5. Santana Picture Corp. paid Huston’s, Bogart’s, Lorre’s, and Jennifer Jones’s salaries.
6. Overstating its “all-star cast,” United Artists peddled the picture as an adventure-melodrama in the tradition of The Maltese Falcon.
7. Selma Lagerlöf was a Swedish writer of children’s stories.
8. Before accepting the assignment, Fleischer cleared the idea with his father, Max Fleischer, an animator and one-time rival of Disney. Fleischer, interview.
9. While “Young Couples Only” was copyrighted September 3, 1955, contemporary television indexes and guides do not cite an air date, causing some media historians to question whether the episode actually appeared on the small screen.
10. For his performance in Congo Crossing, Lorre earned six thousand dollars for four weeks’ work, well below his standard rate of pay.
11. Advertised in the trades as “mystery telefilms,” his thirty-nine scripts were, according to Trayne, “straight stories with O’Henry endings.” Trayne, interview.
12. Phil Tucker directed Robot Monster (1953), considered by many to be the worst movie ever made. In his Movie and Video Guide (1992), film critic and historian Leonard Maltin describes it as “one of the genuine legends of Hollywood: embarrassingly, hilariously awful.”
13. A Ukrainian folk-dance step featuring the execution of a squat kick.
14. Lorre’s commitment to MGM possibly interfered with his plans to tackle Broadway. On January 23, 1956, the New York Times announced that the actor would costar with Estelle Winwood in Marcel Aymé’s comedy Clèrambard, scheduled for the fall season. Arthur Gelb, “Magazine Story Will Be Staged,” NYT, Jan. 23, 1956.
15. The Adjustment Committee reduced Lorre’s debt to roughly forty dollars.
16. Having “approached everyone,” said coproducer Aubrey Schenck, “we got what we could get.” In the end, he got Akim Tamiroff for the part of Odo. Aubrey Schenck, interview by Tom Weaver, quoted in It Came from Weaver Five: Interviews with 20 Zany, Glib, and Earnest Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Traditions of the Thirties, Forties, Fifties, and Sixties, by Tom Weaver (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996), p. 276.
17. John Carradine, claiming he had retired from monster pictures to play Shakespeare, also turned down the part. Gordon finally settled on Chester Morris, whom Variety, Aug. 29, 1956, judged “too able an actor to be entirely submerged in this shoddy material.”
18. Lorre’s commitment to Irwin Allen very possibly ruled out an offer to appear in a television production of Aladdin written by S.J. Perelman with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, which aired February 21, 1958.
19. Mike Todd Sr. died in a plane crash in March 1958.
20. In “100 Greatest Episodes of Our Time,” TV Guide (June 28–July 4, 1997) ranked “Man from the South” number forty-one.
21. AIP productions were typically shot in ten days or fewer and budgeted under one hundred thousand dollars.
22. AIP staff composer Les Baxter felt that “they could have used his comic talent very much more than they did. He was used in horror films, I guess, because he looked a little strange, and had a strange way of pronouncing his speeches, but he had a very pixie sense of humor that went along with it.” Weaver, It Came from Weaver Five, p. 33.
23. Reference to divorce settlement, “Divorce Asked by Wife of Actor Peter Lorre,” LAT, Aug. 16, 1963.
24. Reference to no money sums being mentioned in divorce settlement, Shutan, interview.
25. Reference to AIP signing Lorre, “AIP Pacts Karloff,” HR, March 4, 1963.
26. At one point, Gillie and Trumbull creep up a staircase. When Waldo steps on Felix’s hand, Lorre cries out, “My foot—uh—your foot, my hand!” The flubbed line remains in the finished film.
27. Available medical records indicate that Lorre confined himself to morphine.
QUOTATION SOURCES BY PACE NUMBER
362 “He didn’t say … the southern politician”: Sawyer, interview.
362 “You can stay … all over again”: Lorre, interview by Glover.
363 “Broadway could do … can be it”: Vernon Rice, “Strawhat Reviews: Night at Mme. Tussaud’s,” Variety, Aug. 20, 1952.
363 “Somebody will have … comedy that’s stressed”: Vernon Rice, “Summer Theater: A Slight Change in Billing Suggested,” New York Post (evening ed.), Aug. 20, 1952.
