NYT, Aug. 1, 1984.
355 “with an almost palpable weariness and despair”: “The Lost One,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, April 19, 1983.
355 “looks tired, weary … chain smoked cigarettes”: Shawn Cunningham, “Peter Lorre as Actor/Director,” Villager (New York), Aug. 2, 1984.
355 “authentic note of … cannot be questioned”: Archer Winsten, “Lorre’s ‘The Lost One’ Has Been Found Again,” New York Post, Aug. 1, 1984.
355 “carefully controlled, intense performance”: NYT, Aug. 1, 1984.
355 “evocative”: William Wolf, “The Lost One,” Gannett News Services, ca. July 1984.
355 “platitudinous”: Ernest Leogrande, “Peter Lorre’s ‘Lost’ Movie,” New York Daily News, Aug. 1, 1984.
355 “natural … deal of restraint”: Cunningham, “Peter Lorre as Actor/Director.”
355 “inwardly tortured psychotic … guy at heart”: Sy Syna, “Lorre’s ‘Lost One’ for Fans Only,” New York Tribune, Aug. 1, 1984.
355 “We sat in … No one called”: Manfred George, “Der unheimliche Peter Lorre,” Aufbau (New York), March 27, 1964.
355 “an outsider and … in the side”: L.W., “Der verlorene ‘Verlorene.’”
355 “The defeat of … energy was gone”: C. Lorre, interview Oct. 17, 1980.
356 “the winter sleep … grateful to you”: Lorre to Hauptmann, undated, EHA.
356 “just as every … a human being”: Granich, “Lorre: Mtorna con Lo sperduto.”
357 “for fear of censorship”: Malcolm Lowry to Clemens ten Holder, Oct. 31, 1951, in Grace, Sursum Corda, p. 448.
357 “would rather have … in the world”: Lowry to Ernst Klett, Oct. 31, 1951, ibid., p. 450.
357 “a complete dither of excitement”: Lowry to ten Holder, Oct. 31, 1951, ibid., p. 448.
357 “many excellent ideas … would be valuable”: Lowry to Klett, Oct. 31, 1951, ibid., p. 450.
357 “a great hash”: Day, Malcolm Lowry, p. 139.
357 “concerned with the … with his doom”: Breit and Bonner, Letters of Malcolm Lowry, p. 66.
357 “the part [of … for him [Lorre]”: Lowry to Harold Matson, Dec. 8, 1951, in Grace, Sursum Corda, p. 474.
358 “the present cannot … of his past”: Tiessen, “Cinema of Malcolm Lowry,” p. 45.
358 “expressive emphasis and distortion”: Willett, Expressionism, p. 8, quoted in Grace, “Lowry and the Expressionist Vision,” p. 94.
358 “stifling, doom-laden … and self-destructiveness
”: Joy Gould Boyum, “Under the Volcano: Looking Outward,” in Boyum, Double Exposure, p. 207.
358 “the autobiographic consciousness”: Spender, introduction to Under the Volcano, p. xvi.
358 “God knows what … lead to eventually”: Lowry to Matson, Nov. 23, 1951, in Grace, Sursum Corda, p. 452.
358 “one of the … has ever lived”: Lowry to Matson, Dec. 8, 1951, ibid., p. 474.
358 “a real regard … him, or himself”: ibid., pp. 474–75.
358 “fascinated … go around”: ten Holder to Lowry, Nov. 30, 1951, in Wehr, Schreibheft, p. 92.
358 “say in the treatment and scenario”: Lowry to Matson, Dec. 8, 1951, in Grace, Sursum Corda, p. 476
359 “interest hot”: ibid., p. 474.
359 “whole tangle … forthcoming from Klett”: Matson to Lowry, Jan. 14, 1952, in Breit and Bonner, Letters of Malcolm Lowry, p. 447.
359 “Strange to say … as a play”: José Ferrer to author, May 7, 1984.
9. ELephant Droppings
Epigraphs: Lorre, interview by Gardner; Lorre, quoted in Peters, “Der Mörder mit der sanften Stimme.”
1. After completing its Norwich run on August 23, the production played at the Boston Summer Theater August 25–30 before moving on to the Grist Mill Playhouse in Andover, New Jersey, September 1–6; the Kenley Theater in Barnesville, Pennsylvania, September 8–14; and Kenley Players in York, Pennsylvania, September 15–20.
2. Lee, Sam, and Jacob Shubert were America’s biggest theater owners and producers.
3. Reference to Lorre’s plans, “Lorre Offers ‘Team’ Idea for Production,” Film Daily, July 11, 1952. Fellow Austrian émigré Oscar Karlweis also expressed interest in starring in The Happy Ant Hill. Repeatedly deferred, the play never reached Broadway and saw the stage only in a two-day trial run—without Lorre—at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, July 17–18, 1954.
4. What Karen did not list in her complaint was an incident mentioned almost forty years later by Lon Chaney Jr.’s widow, Patsy. In an interview for Filmfax (May 1990), she said that “one time I saw him [Lorre] at a restaurant in New York, and he put a cigarette out on his wife’s face.” This allegation of behavior, more in keeping with Lorre’s persona than his person, still warrants discussion if only to debunk it. Nearly six decades after its supposed occurrence, all of the principals in Lorre’s life are deceased. Their silence during their lifetimes, however, would seem to refute rather than corroborate the account. Karen Verne’s sister, Barbara, visited her in California during the late 1940s (the likely time of the alleged episode, as it was at this point that Chaney and Lorre were working together on My Favorite Brunette) and kept in close contact from abroad. She had no love for Lorre, hence no reason to protect his reputation. Indeed, had the incident occurred, she would likely have mentioned a scar or the story behind it. In neither letter nor interview did she touch upon it. Nor did Karen’s third husband, James Powers, later a good friend to Lorre, the alleged attacker of his wife. Celia Lovksy was both friend and confidant to Karen. Protective as she was of Peter, it is unlikely that their friendship would have survived reports of such a violent incident. Nor did close friend Rhoda Riker, who saw Karen often during this period and had no special feeling for Lorre, remember hearing her talk about an episode of physical abuse.