Film "Menace" Actor

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 16 (Supplement)

Film "Menace" Actor

Peter Lorre Enlivens His Roles by Use of An Outstanding Faculty as Comedian LIGHTER NOTE IN CHARACTERISATIONS

By JOHN K. NEWNHAM

One thought dominated my mind when I met. Peter Lorre for the first time. And that was: "Why does this fellow play these morbid 'menace' parts? He ought to be a comedian." I thought the same thing when I went to see "Crack-Up." This picture shows him as a shrewd spy who pretends to be halfwitted.

THE British producer, Alfred Hitchcock saw Lorre's comic abilities. Though the character he portrayed in "Secret Agent" was that of a cold-blooded murderer, it was really more comic than heavy. Meeting Lorre, you find that he is far more the humorist than the menace. He can succeed in keeping you thoroughly amused. If you have seen him in his heavy roles, it comes as a shock to find him in a light mood. The shock comes the moment you are introduced to him. He holds out his hand in greeting. But when you go to shake it, it disappears completely up his sleeve. H 9 almost invariably fools around as boisterously on the set as a professional comic does on the stage. He does the most unexpected things. 'And ho cracks equally unexpected witticisms'. , Then, as quickly as the sun disappearing behind a cloud, he turns serious. Not merely because of the script. Or because someone asks him a serious question. The solemn mood descends on him for 110 apparent reason. Mood Never Serious for Long You cannot be certain what to make of him. Asked afterward to say what he is like, you find yourself wallowing

between 1 a description of a court jester and of a tragedian. But principally a jester.' He never remains serious for long. Right in the middle of a straightforward conversation, .you will suddenly realise that he is pulling your leg unmercifully. In England, Lorre became known as *'The Walking Overcoat," because of the long overcoat, reaching his ankles, which he nearly always sported. It was appropriate, therefore, that the first time I saw him lie should bo doing something with a coat —not his overcoat, but an ordinary jacket. A group of us were standing together! .talking about nothing in particular and everything in general. Suddenly, Peter Lorre began to do something with his coat. From what I could gather, he was trying to turn it inside out without taking it off. He did not say a* word. Very solemnly, he wrestled away with it. And he got himself, tied up hopelessly. ,\Ve were almost doubled up with laughter- Then he abruptly stopped his antics, and looked at us with a twinkle in his enormous eyes. "There!" he said, simply, Pseudo-Serious Love Making Another time, when "Secret Agent" ,was in' production, I was talking to Robert Young. Peter Lorre and Madeleine Carroll were standing nearby.

will be given full rein in at least one film.

Lorre is still a young man—surprisingly younger to meet than you would expect from his screen roles. And he has a long career before him. In spite of his great sense of humour on the set, there is nothing frivolous or light-hearted about his acting. Flo is always sincere. Watching him at work, he grips you just as much as he does in the finished picture. I think Hitchcock summed him up perfectly when he said: "There is no question that he represents the successful ac,tor purely on account of his utter devotion to whatever he is doing for the screen. He lives for his work, and that has put him where ho is." 1

ated in people's minds with horrific roles. He gets a great deal of satisfaction out of studying such characters from a psychological angle, and 110 enjoys playing them; but he does wish that filmgoers could think of him as a character actor instead of a "heavy." Although comparatively few Englishspeaking people saw "M," Lorre .has never been able to get away from that grim murderer that ho portrayed— portrayed st> vividly that German people, seeing him in the street, hurried their children away. Producers have insisted 011 his following up this sort of part. 1 know he has turned down numerous very good Hollywood offers because of the knowledge that he would have to play such roles. Opportunity for Humour That is why he was glad to have the opportunity of being humorous in "Secret Agent"; and why, I have 110 doubt, he enjoyed being able to introduce some humour into "Crack-Up," as well as being able to avoid portraying another horror character. Though "M" was a lucky picture for Lorre in that it brought him international recognition, it was also extremely unfortunate that the _ role should have been such a strikingly "heavy" one. However, the way he is gradually introducing lighter and more sympathetic notes into his characterisations gives me every hope that his villainous past will one day be forgotten —and hope that his rich humour