#i knew about Vincent and Peter Lorre

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

222. The Comedy Of Terrors (1963)

[thealmightyemprex]

Top 10 Favorite Classic actors

So I was thinking of doing a top 10 actors list....But the list was dominated by classic actors ,so doing that list .Might do more modern actors too.Also this is both actors AND actresses

Rule to clasify for classic actor ,I went exclusively with actors who have passed on

10.Christopher Lee-Guy with a long and very varied career,Lee brings a dangerous villanous yet sophisticated and even seductive vibe to most roles

9.Peter Lorre:Arlene Francis once described Lorre as "Our favorite sad eyed villain" and that sums him up well .He brings both a creepines and yet a sense of sadness to many roles while also being an underrated comic talent .Even though type cast as villains he could play diffrent types of villains ,as shown by his three breakthrough performances in M ,Man Who Knew Too Much and Mad Love,where he plays a tormented pathetic childkiller ,a cool levelheaded kidnapper and a obsessed mad stalkerish surgeon with equal pinache

8.Roddy McDowall-Theres a sad cliche that child actors often have bad careers ,Roddy McDowall is a big exception,transitioning from child star to one of the most praised character actors of the 20th century with a six decade career .Be it film,television ,theater or voiceover,McDowall conquered it ,and be it a historical epic , a horror film,a cartoon or a certain franchise about talking apes .....McDowall NEVER phones in ,he brings the sauce

7.Vincent Price : Vincent is one of my favorite personalities of the 20th century ,known for his sophistication and wicked sense of humor .He started out as a matinee idol before finding his niche playing villains ,usually in horror.What I find interesting about Vincent is he is really good at playing the "Man drivent to villainy ",he can play a right evil bastard but his villains tend to be either sympathetic to an extent or they are clearly having a ball so you cant help but like them .Whether villain ,protagonist or even a side role hes just a hoot to watch

6.Boris Karloff -Karloff for YEARS was my go to answer for favorite actor .Of the classic horror stars Karloff is so understated,like he could go big if he wanted to but the little inflections and movements he does are effective enough.PArt of my love for him is his voice,like watch the GRinch or him telling the story of Death and the Servent in Target and you are just pulled in .He can do sinister very well,(I will always remember his slimey grin in The Body Snatcher) but of course his greatest legacy is being the FRankensteinMonster which if you ask me is one of the greatest performances in cinema ,he is brutal and vacant but at the same time sad,frightened and child like

5.Ingrid Bergman -So while I adore Casblanca and she is great in it....It is her performances in Gaslight ,Murder on the ORient Express and especially Anastasia that put her so high.I have never seen a performer just ....."Go there" as well as she does ,so consistantly and I kind of forget Im watching a movie .Shes not higher cause I just havent seen enough of her

4.Humphrey Bogart-Bogart is cool,and while Ive always thought he was cool,i wasnt initially impressed by ol Boagey .......The more stuff Ive seen with him the more I realize beneath that coolness is a really good actor who can do comedy,romance,be a tough guy and even be the second most paranoid nervous wreck of a villain I have ever seen (Behind Tony Goldwyn in Ghost ),theres more to him then just being cool

3.Katherine Hepburn;.....DO I have to explain placing one of the greatest performers of the 20th century so high? .....Just watch Philidelphia Story,African Queen and Lion and Winter,youll get it

2.Eli Wallach-I pretty much love this guy anytime he appears in something .Hes another guys who can play vilains but add a layer .Hes always entertaining and he played one of my favorite film characters ever Tuco in The Good the Bad and the Ugly

1.Claude Rains.....I think Claude Rains should be called the greatest actor of the 20th century over the likes of Charles Laughton,LAurance Olivier and John Gielgud.....Cause this guy TRAINED Charles Laughton,Laurance Olivier and John Gielgud !!!!!He is one of the greatest character actors of the 20th century .He has possibly the greatest voice of any actor (The competition is James Earl Jones and James Mason ) which was so striking,his big break was the Invisible Man ,a movie where you dont even SEE HIM .Man did horror,adventure ,sci fi ,musical ,dramas and was in both Casablanca (As my favorite film character ever Louis Renault ) AND Lawrance of Arabia ,AKA two movies considered pretty darn good .And if you want more proof ,watch his death scene in Deception where he is shot by Bette Davis ....And just smirks and says "You fool ".I stand by Rains being my absolute favorite actor

So thats my list,share your favorits if you want ,or just share your thoughts on mine

@piterelizabethdevries @the-blue-fairie @ariel-seagull-wings @themousefromfantasyland @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @princesssarisa @countesspetofi @amalthea9 @barbossas-wench

[peterlorrefanpage]

"Almost all of his lines in the script are his suggestions."

