The Lost One
THE
LOST ONE
A LIFE OF
PETER LORRE
STEPHEN D. YOUNGKIN
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2005 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1
All illustrations are from the author’s private collection unless otherwise noted.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Youngkin, Stephen D.
The lost one: a life of Peter Lorre / Stephen D. Youngkin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-813-12360-8 (hardcover: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-813-17185-2 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Lorre, Peter. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.L65Y64 2005
791.4302′8′092—dc22
2005009206
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Prologue: “Who are you, really?”
1. Facemaker
2. M Is for Morphine
3. Escape to Life
4. Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey
5. Being Slapped and Liking It
6. Insider as Outsider
7. The Swamp
8. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
9. Elephant Droppings
10. The Mask behind the Face
Epilogue: Mimesis
Appendix: Peter Lorre Credits and Broadcast Appearances
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Dedicated to
MEY
and
JMA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dating from the late Curmudgeon Period, I am the most disgruntled detractor of those Academy Award recipients who shed glycerin crocodiles and name names I’ve never heard of (and don’t care to): from a twice-removed aunt who sewed sequins on a grade school costume to a mechanic who lubed the Ferrari that got them there. However lonely the writing of a book, it is uniquely individual. Or so I told myself until I began crediting my many contributors. The list fast scrolled into a cast of thousands. Composition, it appears, is no less collaborative than film production.
For those who kept me company for most or all of the way, I am infinitely grateful, for without them I might well have steered off course. Raymond J. DeMallie midwifed the birth of the biography and babysat it through early drafts, exercising a maternal care that was deeply touching. Without his willingness to broach the idea of a book to Vincent Price, who kindly made himself available for countless questions and consultations, the project might not have survived its infancy. Mary Youngkin rode the roughest part of the journey and paid the highest fare, with few complaints. Her tendered support played many unsung roles. When the conveyance slowed to a crawl, my wife, Julia Alpert, got out and pushed, then pulled, and finally whipped it over the finish line. Never did she ask to get off, however long the ride or distant the destination. My debt of gratitude to her is greater than can be expressed.
I also owe a collective thanks to the Lorre family—brothers Francis and Andrew (Bundy), sister-in-law Zelma (Musia), daughter Catharine, nephew Lawrence, and niece Kathy (Vern-Barnett)—which weighs me down with “interest and interest’s interest.” By allowing me to go to the wellspring of memory as often as I liked, they helped quench my thirst for source materials. Though unrelated by blood, Celia Lovsky, Peter Lorre’s first wife, qualifies as family. Friend, mother, and helpmate to Peter, she was all that and more to me. Understandably cautious, Robert Shutan invoked attorney-client privilege long enough to cross-examine me. Finding my motives just and honorable, he offered a hand in friendship and a memory keen with insight. James Lyon, the beacon of Brecht scholarship, inspired me to set my sights higher with his constructive criticism. I am also much indebted to James Bigwood and Raymond G. Cabana Jr., my coauthors on The Films of Peter Lorre. Our collaboration has fed a friendship that has not gone out of print. Cheryl Morris, who has contributed the most comprehensive list of Lorre’s radio, television, and American stage credits to date, climbed aboard in the early stages of what stretched into a prolonged passage to the printed word. As she matured from enthusiast to expert, her proofing skills likewise developed into editorial expertise. Milena Hidatty and Ursula Gressenbauer, my Berlin and Vienna contacts, mopped up more errands than I thought possible during the push toward submission. Their patience and perseverance tested positive time and time again. Knowing there are no small details, Tom Weaver kept the east-west pipeline flowing with a steady stream of rare finds. To archivists, librarians, interviewees, and buttonholed co-workers who shared this adventure, I am equally thankful to them and for their contributions. University of Southern California archivist Ned Comstock comes first to mind. If all the acknowledgments paying tribute to his service above and beyond the call of duty were laid end to end, he would have a book to himself, which is as it should be. With feet on both continents, Lotte Guertler extended an old-world hospitality and a new-world common sense. How lucky to find a Hamburgian who told it like it was and tells it like it is. Dr. Ron Smelser, Department of History, University of Utah, kept his red phone free for emergency consultation on matters historical. Janet Smoak arbitrated disputes between me and my chronically contentious computer. Nancy Litz flew many fact-finding missions over the Internet. Ted and Martha Youngkin kept the lights on in Studio City. From New York, my agent, Adam Chromy, exercised careful patience and perseverance in placing my manuscript in the right hands. Leila Salisbury, David Cobb, and the staff of the University Press of Kentucky brought this long journey toward publication to a final destination. Lois Crum kept me on track, adding much without taking anything away. To these and countless others who bore tales of Lorre labors with polite forbearance, I give thanks.