363 “a great man … a great patriot”: Alta Maloney, “Hopkins, Lorre at Boston,” Boston Traveler, Aug. 26, 1952.
363 “crime for the fun of it”: Rice, “A Slight Change in Billing Suggested.”
363 “The reason I … at any moment”: Alpert, “Lorre Laughs When It Hurts.”
363 “ghoulish mélange of … blood and paranoia”: “Critic’s Corner: Lorre, Hopkins Pace Excellent Cast in Horror ‘A Night at Mme. Tussaud’s,’” York (PA) Gazette and Daily, Sept. 16, 1962.
363 “the play needs … response so far”: Ken Crotty, “Lorre Affable despite Sinister Movie Roles,” Boston Post, Aug. 29, 1952.
364 “Lorre and Hopkins … top dog”: Mayer, interview by Bigwood.
364 “you could hear … as a cob”: Warren, interview.
364 “Hopkins got so … have enjoyed that”: Mayer, interview by Bigwood.
364 “Hopkins held the … to fall apart”: Mayer, interview by author.
364 “It was not … an audience-pleaser”: Mayer, interview by Bigwood.
364 “the master scarer … for curiosity value”: Rice, “A Slight Change in Billing Suggested.”
365 “You know, John … heard that one”: St. Joseph, interview.
365 “he looked like … world at all”: King, interview by Katz.
365 “Peter was upset … attractive physiological being”: J. Silverstone, interview.
365 “outstanding and successful … in principle, interested”: Paul Kohner to Lorre, April 9, 1952, Paul Kohner Collection, Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin.
366 “sultry, shapely … and spends lavishly”: Alfred Albelli, “Hungry Mrs. Lorre Seeks Alimony,” New York News, Dec. 16, 1952.
366 “fragrant with imperial … the distant future”: Cockburn, introduction to Beat the Devil.
366 “good luck token”: Benchley, Humphrey Bogart, p. 218.
366 “We are trying … you want him”: Humphrey Bogart to John Huston, Nov. 26, 1952, JHC.
366 “It stinks”: Benchley, Humphrey Bogart, p. 218.
367 “a certain lightness of touch”: Jack Clayton to author, Aug. 3, 1981.
367 “My brother and … was a mistake”: John Woolf to author, Nov. 11, 1987.
367 “this is a … fine by me”: Huston to Bogart, Nov. 19, 1952, JHC.
367 “the brains”: Bogart to Huston, Nov. 26, 1952, JHC.
367 “unacceptable under the … in the story”: Joseph I. Breen to Jesse S. Morgan, MPAA PCA.
367 “brand new … a walking stick”: Huston to Bogart, Nov. 19, 1952, JHC.
367 “And now we … do with THAT”: Bogart to Huston, Nov. 26, 1952, JHC.
368 “Hell, it’s only … best we could”: Huston, An Open Book, p. 246.
368 “next-door to penniless”: Truman Capote to Cecil Beaton, quoted in Gerald Clarke, Capote: A Biography (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988), p. 233.
368 “even if it … least I think”: David O. Selznick to Huston, Jan. 30, 1953, in Behlmer, Memo from Selznick, p. 415.
368 “When I got … the following week”: Knight, “With Huston in Italy.”
368 “We usually have … movie on Monday”: Morris, interview.
368 “Was it really … game to you”: quoted in Clarke, Capote, p. 239.
368 “changed the whole … what was happening”: J.G. Barton, interview.
369 “We enjoyed the … went with it”: Pratley, Cinema of John Huston, pp. 99–100.
369 “long before the … that went on”: Morris, interview.
369 “the unholy three”: Lovsky, interviews.
369 “He was a delight … in his body”: Huston, intervie
w.
370 “Truman had that … play my son”: J.G. Barton, interview.
370 “He had a … It never failed”: Morris, interview.
370 “seemed to be … having a ball”: J.G. Barton, interview.
370 “If anyone had … in his body”: ibid.
371 “I have always … to listen to”: Robert Morley to author, May 25, 1973.
371 “Ernest Hemingway words”: Mike Wallace, interview with Peter Lorre, pre-interview notes.
371 “I remember an … do much good”: Morley to author.
371 “I get a … them into it”: Huston, interview.
371 “John would let … could tell him”: J.G. Barton, interview.