My darling Peter Lorre! (Also in that reblogged pic, Peter with his bow tie off and collar opened is a beautiful sight.)

Background from "The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre" by Stephen D. Youngkin:

In early 1957 Hunt Stromberg Jr., an assistant program director at 20th Century–Fox, who had conceived the idea of Collector’s Item, a television series about two intrepid antiquarians, assigned screenwriter Herb Meadow to develop the concept and produce a pilot for the 1958–59 season. Meadow recalled reading a fanciful tale about golden horseshoes encased in black paint. From this germ, he developed “The Left Fist of David,” a story about an art collector and his assistant, a rehabilitated forger, who foil the theft of a priceless relic. Meadow found his leads by paging through a casting directory. Steady money, a dry spell of movie offers, and the chance to work with Vincent Price persuaded a reluctant Peter Lorre to have a go. The same could not be said of 20th Century–Fox, which, according to the writer, gave the new medium a cold shoulder. Stromberg drafted a first-time producer, who, in turn, hired a live television director whose inexperience in film left the actors in the position of having to direct themselves. Faced with the option of shrugging off the fiasco and collecting his check, or of giving his professional best, [Peter Lorre] dug in. “I think he had an innate artistic intelligence,” said Cliff Robertson, who worked with Lorre in “The Cruel Day” on Playhouse 90. “He was so good he seemed to have that security and ease only an experienced, usually older actor displays. You had a feeling that it was kind of rolling off his back.” “Almost all of his lines in the script,” said Herb Meadow, “are his suggestions. He knew what he was best at, and while the lines themselves did not come out as brilliant lines—because they couldn’t, since he was not the star—they came out as an expression of personality which was slowly building into something that was Lorre’s best."

Here's Part 1:

Watch the rest:

Part 2

Part 3

One last anecdote from the biography:

Behind the scenes, the actor played a more challenging role, that of peacekeeper. Location shooting took the company to a palatial Bel-Air estate bristling with statuary. “We were standing near the Greek Classic, ‘The Wrestlers,’” related Meadow. "Price, Lorre, the director, the cameraman and I were having quite an argument. I was ready to fight because the thing had gotten completely out of hand. Everybody was doing what he wanted to do and I had lost control of my company. "At the peak of this thing, there was one of those inexplicable silences as everybody tried to decide who was going to hit whom first. "Pointing to the statue, Lorre said wonderingly, absolutely straight, as though he really meant it, 'Do you know, the last time we passed here, the other one was on top.' "Now it was typical of what he would do. His funnies always had a purpose. It struck us as terribly funny, and that’s all that was necessary. So he saved us for another few hours."

Vincent Price and Peter Lore in a promotional photo for "Collector's Item” unsold TV pilot “The Left Fist of David” in 1957/58.

[peterlorrefanpage]

Pure delight: Peter Lorre playing Pepi in the Warner Bros comedy-gangster-thriller, All Through the Night (1941). 

Humphrey Bogart stars in this fun movie along with Conrad Veidt, Jackie Gleason, Judith Anderson, and Karen (then Kaaren) Verne, who later becomes Peter’s second wife.

Studio notes on this scene from director Vincent Sherman, courtesy of the wonderful biography The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre, by Stephen D Youngkin:

“He had a way of doing a scene so that your eyes would be on him...[he] was very inventive about props. I remember one incident where he came into a shop. 

“'Brother Vince,' he said, 'do you think you could have a popcorn machine on the outside so I could come in with a bag of popcorn, be eating popcorn while I play the scene with this man?' 

“He was playing a scene in which he was very menacing and he thought it would be more effective if he casually ate popcorn, which is an interesting way for an actor to do things. 

“I said, 'That’s a very good idea, Peter,' and sure enough I had a popcorn machine outside and he came walking into the store. It was a bakery shop, and before I knew it he was running his hand over the icing on the cake. 