Interviewees and other individuals: Robert Alda, Irwin Allen, Robert Allen, Jürgen von Alten, John Alvin, Eric Ambler, Leon Ames, Morey Amsterdam, Ken Annakin, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Fred Astaire, Frankie Avalon, Charles Barton, Pat Battle, Thomas Beck, Don Beddoe, Charles Bennett, Eric Bentley, Elisabeth Bergner, D.A. Berryhill, Alvah Bessie, Gerhard Bienert, Henry Blanke, Edwin H. Blum, Richard Bojarski, Ronald V. Borst / Hollywood Movie Posters, Mort Briskin, Karl Brown, Joseph Buloff, Murray Burnett, David Butler, Red Buttons, Jeanne Cagney, Corinne Calvet, William Campbell, Frank Capra, John Carradine, Rudolph Cartier (Katscher), Chick Chandler, Ralph Clanton, Roger Corman, Hazel Court, Broderick Crawford, John Croydon, Robert Cummings, Delmer Daves, Ron Davis (Southern Methodist University), Irma Delson, William Demarest, Walter Doniger, Gary Dorst, Kirk Douglas, Frances Drake, Amanda Duff, Philip Dunne, Hal Eddy, Barbara Eden, Axel Eggebrecht, Lotte H. Eisner, Denholm Elliott, Terry Ellison, Julius J. Epstein, Paul Falkenberg, Harun Farocki, Rudi Fehr, Fritz Feld, Marta Feuchtwanger, Geraldine Fit
zgerald, Richard Fleischer, Robert Florey, Norman Foster, Gustav Fröhlich, Suzanne Gargiulo, Tay Garnett, Rhonda Gaylord, Leonard Gershe, Julie Gibson (Barton), Sir John Gielgud, Harper Goff, Alex Gordon, Barry Alan Grael, Martin Grams Jr., Dr. Ralph Greenson, Daniel Haller, David Hamson, Mike Hawks, Paul Henreid, Gerald Hiken, Alfred Hitchcock, Felix Hofmann, John Houseman, John Huston, Andreas Hutter, Joe Hyams, Burl Ives, Lotte Jacobi, Sam Jaffe, Joyce Jameson, Paul Jarrico, Rudolph Joseph, Michael Kanin, Hal Kanter, Irvin Kerschner, Andrea King, Sidney Kingsley, Howard Koch, Paul Kohner, Walter Kohner, Ernst W. Korngold, Johanna Kortner-Hofer, Henry Koster, Ben Kranz, Buzz Kulik, Kay Kyser, Ilse Lahn, Inge Landgut-Oehlschlaeger, Fritz Lang, June Lang, Lilli Latté, Matthew Levins, Dr. William C. Link, Johnny Lockwood, Joan Lorring, Rouben Mamoulian, Marion Marsh, Tony Martin, James Mason, Richard Matheson, Victor Mature, Paul Mayer, Herb Meadow, Burgess Meredith, Marta Mierendorff, Ivor Montagu, Caroline Moorehead, Jacob and Zerka Moreno, Harry Morgan, Milton Moritz, Robert Morley, Oswald “Ossie” Morris, John Mueller (University of Rochester), Corinna Müller, Harold Nebenzahl, Jean Negulesco, Gerhard Nellhaus, Joseph M. Newman, Phillip Notarianni, Jan Oser, Marvin Paige, Hermes Pan, Harvey Parry, Lee Patrick, Lotte Pauli-Rausch, Alf Pearson, Joseph Pevney, Karlheinz Pilcz, Richard Pirodsky, James Powers, Fred Pressburger, Walter Reisch, Naomi Replansky, Rhoda Riker, Allan Rivkin, Cliff Robertson, Casey Robinson, Wolfgang Roth, Viktor Rotthaler, Jochen Ruge, Willy Saeger, Hans Sahl, Lester Salkow, Wendy Sanford, Tom Sawyer, Jürgen Schebera, Dan Seymour, Sidney Sheldon, Vincent Sherman, Armin Shimerman, Herman Shumlin, Don Siegel, Jonas and Beatrice Silverstone, Curt Siodmak, John Spalek (State University of New York at Albany), Milton Sperling, Sam Spiegel, Ellis St. Joseph, Michael Stock, Herbert Swope, Barbara Sykes, Paul Tiessen (Wilfred Laurier University), Michael Todd Jr., John Trayne, Gisela Trowe, Janell Tuttle, Ludwig Veigel, Hans Viertel, June Vincent, Ilse Waldner, Joseph Warren, Lotte Lenya Weill, Billy Wilder, Bob William, Elmo Williams, Lucy Chase Williams, Bob Wood, Thomas Wood, Morton Wurtele, Margaret Tallichet Wyler, Keenan Wynn, Irving and Naomi Yergin, Alastair Young, and Paul Zastupnevich.