371 “veered off more … of Peter himself”: Morris, interview.
371 “a nimble creature … and also supple”: Huston, interview.
371 “the crooks, ostensibly… virtue, become absurd”: Pratley, Cinema of John Huston, p. 102.
372 “a little vignette … a delightful interlude”: Huston, interview.
372 “healthy departure from my Hollywood roles”: Bob Thomas, “Peter Lorre Back in Hollywood, No Longer in Type Pigeonhole,” Newport (RI) News, Feb. 9, 1954.
372 “Peter Lorre has … old evil stand”: “Lorre Ditches Virtue at Last,” Beat the Devil, pressbook, 1954.
372 “it is hard … an action picture”: Huston to Bogart, Nov. 19, 1952, JHC.
372 “a sort of … private detective”: M.A. Schmidt, “Battling Bogart’s Saga,” NYT, Sept. 6, 1953.
372 “more a lark … very good time”: Pratley, Cinema of John Huston, pp. 99, 101–2.
372 “It was a … didn’t get it”: Thirer, “Lorre: ‘Time Not to Make Money.’”
373 “a mess”: Axel Madsen, John Huston (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978), p. 141.
373 “the air of … justify public performance”: Lindsay Anderson, “In Brief: Beat the Devil,” Sight and Sound, Jan.-March 1954, pp. 147–48.
373 “lived separate and … since March 8, 1950”: Complaint, Ingeborg Karen Lorre vs. Peter Lorre, June 20, 1953, In the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada in and for the County of Clark.
373 “miracle child … to do it”: Annemarie Lorre to PEM (Paul E. Marcus), March 22, 1954, author’s collection.
373 “horseyback … it looks good”: C. Lorre, interview.
374 “an ideal cafehaus … and garbage disposal”: Annemarie Lorre to PEM.
374 “momentary fits of … care what happens”: “The Human Beast,” undated treatment/synopsis, Jerry Wald Collection, Cinema-Television Library, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles.
374 “everybody is bad”: Bogdanovich, Fritz Lang in America, p. 95.
374 “present-day American”: Fritz Lang, interoffice communication to Jerry Wald, Feb. 17, 1953, FLC USC.
375 “ballet inserts … and drawn him”: Goff, interview, July 31, 1978.
376 “empirical script”: ibid.
376 “fit for any … but no nerves”: Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, translated by Anthony Bonner (New York: Bantam, 1981), pp. 24–25.
376 “I always had … been ad-libbing it”: Goff, interview, July 31, 1978.
376 “Even things offered … carefully and deeply”: Fleischer, interview.
376 “His screen image … trying new things”: Richard Fleischer to author, May 30, 1975.
377 “After all these … was a mistake”: Joe Reddy, “Peter Lorre Proves He’s Funny in Disney 20,000 Leagues,” Walt Disney Productions, Peter Lorre file, BFINL.
377 “high hopes”: Fleischer, interview.
377 “I thought that … thing that will”: Goff, interview, July 31, 1978.
377 “That I was … I usually play”: Reddy, “Peter Lorre Proves He’s Funny.”
377 “There could be … he could find”: Fleischer to author.
377 “cohesive factor”: ibid.
377 “A discussion took … any further distress”: James Mason to author, Oct. 3, 1975.
378 “Peter defied him … pay the bill’”: Goff, interview, July 31, 1978.
378 “Peter wasn’t sure … Under the Sea”: ibid.
378 “has always been … parts I play”: Reddy, “Peter Lorre Proves He’s Funny.”
378 “a giant agitation … when he wants”: Annemarie Lorre to PEM.
379 “There are some … a boyish face.”: ibid.
380 “mutual exchange of … on both sides”: Porges, “Film ist Gemeinschaftswerk.”
380 “every day I … without being called”: kfj, “Ist Peter Lorre vergessen?” Hamburger Anzeiger, March 10, 1954.
380 “went to bat … can kill you”: Barry Nelson, Q & A session, Casino Royale screening, Univ. of Southern California, May 8, 1982.
380 “Peter expired as … thirty million viewers”: Charles Bennett, “Peter Lorre: Gentlest Murderer,” in Peary, Close-Ups, p. 334.
381 “was appalled, so … what had happened”: Charles Bennett to author, April 19, 1975.