“And he did two or three different things, and he was doing so damn many things, I said, 'Peter, would you like a feather duster?'

“He said, 'A feather duster, what for?'

“I said, 'You can stick it up your ass and dust the furniture while you’re at it.'

“He laughed.’”

[maroonghoul]

Terror Time 2022: Days 10-17

Hi everyone! Here’s an update of all the horror movies since I last talked.

Also, I should’ve attached a warning about Brotherhood of the Wolf; There’s a scene of sexual assault in it. If that makes you uncomfortable or you find it triggering, you might want to give that one a skip. Going forward, if films I watched had anything like that, I’ll remember to attach a warning. 

One Cut of the Dead (2017): I knew going in this was an unconventional horror-comedy zombie movie, and that’s what I got. I knew the basic setup going in and avoid spoiling myself on anything else, which was wise in hindsight. I’ll say if you go in knowing only the basic premise, the first 35 minutes is more or less that, then it goes in a completely different direction. Like, “more meta then Scream” different. I won’t spoil anything else, other the first 35 minutes I mentioned earlier is the film at it’s scariest, with the rest leaning towards comedy, so if you want a more intense zombie movie, you might be disappointed. But it pulls it off, and it actually ends up being a fun time.

A Chinese Ghost Story (1987): Like Brotherhood of the Wolf, this isn’t a horror film, so much as a period piece action film with horror elements, though this time made in China. Fans of kung-fu movies would like creative fight scenes, but those looking for all things spooky will like the nighttime atmosphere, zombies, and a good old fashioned ghost/love story.

Side note: I got a kick out of how ACAB this movie was. Sure, it was played for comedic effect, but it was another case where the police aren’t expected to help.

The Ranger(2018): Now for something less pleasant. It works fine enough, I guess, if you can accept it detached from reality. But I’m getting kind of sick of the “evil destructive punk” stereotype. I know most slasher films have it so most of the would be body count is unlikable. But there’s a reason why in a lot of the more popular backwoods slasher films, those kind of characters are depicted as more privileged prep types. The idea of the slasher being a park ranger being driven mad is a nice idea, though I would’ve liked him being portrayed more uptight and over-the-top. It’d make him seem more unhinged.

The Raven (1963): For about the past ten years, I had to include one Vincent Price movie in my movie watch marathon. And I think this’ll be the last one for a while. This movie is wild in the way that if it was made today, Film twitter would go crazy and hate on it for “disrespecting the source material”. Said “disrespect” starts literally with the titular raven saying something other then his iconic line, which had to have been a deliberate jab. But taken as it is, it’s a fun little gothic fantasy movie, similar in tone to the other Poe adaptation Price made with Roger Corman at the time, though the lightest in tone. 

As for the cast, It’s surreal seeing a really young Jack Nicholson, play the standard strong bland love interest to the female lead in this. Though looking at the carriage scene did make clear why he was cast. You can see the genesis of his Jack Torrance performance forming there. Peter Lorre’s fun as the cranky sidekick/turncoat, always complaining and backstabbing throughout. But you can’t be mad because it never goes well for him. The highlight is easily the climatic wizards duel between Price and Boris Karloff. Compared to future cinematic wizards duel, it’s more low key. Even compared to the one in Disney’s Sword in the Stone which came out a few years later. It’s not intense, just...I can’t think of any word other then cute. Like if two grandpas did a stage act where they were stage magicians trying to one up each other. I mean that in a good way. It can be a  rather slow, with certain plot devices being old hat now. But it’s a fun watch if you like these actors, especially when they’re trying to chew more scenery then the other.

Halloween (2018,Kills,Ends): This is the first time I saw the first two since I saw them in theaters. At this point, I don’t know what else I can add to them that isn’t there already. The first one still feels like an update of the 1978 original, while setting off Laurie’s new character arc. And the second feels like a part two of that, plus a nonstop kill showcase. And sneaking in a condemnation of mob mentality vigilantism in the process.

