Peter Lorre

Actors

Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian-American character actor of Jewish descent. Lorre began his stage career in Vienna before moving to Germany where he worked first on the stage, then in film in Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lorre caused an international sensation in the German film M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, in which he portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls.

Lorre left Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power. His second English-language film, following the multiple-language version of M (1931), was Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) made in Great Britain. Eventually settling in Hollywood, he later became a featured player in many Hollywood crime and mystery films. In his initial American films, Mad Love and Crime and Punishment (both 1935), he continued to play murderers, but he was then cast playing Mr. Moto, the Japanese detective, in a B-picture series. He co-started in the comedy You’ll Find Out (1940) with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Other notable film appearances during this period include They Met in Bombay (1941), starring Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell.
From 1941 to 1946, he mainly worked for Warner Bros. His first film at Warner was John Huston‘s The Maltese Falcon (1941), the first of many films in which he appeared alongside actors Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet. This was followed by Michael Curtiz‘s Casablanca (1942), the second of the nine films in which Lorre and Greenstreet appeared together. Greenstreet and Lorre’s final film together, suspense thriller The Verdict (1946), director Don Siegel‘s first movie, with Greenstreet and Lorre finally billed first and second, respectively. His other films include Frank Capra‘s Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), starring Cary Grant, and Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Kirk Douglas.
Frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner, his later career was erratic. Lorre was the first actor to play a James Bond villain as Le Chiffre in a TV version of Casino Royale (1954). Some of his last roles were in horror films directed by Roger Corman, including Tales of Terror (1963), with Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone; and The Raven (1964), with Price and Karloff. The four of them would all star together in Jacques Tourneur’s The Comedy of Terrors (1964). His final film was the Jerry Lewis film, The Patsy (1964), released posthumously.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • The Missing Wife (1929) – directed by Karl Leiter – uncredited- Germany
  • The White Devil (1930) – directed by Alexandre Volkoff – Germany
  • M (1931) – directed by Fritz Lang – Germany
  • Monte Carlo Madness (1931) – directed by Hanns Schwarz – Germany
  • The Trunks of Mr. O.F. (1931) – directed by Alexis Granowsky – Germany
  • Five from the Jazz Band (1932) – directed by Erich Engel – Germany
  • A Shot at Dawn (1932) – directed by Alfred Zeisler – Germany
  • The White Demon (1932) – directed by Kurt Gerron – Germany
  • Narcotics (1932) – directed by Kurt Gerron & Roger Le Bon – Germany
  • Floating Platform 1 Does Not Answer (1932) – directed by Karl Hartl – Germany
  • What Women Dream (1933) – directed by Géza von Bolváry – Germany
  • The Oil Sharks (1933) – directed by Rudolph Cartier – Germany
  • Invisible Opponent (1933) – directed by Rudolph Cartier – Austria/Germany
  • High and Low (1933) – directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst – France
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) – directed by Alfred Hitchcock – UK
  • Mad Love (1935) – directed by Karl Freund
  • Crime and Punishment (1935) – directed by Josef von Sternberg
  • Secret Agent (1936) – directed by Alfred Hitchcock – UK
  • Crack-Up (1936) – directed by Malcolm St. Clair
  • Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937) – directed by George Marshall & Otto Preminger
  • Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) – directed by Norman Foster
  • Lancer Spy (1937) – directed by Gregory Ratoff
  • Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) – directed by Norman Foster
  • Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938) – directed by James Tinling
  • Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938) – directed by Norman Foster
  • I’ll Give a Million (1938) – directed by Walter Lang
  • Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) – directed by Norman Foster
  • Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939) – directed by Norman Foster
  • Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939) – directed by Herbert I. Leeds
  • Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939) – directed by Norman Foster
  • Strange Cargo (1940) – directed by Frank Borzage
  • I Was an Adventuress (1940) – directed by Gregory Ratoff
  • Island of Doomed Men (1940) – directed by Charles Barton
  • Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) – directed by Boris Ingster
  • You’ll Find Out (1940) – directed by David Butler
  • The Face Behind the Mask (1941) – directed by Robert Florey
  • Mr. District Attorney (1941) – directed by William Morgan
  • They Met in Bombay (1941) – directed by Clarence Brown
  • The Maltese Falcon (1941)** – directed by John Huston
  • All Through the Night (1942) – directed by Vincent Sherman
  • Invisible Agent (1942) – directed by Edward L. Marin
  • The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942) – directed by Lew Landers
  • Casablanca (1942)** – directed by Michael Curtiz
  • The Constant Nymph (1943) – directed by Edmund Goulding
  • Background to Danger (1943) – directed by Raoul Walsh
  • The Cross of Lorraine (1943) – directed by Tay Garnett
  • Passage to Marseille (1944) – directed by Michael Curtiz
  • The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) – directed by Jean Negulesco
  • Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) – directed by Frank Capra
  • The Conspirators (1944) – directed by Jean Negulesco
  • Hollywood Canteen (1944) – directed by Delmer Daves – self
  • Hotel Berlin (1945) – directed by Peter Godfrey
  • Confidential Agent (1945) – directed by Herman Shumlin
  • Three Strangers (1946) – directed by Jean Negulesco
  • Black Angel (1946) – directed by Roy William Neill
  • The Chase (1946) – directed by Arthur Ripley
  • The Verdict (1946) – directed by Don Siegel
  • The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) – directed by Robert Florey
  • My Favorite Brunette (1947) – directed by Elliott Nugent
  • Casbah (1948) – directed by John Berry
  • Rope of Sand (1949) – directed by William Dieterle
  • Quicksand (1950) – directed by Irving Pichel
  • Double Confession (1950) – directed by Ken Annakin
  • The Lost One (1951) – also director, co-writer – West Germany
  • Beat the Devil (1953) – directed by John Huston
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) – directed by Richard Fleischer
  • Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) – directed by Roy Rowland – uncredited cameo as himself
  • Congo Crossing (1956) – directed by Joseph Pevney
  • Around the World in 80 Days (1956) – directed by Michael Anderson
  • The Buster Keaton Story (1957) – directed by Sidney Sheldon
  • Collector’s Item: The Left Fist of David (1957) – directed by Buzz Kuik – TV movie
  • Silk Stockings (1957) – directed by Rouben Mamoulian
  • The Story of Mankind (1957) – directed by Irwin Allen
  • The Sad Sack (1957) – directed by George Marshall
  • Hell Ship Mutiny (1957) – directed by Lee Sholem & Elmo Williams
  • The Big Circus (1959) – directed by Joseph M. Newman
  • Scent of Mystery (1960) – directed by Jack Cardiff
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) – directed by Irwin Allen
  • Tales of Terror (1962) – directed by Roger Corman
  • Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962) – directed by Irwin Allen
  • The Raven (1963) – directed by Roger Corman
  • The Comedy of Terrors (1964) – directed by Jacques Tourneur
  • Muscle Beach Party (1964) – directed by William Asher
  • The Patsy (1964) – directed by Jerry Lewis – posthumous release