381 “the morticians”: Swope, interview.
381 “made the perfect … them out beautifully”: Chan, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Variety, Jan. 12, 1955.
381 “The movie actor … buyin’ a newspaper”: J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (Boston: Little, Brown, 1951), p. 93.
381 “The man is … him a break”: Richard Matheson, “Shipshape Home,” in Richard Matheson: Collected Stories (Los Angeles: Dream/Press, 1989), p. 151.
382 “I tried … never got made”: Matheson, interview, Dec. 6, 1994.
382 “for a welcome … is the law”: Peter Lorre, introduction to “The Blue Landscape,” NBC, Dec. 10, 1955.
384 “lowbrow bonanzas”: Gow, Hollywood in the Fifties, p. 195.
384 “Peter Lorre played … a word, great”: Jack O’Brian’s TViews, “Cantor Tops in Real Gem,” New York Journal-American, Oct. 19, 1956.
385 “The ultra-reliable … most brooding works”: “The Last Tycoon,” Variety, March 20, 1957.
385 “I’m grateful you … him in dismay”: St. Joseph, interview.
385 “television came into … think about it”: “He’s Only Human.”
385 “a chance to … he could say”: St. Joseph, interview.
386 “They were laughing … of some kind”: Meadow, interview.
386 “I think he … off his back”: Robertson, interview.
386 “Almost all of … do our best”: Meadow, interview.
387 “It had a … wasting their money”: Price, interview, Jan. 30, 1974.
388 “One criticism that … we still do”: Lorre, interview by Glover.
388 “in spite of … he was right”: Robertson, interview.
388 “Just be Peter Lorre”: Haller, interview.
388 “It is horrible … sure of that”: Peter Lorre, “Bin ich noch ein Mensch?” unidentified clipping, Aug. 13, 1957, Deutsches Institut für Filmkunde, Wiesbaden, Germany.
389 “I don’t want … do a role”: “New Formula for Lorre,” New York Morning Telegraph, Oct. 18, 1962.
389 “Let us say … whatever is human”: “He’s Only Human.”
389 “Character actors … much like him”: Mamoulian, interview.
392 “I’m not a … it was wonderful”: Pan, interview.
392 “I am a very sick man”: Buloff, interview.
392 “he was taking … across the stage”: “Charisse Still Puts On a Nice Spin,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 19, 2004.
393 “During Silk Stockings … out of him”: Mamoulian, interview.
393 “Peter didn’t want … of his talents”: Lester Salkow, interview.
393 “I can do … for no money”: Lorre, interview by Paar.
393 “European kind of fatalistic view”: Sanford, interview.
393 “That would have … it was shit”: Wynn, interview.
394 “the perennial bad man Peter Lorre”: listing for The Red Skelton Show, TV Guide, Jan. 18, 1955.
394 “I am without … man in night
clubs”: Joseph Finnigan, “Defends Bad Name,” Newark (NJ) Evening News, Nov. 19, 1963.
394 “Once when I … like Peter Lorre”: “He’s Only Human.”
394 “Let me assure … for an adjustment”: Peter Lorre to Pat Somerset, Feb. 17, 1954, Lorre member file, Screen Actors Guild, Los Angeles.
394 “We have to … her very much”: Peter Lorre to Otto Andreas and Käethe Brenning, ca. June 1956, author’s collection.
395 “nerves shot up”: Lovsky, interview, May 12, 1977.
395 “dinner at Peter’s … won’t be abused”: Lovsky, diary, Dec. 8, 1956.
395 “If the theater … famous psychoanalyst today”: “He’s Only Human.”
395 “was supposed to … the part up”: Reginald LeBorg, interview by Tom Weaver, in Weaver, Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers, p. 243.
395 “a piece of junk”: Gordon, interview.
395 “He hated it … a cheap film”: Alex Gordon, quoted in John Hoxley, “Alex Gordon: The Deadly ‘B’s,’” Fangoria, Aug. 1979.
396 “If they’ll pay … you’ll do it”: Gordon, interview by Tom Weaver.
396 “This is what … were your agent”: Laura Salkow, interview.
396 “one of the … filmed science fiction”: Bill Warren, Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, vol. 2, 1958–1962 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1986), p. 602.
The Lost One Page 85