As for the new film that just came out; keep in mind this is first impressions. I didn’t like Kills too much when I first saw it. But now after a whole year, while it’s not my favorite, I’ve accepted it more. I had a feeling going in, that the reason they made Kills that way, was so to give them carte blanc to go in a completely outside the box way with this one. But even then, I didn’t expect it would get this different. It was like a back door pilot for a remake of a different 80s slasher film. (I got serious “Silent Night, Deadly Night” flashbacks.)

I think this one’s a mess, but I think it has some good ideas in it, especially in how it continues the themes from the last movies. Michael Myers was a monster born out of small-town suburbia. Created from it. And it’s here with a new character, we see not only the far reaches of the effects his rampage has had, but also how it inspires more monsters like him. It’s not that I want more information or world building in this (That’d be the Cult of Thorn all over again). But I like that it made me think maybe Michael’s just one long link of pure evil mass killers. What makes him evil isn’t supernatural, so much as sociological. Kind of how like one of the reasons mass shooters are motivated is because they saw how famous the last one is. 

It also finally provides a way for this franchise to finally get beyond Laurie and Michael for good. (Some call how he’s disposed of excessive, and maybe it is in presentation, but I liked that they took extra steps to make sure he’s gone this time, like removing his mask and such.) I’m also happy that if this is the last we see of Laurie Strode, she came out on top. If this franchise continues, it can either restart that anthology idea we had with Season of the Witch. Or maybe we’ll follow a new killer going forward. Leave the Strode family in peace. They’ve earned it.

Psycho Goreman (2020): E.T. if instead of him and Eliot, it’s Pinhead and rule 63′d Eric Cartman. This is a cynical, mean-spirited parody of 80s sci fi kids film, that I loved most of. By that, I mean the practical effects and the aliens. I don’t care if it’s 100% believable. It’s beautiful...in the ugliest ways imaginable. I especially loved the title character’s collection of generals who betrayed him. They look like slightly more gnarly power rangers villains. The family drama, I could do less of. Maybe had him interact/torture other humans throughout would be fun. And outside of “Love can motivate you to do terrible things”, nobody learned a damned thing. In other words, this is peak cinema.

Gravy(2015): Nobody talks about this horror-comedy or even seem to know about this movie. And watching it, it’s not hard to see why. The basic premise is that “cannibals hold employees of a Mexican restaurant hostage”. and things proceed to head in the blackest of comedic directions possible. Even that doesn’t sum up how weird it can get (there’s cartoon sound effects, for one). I suppose if you want a movie that’s gleefully messed up where it ends bad for pretty much everyone, you can check it out. I don’t think I cared for it, though. Felt like it punched down too much.

And that’s it so far. I hope to give the next update this time next week.

[bofursunboundbraids]

85 Statements

I was tagged by @catthefearless Thank you!!

rules: answer these 85 statements about yourself, then tag 20 people

LAST

1. drink - Sparkling water.

2. phone call - Ummm...probably ordering dinner to go from Giovanni’s last week.

3. text message - My mama asking if I want to check out a new coffee place when she gets off work. (Answer: Fuck yeah!)

4. song you listened to - “Wrong Crowd” by my beautiful child Tom Odell

5. time you cried - Uh...last week after my employment counselor appointment. Cuz insecurity is a mutha!

EVER

6. dated someone twice? - Yes, because young and stupid/insecure (see a pattern forming?)

7. kissed someone and regretted it - There are a couple I side-eye, but regret? No.

8. been cheated on - Yes, but I’ve also cheated.

9. lost someone special - Yes.

10. been depressed - I experience bouts of frustration and disappointment, with and in life in general.

11. gotten drunk and thrown up - A number of times. I can no longer drink rum.

FAV COLORS

12. Midnight blue

13. Emerald green.

14. Lavender.

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

15. made new friends - Yes! Thank you tumblr!

16. fallen out of love - No.

17. laughed until you cried - Maybe?

18. found out someone was talking about you - No.

19. met someone who changed you - No.

20. found out who your friends are - Yes.

21. kissed someone on your Facebook friends list - No.

GENERAL

22. how many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life? - Most of them, I think. I’m still waiting for the day the website, along with Mark Zuckerberg, gets shot into the sun.

23. do you have any pets - My genday conure Butchie my Buddy bird.

24. do you want to change your name - I dumped my last name last fall for my maternal grandfather’s birth name. My first name is 500% me.

