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The Lost One:
A Life of
Peter Lorre


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Excerpt:
Chapter 3



Peter Lorre's
Credits
(A Sample)



Critics Are
Saying . . .



Interview
With
The Author



What's New!


World/Inferno
Friendship
Society


Peter Lorre
Blog



Peter Lorre:
The Man,
The Actor


Biographical
Sketch



Photo Album



Poster Art



FAQ



DVD — VHS



Radio Programs


 


Zanuck soon cast Peter Lorre as John P. Marquand’s celebrated Japanese sleuth, Mr. Moto. For Fox’s publicity department, Lorre put a good face on what soon took a turn toward typecasting by saying that “as Mr. Moto, I have been given the opportunity of gaining popularity which otherwise would have taken years longer.”


Except where noted, all images are from the collection of Stephen Youngkin.


Think Fast, Mr. Moto   —   20th Century-Fox, 1937, directed by Norman Foster, with Peter Lorre as “Kentaro Moto”, Japanese importer, managing director of the Dai Nippon Trading Company – and detective (but only as a hobby).

American title card

An American title card advertising the original release of Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937), the first in a series of eight films about the Japanese detective.

American poster

From the start, Mr. Moto's use of elaborate costume and make-up to solve the mystery was an important part of the series and often included in the films' publicity. This one-sheet American poster for Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) includes an image of Lorre in the guise of an Arab street peddler.

American lobby card

An American lobby card for Think Fast, Mr. Moto, 1937. Moto (Harvey Parry doubling Peter Lorre) heaves overboard the villainous steward Carson (John Rogers). Said Parry about his stuntman casting: “I went [to Fox studio] to double a fellow by the name of Lorre. I didn’t really know who the guy was. We stacked up alongside of him, and I seemed to be about, oh, I was a little taller than Pete; I was about his size at that time in proportion. And I had the best face for it.”

American lobby card

An American lobby card for Think Fast, Mr. Moto, 1937, with (left to right) Murray Kinnell, Peter Lorre, Thomas Beck, and Virginia Field in a shady Shanghai nightclub, the film’s climactic setting.




Lancer Spy   —   20th Century-Fox, 1937, directed by Gregory Ratoff, with Peter Lorre as “Major Sigfried Gruning”, a German intelligence officer in World War I Berlin.

American lobby card

An American lobby card for Lancer Spy (1937), with undercover spy George Sanders and German intelligence officer Peter Lorre, in a later scene from the film. Courtesy of Mike Hawks.




Thank You, Mr. Moto   —   20th Century-Fox, 1937, directed by Norman Foster, with Peter Lorre as “Kentaro Moto”, adventurer, explorer, soldier of fortune – one of the Orient’s mysteries.

American lobby card

An American lobby card advertising Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937), with “Kentaro Moto” (Peter Lorre) disguised as a Mongolian camel driver and his unsuspecting manservant “Wing”, in an early scene from the film. Courtesy of Mike Hawks.




Mr. Moto’s Gamble   —   20th Century-Fox, 1938, directed by James Tinling, with Peter Lorre as “Kentaro Moto”, a university Professor of criminology.

American insert poster

A black-and-white reproduction of an insert poster advertising the American release of Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938). Filmed fourth in the series, but released third, this film originally began production as Charlie Chan at the Ringside and retained Lee Chan (Keye Luke), Charlie’s Number One Son, as a student in Moto’s criminology class.

American six-sheet poster

A black-and-white reproduction of an American six-sheet poster for Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938), the only entry in the series where Mr. Moto did not employ either an alias or disguises.

American title card

An American title card for Mr. Moto’s Gamble (1938), one of only two in the series set in the United States.




Mr. Moto Takes a Chance   —   20th Century-Fox, 1938, directed by Norman Foster, with Peter Lorre as “Kentaro Moto”, an ersatz archeologist who travels in Cambodia under the protection of the French.

American half-sheet poster

A black-and-white reproduction of an American half-sheet poster for Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938), originally titled Look Out, Mr. Moto and filmed second, but released as the fourth entry in the series.



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The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre (2005) by Stephen Youngkin – now in its third printing and winner of the Rondo Award for "Best Book of 2005" – is available in bookstores everywhere, as well as these on-line merchants.