Peter Lorre

by Gary J. Svehla

After coverning horror film icons Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Vincent Price, Midnight Marquee Press wanted to go in a slightly different direction for our fifth edition of the Actors Series, by highlighting quasi-horror man Peter Lorre.

While the other entries in the series were predominantly horror film actors, Peter Lorre made many horror film appearances, but was never actually considered a horror film star. Instead, it was Lorre's persona, that of a quirky, deviant little man, sometimes charming, sometimes boiling over with venom, that made him a perfect match for horror films. However, Lorre also played opposite such mainstream stars as Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Kirk Douglas, Mickey Rooney and Bob Hope. Lorre felt just as comfortable enacting supporting roles in A films as he did starring in the Bs. This book takes an in-depth look at the film work of this versatile performer by providing analyses of films such as M, Mad Love, The Face Behind the Mask, The Maltese Falcon, The Raven and The Comedy of Terrors as well as many of the other films that made Peter Lorre a film legend.

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 1999

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A full history of each of his films, interesting read