25. what did you do for your last birthday - Got the slip-on checker board vans I’ve wanted since junior high and had dinner with my mom and nephew at Cracker Barrel cuz that shit is my JAM!

26. what time did you wake up today - 8am

27. what were you doing at midnight last night - Reading “Kidnapped by the Pirate” by Keira Andrews, a most excellent mlm historical romance.

28. what is something you can’t wait for - To be employed, earning decent money, so I can FINALLY GO TO NEW ZEALAND FFS!

30. what are you listening to right now - I’m watching “It Came from Outer Space” (1953)

31. have you ever talked to a person named Tom - This is funny, because I was recently trying to remember when the last time I knew someone named Tom was. Junior High maybe?

32. something that’s getting on your nerves - I haven’t been to New Zealand yet, which is really starting to piss me off.

33. most visited website - Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube.

34. hair color - Currently John Frieda’s Brilliant Brunette (3N) which is a wonderful deep chocolate brown, what I call Arwen/Frodo brown. It’s dark without making me look washed out. Perfect.

35. long or short hair - It’s a toss up between a Louise Brooks bob and mid-neck length. Anything longer, on me, is pointless.

36. do you have a crush on someone - I’m kinda torn between Martin Freeman, Jack White, and NY attorney general Eric Schneiderman.

37. what do you like about yourself- I can’t give up and I will never settle.

38. want any piercings? - No.

39. blood type - O negative. I’m UNIVERSAL BABY!

40. nicknames - Steesh, Bobeesh

41. relationship status - happily single.

42. zodiac - Pisces

43. pronouns - she/her

44. fave TV shows - Hawaii 5-0 (original), Wild Wild West, Route 66, Perry Mason, X-Files, Twin Peaks, Hannibal, Streets of San Francisco, WKRP in Cincinnati, Unsolved Mysteries...

45. tattoos - No, but I have a list of the ones I want.

46. right or left handed - right

47. ever had surgery - I had an emergency appendectomy right before my 13th birday.

48. piercings - 2

49. sport - my ex was an Aikido instructor, so I have a brown belt, but I gaven’t trained in a really long time.

50. vacation - About a year and half ago, Mum and I went to Boise, Idaho to check it out as a possible place to move to. It was nice, but we’ve scratched it off the list. Now we’re looking at Virginia.

51. trainers - since Nike bought Converse (fuck you very much), I am now a 500% Vans girl.

MORE GENERAL

52. eating - The last thing I ate was chicken shawarma with basmati rice and hummus. So freaking good.

53. drinking - I’m a coffee girl and I love a good lavender mocha.

54. I’m about to watch - it’s bed time. Gotta do my Italian (Duolingo) then reading.

55. waiting for - me to be at a point where I can start being paid for building freaking websites so I can go to freaking New Zealand!

56. want - To be paid.

57. get married - I’ve never believed in the institution.

58. career - I wanna make pretty, responsive web sites that achieve high seo rankings - AND GET PAID!

59. hugs or kisses - I like them both, as long as it’s someone I want to be doing it with. I would kind of like to kiss a boy whose name I don’t know and then never see him again.

60. lips or eyes - For me it’s the holy trinity; eyes, nose, lower lip.

61. shorter or taller - At 5’7” I feel taller than most other women. If we’re talking guys...I’ve had both, but prefer taller.

62. older or younger - Age is irrelevant, unless they’re really young. I abide by the equation (half your age plus 7)

63. nice arms or stomach - How about hands?

64. hookup or relationship - I’ve never experienced a hookup, but I never say never.

65. troublemaker or hesitant - I’m game as long as no one is getting hurt and no laws are being broken and no assholery is being committed.

HAVE YOU EVER

66. kissed a stranger - once, a long time ago.

67. drank hard liquor - Yup.

68. lost glasses - Sunnies? Yes. Readers? Between Mum and I, there are like twenty pairs floating around the house, so that’s a big no. Have broken quite a few, however.

70. sex on the first date - Ewww, no! Unless...

71. broken someone’s heart - Yes. My one big regret.

72. had your heart broke - Yes, but no.

73. been arrested - No

74. cried when someone died - No

75. fallen for a friend - Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

76. yourself - Fuck yeah!

77. miracles - No.

78. love at first sight - I believe in the chemical reaction that happens in the brain when physical attraction occurs.