Archives, institutions, and organizations: Walter Huder, Akademie der Künste (Berlin); Krista Vogt and Hannelore Renk, Akademie der Künste der DDR (East Berlin); Phil Gries, Archival Television Audio Inc.; Archiv Dr. Karkosch (Munich); Associated Actors & Artistes of America; Carol Stuart, Aufbau; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Munich); Krystyna Rohozińska-Owczarek, Biblioteka Uniwersytecka, Uniwersytet Wrocławski (Wrocław, Poland); Bibliothèque du film (Paris); Marc Wanamaker, Bison Archives (Los Angeles); Elfriede Borodin, Brecht-Weigel-Gedenkstätte, Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Künste; Brenner-Archiv (Innsbruck); James D’Arc, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah); Claire Thomas and Saffron Parker, British Film Institute National Library (London); Bundesarchiv/Filmarchiv (Berlin); Ceskoslovenska Socialisticka Republicka, Ministerstvo Vnutra (Bratislava); Brigitte J. Kueppers, Julie Graham, and Lauren Buisson, Arts Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles; Anne Caiger, Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles; Cinémathèque Suisse (Lausanne); Copyright Office, Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.); Deutsches Filmmuseum (Frankfurt am Main); Eberhard Spiess and Gerd Albrecht, Deutsches Institut für Filmkunde (Wiesbaden); Jörg Wyrschowy, Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv; Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Washington, D.C.); Bernd O. Rachold, The Erich Wolfgang Korngold Society; Otto G. Schindler, Fachbibliothek für Theaterwissenschaft an der Universität Wien; Emil P. Moschella, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice (Washington, D.C.); Beth Alvarez, Ferdinand Reyher Papers, Rare Books and Literary Manuscripts Department, University of Maryland College Park Libraries; Marje Schuetze-Coburn, Feuchtwanger Memorial Library, Specialized Libraries and Archival Collections, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Jerome Johnson and Kristine Sorensen, Filmarchivists/Filmarchivists; Filmbewertungsstelle (Wiesbaden); Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine (Boston); Fred Bauman, The Fred Allen Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress; General Register Office (London); Edda Fuhrich-Leisler, Gesellschaft für Max Reinhardt-Forschung; Gary Adams, Grand Order of Water Rats (London); Handelsakademie und Handelsschulen der Wiener Kaufmannschaft; Erwin Strouhal, Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Wien, Archiv; Henry S. Dogin, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice (Washington, D.C.); Institut für Theaterwissenschaft an der Universität Wien; Gustav Kropatschek and Rosina Raffeinder, Josef Stadt-Archiv, Theater in der Josefstadt (Vienna); Karl Kraus Archiv der Stadt Wien, Stadt- und Landesbibliothek; Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna); Herbert Koch, Magistrat der Stadt Wien; Samuel A. Gill and Kristine Krueger, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Toni Neidlinger, Markt Garmisch-Partenkirchen; Linda Burns, Marriott Library, University of Utah; Forschungsarchiv Marta Mierendorff, Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; N.Ö. Landes-Real-und Obergymnasiums (Mödling, Austria); Peter Michael Braunwarth, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna); Michael Omasta, Brigitte Mayr, and Elisabeth Streit, Österreichische Filmmuseum, SYNEMA—Gesellschaft für Film and Medien; Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna); Österreichisches Staatsarchiv-Kriegsarchiv (Vienna); Haris Balic, Österreichische Theatermuseum (Vienna); Ken Greenwald and Martin Halperin, Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters (Los Angeles); John Munro-Hall, RKO Radio Pictures Inc., Studio Collection (Los Angeles); Romania Arhivele Nationale (Bucharest); Schiller Nationalmuseum, Deutsches Literaturarchiv (Marbach am Neckar, Germany); Valerie Yaros, Guild historian, the Screen Actors Guild (Los Angeles); Janet McKee and staff, Sound Recordings Department, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Staatliches Filmarchiv der DDR (East Berlin); Dagmar Bouziane, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; Staatsbürgerschaftsverband Mödling; Stadtarchiv Zürich; Stephen Dörschel and Sabine