79. santa claus - Fuck yeah Santa RULES!

80. kiss on a first date - Yes.

81. angels - No.

OTHER

82. best friend’s name - Her name’s Shannon and she’s my mom.

83. eye color - Green.

84. fave movie - The Three Musketeers (1973), The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit (Jackson), Casablanca, Jaws, Dracula (1931), The Big Sleep, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I’d also like to give a big shout out to the entire genre of 40s/50s Film Noir as well as 1950s SciFi and teen exploitation films, that shit gives me life!

85. fave actor - Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Burr, Jack Lord, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Cate Blanchett, Mads Mikkelsen, Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi, Jack Lemmon, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Laird Creager (btw...if you don’t know who that is, Google him! He was a queer actor who died way too young, right before his career was on the verge of really taking off. Some say his would’ve been not unlike that of Vincent Price, another one of my most very favorites. Check out “The Lodger” from 1944. It’s a take on Jack the Ripper and he is BRILLIANT! It also stars George Sanders and Merle Oberon.)

I’m not tagging anyone specifically, therefore I tag EVERYONE! Let us know who you are, and please tag me if you do!😍

[wittypenguin]

Black Angel (1946)

We’re in Los Angeles and the skyline includes a flashing neon sign saying (I shit you not) “GAYLORD,” as proud as can be. Wondering ‘ what that’s advertising or is it some sort of critical epithet,’ I looked into it. Turns out, that’s the middle name of Mr Wilshire, of “Wiltshire Boulevard” fame and the name his friends all knew him by. To learn more about this rich, old-money, white, socialist reformer, read this fascinating article: ”The Gaylord Apartments: Luxury, Socialism, and L.A.'s First Failed Co-op” | KCET

The films starts with forced perspective model and rotoscope work into the Wiltshire House’s interior where we meet a woman (Constance Dowling) who is rough with her maid and is surrounded by fancy things, including photos of herself. A record with her singing is playing. Her husband (Dan Duryea) is refused admittance by the doorman in the lobby, but Peter Lorre gets clearance for the elevator. Later, Mr Bennet (John Phillips) visits and finds the place filled with dead Mavis Marlow sporting a heart-shaped brooch on her bosom. Looking about — as well as touching practically everything, including a pistol — he scampers out after someone who has somehow snuck past him; in the process he is seen fleeing the apartment by the maid. He is convicted.

Peter Lorre as Mr Marco runs a restaurant on Sunset Strip called Rio’s. He punches his maître d’s bum, so he must be evil, as well as being described as “…heretofore billed as a woman hater…” in a newspaper column, suggesting he’s possibly bi- or homosexual. He has a daughter, but there’s a clear tipping of a wink regarding something here, and it’s not all that friendly. “He’s probably gay” was typically “he can’t be trusted and is likely a criminal deviant” in films of the time; an awful reality of the industry.

Broderick Crawford; more like broad-rick Crawford, am I right? He does everything with such theatrical flourish, it’s a wonder he doesn’t flounce into the room as Police Captain Flood.

[left to right] Dan Duryea, June Vincent, and Peter Lorre in Black Angel (1946) — — — —

Dan Duryea as Martin Blair is a cross between William H Macy and Willem Dafoe. He’s great!

So’s June Vincent as Catherine Bennett!

Only 20 minutes in and we STILL don’t know who did it, and we’ve been blind-sided twice now! It’s really well-done.

Great ending, a great song “Time Will Tell,” and a great cast (barring Crawford). Keeps you guessing throughout and enjoyable while you get there. Nothing fancy, just a solid, well told noire film. I can see myself watching this again sometime.

I wonder why the title is what it is, though? Maybe the original novel by Cornell Woolrich has an answer…?

Recommended.

★★★★★

[berghahnbooks]

���Peter Lorre is one of the remembered creatures of Hollywood. I say creature for he – or his screen persona – was so definitely the creation of this personality factory town; and I say remembered for so many have been forgotten – some more famous and some much better, or perhaps I should say, more careful actors. Peter was not in any way a bad actor; it’s just that Hollywood’s creation of him wouldn’t allow him any more chances to be good than they have allowed many another.” – Vincent Price 

The man who became ‘Peter Lorre’ was born László Loewenstein in Rószahegy, a small central European town, which in 1904 – the year of Lorre’s birth – was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (on the Hungarian border) and now lies within the borders of Slovakia. During the First World War his family moved to Vienna, and it was here that Lorre first began to perform onstage in the early 1920s. His experiences on the Austrian stage lasted until 1924 when he found steady employment with repertory theatres, initially in Breslau, Germany, and then in Zurich, Switzerland. Lorre moved to Berlin in 1929 and achieved a notable level of success on the Berlin stage. During this period he also established a close working relationship with the playwright Bertolt Brecht. 

Lorre first came to prominence on the cinema screen in 1931, when he appeared as the serial killer, Hans Beckert, who targets children in Fritz Lang’s film M, and his career has often been characterized as having a close association with this notorious role. Lorre continued to work as a supporting actor within the German and Austrian film industries (including roles in three films with the German star, Hans Albers) until the growing Nazi threat to Jewish personnel forced him to leave in 1934. He headed first to Paris and then to London, where he made The Man Who Knew Too Much with Alfred Hitchcock. In the same year, Lorre made the move to Hollywood, having secured a contract with Columbia Pictures. 

Lorre’s Hollywood career has been widely perceived to be an inconsistent one, in which the industry has often been accused of wasting the potential of the actor and typecasting him in a series of limiting roles that simply exploited the infamy of his earlier success in M. The consensus view has been that Lorre failed to maintain his initial status as a star performer and was quickly consigned to supporting roles or working on low-budget films by the end of the 1930s. Many of Lorre’s most famous film appearances were made as a supporting player during the 1940s when the actor was contracted to Warner Bros.; these included The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and Arsenic and Old Lace, and a long-running screen ‘partnership’ of sorts with both Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet.

Learn more about the life and legacy of Peter Lorre with Peter Lorre: Face Maker: Constructing Stardom and Performance in Hollywood and Europe and get free access to Chapter 2, M, Fritz Lang and Hans Beckert (1931), for a limited time.

[disndatradio]

Danny Elfman Talks The Nightmare Before Christmas, Released 25 Years Ago Today

It’s late Wednesday evening in London and Danny Elfman is admittedly jet-lagged. “We’re right in the middle of scoring Dumbo,” says the iconic composer of the upcoming live-action adaptation of the classic story starring Danny DeVito and directed by his frequent collaborator Tim Burton. “All I can say right now about it is that the elephant is pretty goddamn cute,” laughs Elfman. “I never know, ever what (my films) are going to be, so what I do is the best I can.”

It’s that attitude that has guided Elfman in his career as one of today’s most well-known composers, working on a litany of iconic projects, from the instantly recognizable themes for shows such as The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives to scores for smashes ranging from Men In Black to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, and countless more.

Watch Trent Reznor, Danny Elfman, & Hans Zimmer discuss their work.

However, it’s Elfman’s creative partnership with Burton on the majority of the director’s filmography that has defined his career, starting with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in 1985 and stretching through Batman, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. “What made us get along for decades, I couldn’t answer,” muses Elfman of Burton. “He’s a weird guy but he doesn’t seem weird next to me. Tim and I grew up in similar ways, which probably had something to do with it. We were both ‘monster kids,’ an odd subculture of children of the ’60s who grew up on these great low-budget horror films. When I first met him, his idol was Vincent Price and mine was Peter Lorre.”

Throughout their vast and uniquely strange partnership, one film stands among them as one whose fandom has taken on a life of its own. Twenty-five years ago today, their stop-motion animated The Nightmare Before Christmas hit theaters and helped define a new era of “monster kids,” serving as a respite to the saccharine animated children’s films of the time. A twisted musical tale focused on kidnapping Santa Claus that combined elements of the whimsical nature of Christmas and the dark fun of Halloween and whose lead character was a skeleton (aptly dubbed Jack Skellington), the film quickly turned into a labor of love for the duo. “I remember Tim sent me an outline, but then I didn’t hear anything about it for a while,” says Elfman of his earliest memories of the process. “Finally we got together and he said he needed to start doing something, but there was no script and neither of us knew how to start a musical.”