Wolf, Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Künste (Berlin); Werner Sudendorf, Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek (Berlin); The Theater Collection of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (New York); Sigurd Paul Scheichl, Universität Innsbruck; Basil Stuart-Stubbs, Special Collections Section, University of British Columbia; Ned Comstock, USC Cinema-Television Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Stuart Ng, Stuart Galbraith, and Haden Guest, USC Warner Bros. Archives, School of Cinema-Television, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Paul A. DuCommun, U.S. Public Health Service; Jerry Haendiges, Vintage Radio Classics; Volksbühne Archiv / Bibliothek (Berlin); Ingeborg Weiss, Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln; Wiener Stadtbibliothek, Handschriften-sammlung; Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv; Susan Dalton, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research (Madison); and Zentralbibliothek, Institut für Theaterwissenschaft, Freie Universität Berlin.
PROLOGUE
“WHO ARE YOU, REALLY?”
We live in times when there is a tremendous exaggeration on the glamour of viciousness, of angriness, of hardness, all the so-called basic faults. Well, kindness has become identified almost with weakness and attractiveness. To me, it is much more fascinating to make kindness fascinating.
—Peter Lorre
Indeed in pretending to be somebody else, he [the actor] does not show himself; he conceals himself.
—Otto Fenichel
As a little girl bounces her ball against a Steckbrief (wanted poster) pasted to a circular pillar, the shadow of Hans Beckert falls across the sheet. “What a pretty ball!” The shadow bends down. “What is your name?” “Elsie Beckmann.”
—M
Walking along Hollywood’s Highland Avenue one fall evening in 1977, twenty-five-year-old Catharine A. Lorre, sole heir to the face and fame of her highly recognizable father, watched a police car pull up and cut her off. Out of the vehicle stepped two undercover vice-squad officers, who flashed their badges and demanded to see some identification. Among the papers in Catherine’s purse was a photo of he
rself at age ten sitting on her father’s lap. “Look what we’ve got here,” one of the policemen allegedly said, handing the snapshot to the other officer. They let her go.
Two years later, former Glendale auto upholsterer Angelo Buono Jr. and his adoptive cousin Kenneth A. Bianchi confessed to the “Hillside Strangler” murders of ten women as well as an abortive attempt to abduct and murder an eleventh: Catharine Lorre. According to Bianchi, posing as police officers, they intended to order her into the car, but they changed their minds after learning that she was meeting someone nearby. Catharine told a different story, one that might have twisted her father’s smile into the ironic grin so familiar to moviegoers. After abandoning the thought of ransoming her, claimed Catharine, the starstruck killers decided to spare the look-alike daughter of their screen hero who, as Hans Beckert, had won fame for his psychopathic tendencies toward young girls in Fritz Lang’s M (1931).
Neither Catharine nor little Elsie Beckmann dreamed what was in store for them. From benign beginnings, no one, especially the intended victims, could have expected such malignant endings. With Beckert, Bianchi, and Buono’s on- and offscreen admissions of guilt, persons and personas soon sorted themselves out. The “Hillside Stranglers” were confessed killers, and that was that. They would spend the remainder of their lives in prison.
For Lorre’s part, he simply hung up his costume and walked away. But the paying public wasn’t buying. “Look, it is not me they see,” he told a friend. “It is the murderer. I am not famous. It is the murderer…. they think I am the murderer.” After personifying the “Vampire of Düsseldorf,” claimed the actor, he raced from hostile crowds, dodged stones, watched forks drop from plates, and received death threats—all signs, however exaggerated, of a mistaken identity that surely gave him pause to reconsider his statement about enjoying roles that complemented part and player. Even Fritz Lang thought better of casting him as an innocuous schoolteacher after witnessing the backlash to a performance as convincing as it was credible.