Burton had a vivid vision for the film but was simultaneously working on Batman Returns, the highly anticipated sequel to his hit 1989 film, and relegated Nightmare directing duties to Henry Selick. “I remember Henry was in Oakland ready to start shooting, but all we had was an outline for the story,” says Elfman. “So we just started working on the songs (as a starting point). It turned out to be the simplest writing I’d ever done.”

Burton would visit Elfman and explain the story of the movie, chapter by chapter. “He had all of these great pictures and drawings, as well as lines and poems; fragments of stuff. I remember a number of times I pushed him out the door because I started hearing the songs in my head. I’d start right on that, and three days later I’d have a demo which I’d come back and play for him. Then we’d start the next part of the story.”

Elfman’s goal was to achieve a musical timelessness and called on a bevy of inspirations when penning songs ranging from the anthemic “This Is Halloween” to the mischievous “Kidnap The Sandy Claws.” “I wanted it to sound like it was written 50 or 100 years ago, so I turned my own influences for that stuff. Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, which was a major thing in my life, was a source, as well musicals from Cole Porter and Gershwin, and to a certain extent, Rodgers and Hammerstein.” For “What’s This?,” during which Skellington discovers the vibrant Christmas Town, Elfman turned his attention to the Victorian era. “The lyrics are very fast and constant, like some of my favorite Gilbert and Sullivan songs.”

Once a full script was concocted by Elfman’s then-girlfriend Caroline Thompson (the three previously collaborated on Beetlejuice), the movie went into production. The outcome seemed promising, until an ominous preview screening. “I remember a producer saying afterwards, ‘Well, kids hate it.’ Then I did a junket, and every person would ask me, ‘So if this isn’t for kids, who is this for?’ I’d say, ‘If your kids aren’t afraid of Halloween, they won’t be afraid of Nightmare.’”

Despite being the first animated movie nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the film nabbing a Golden Globe nod for Best Score, Elfman remembers an underwhelming reception. “It came and went pretty quickly and didn’t do very well. Nobody understood what it was or how to market it. I put so much into this project, including so much of my own personality, that it really hurt. At the time I was really depressed after it came out. I put so much into it and it was gone.”

Perhaps appropriate to the movie’s theme, Nightmare was brought back from the proverbial dead as time went on. After becoming a hit on VHS, the movie began generating a cult fanbase in the ensuing years, something Disney was quick to seize on. “A lot of studios would ignore their (back catalog), but Disney to their credit understood what it was and started getting behind it again,” says Elfman, whose idea of its fandom was crystallized just over a decade after its release. “I remember being with Tim in Tokyo, and we were seeing Nightmare merchandise all over. There was even a club in Tokyo dedicated to Nightmare. We thought it was amazing and it was a good sense of this thing still surviving.”

In recent years Rotten Tomatoes named it one of the best Christmas movies of all time, with Disney re-releasing it multiple times, including making it the first stop motion animated film converted into 3D. In addition, an album of covers were released in both 2006 and 2008 with Fall Out Boy taking the reigns of “What’s This?” and two versions of opening track “This Is Halloween” courtesy Marilyn Manson and Panic! At the Disco. Meanwhile, on both Spotify and Apple Music, the vast majority of Elfman’s top-streaming tracks are from Nightmare.

As a result of the interest, Elfman has brought the movie’s music to life with a concert experience of the film, complete with a live orchestra and Elfman performing the character of Jack Skellington in a successful run that stretched into three shows this year at Los Angeles’ famed Hollywood Bowl. This year’s trio of concerts, which went down last weekend, also featured cast members Catherine O’Hara (Sally) and Ken Page (Oogie Boogie). “When we first talked about it, I thought it was insane,” says Elfman of the live shows. “I thought I’d be singing to empty seats. I could have never imagined that that this year we’ll be doing our sixth, seventh and eighth shows at the Hollywood Bowl, all of which bring out kids, teenagers, and both younger and older people.”

Elfman calls the concerts, and the movie’s lasting impact in general, a dream (or perhaps more appropriately, a nightmare) come true. “Of all the things I’ve worked on that I would have wished to find a second life, and I’ve worked on a million movies that died early deaths, it would have been Nightmare. I got that wish and that’s why I’m doing these shows. And the fact that kids come see it is the ultimate revenge. It just makes me say, ‘You were wrong… Kids like it!’”

This article was originally published at Billboard.

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