My name is
Nancy SimPanda. I am a collector of vintage movie memorabilia. My area of specialization
is photo stills, lobby cards, posters, magazines and trade publications, and various ephemera that depict the career of Peter Lorre. I have put together this web site to show some of the rarest and most interesting items in my collection.
By showing these items, and providing background information on them, I hope
to shed some light on some of the more obscure episodes in the career of
Peter Lorre. These items fall into two categories: promotional art from
the films Peter made with CVP Studios, and lost scenes and out-takes from
films he made with some of the major studios with which he was under contract.
Peter Lorre's films for CVP Studios
At the beginning
of the sound era in cinema, there were a number of small studios producing
low budget films. These studios, which were limited in both the money and time
they could expend on the production of their films, were popularly called
"Poverty Row". Many fine films were made by these studios despite their
limited financial means. Although much of this product could be considered
cheap and unimaginative, there were a few of these studios that had the
courage to experiment and move beyond the self-imposed boundaries the
bigger studios set for themselves. Indeed, some of it could be considered quite adventurous. One of the most artistically courageous and influential of them all was the now obscure Cat Vomit Productions Studios.
This unusually named studio got its name from their trademark inclusion of
a scene of a cat expelling a hairball during the course of each film. Audiences
came to expect these scenes, and they never failed to produce gasps of
appreciation from those in attendance. These scenes were always cleverly
done, and written so as to flow naturally, and fit in with the rest of
the movie. You will notice in some of the items displayed the yellow circular CVP logo, which incorporates this image along with the initials
of the studio.
Peter Lorre,
although he consistently gave wonderful performances for the major studios
he worked with, appreciated the inventiveness and artistic daring of the
projects offered to him by CVP. Between the films he made for the major studios
who had him under contract, he would often request to be loaned out to
do a quick film for CVP. His requests were rarely denied. These outside
projects gave him added exposure to audiences, increasing his popularity.
Often these films expanded on characters and themes from Peter Lorre's
major films. The "Moto" shorts, and the "Polo and Andre" series are examples
of this. The major, big-budget studios he worked for realized that loaning Peter out to CVP gave them, in effect, free publicity for their own films. Maybe it was just as important that by allowing Peter Lorre to make these films, it made their star contented and more satisfied creatively. Peter in turn, always writing and inventing on his own, thrived on the almost unlimited artistic input he was allowed whenever he made a film for CVP Studios.
Here is my collection of CVP Studios memorabilia that features Peter Lorre:
LOBBY CARDS:
These are
some extremely rare lobby cards that were used to publicize some of the
films Peter Lorre made for CVP Studios.
"Hungarians Ride Horses and Women"
"Christmas on the Island of Dommed Men"
THE MR. MOTO
SHORTS:
These are
some rare photo stills taken from the popular series of short Mr. Moto
films Peter Lorre made for CVP Studios.
THE POLO AND
ANDRE SERIES:
These are a
photo still and a lobby card from two of the Polo and Andre films made for CVP Studios that
teamed Peter Lorre and Erich von Stroheim. I will be adding more to this
category in future updates.
"Prussians and Ping-Pong Paddles"
LOST SCENES AND OUT TAKES:
Peter made a number of brave forays into artistic expression that did not always make it into the final cut of the film. These stills are extremely rare, and in most cases are the only images left in existence of these scenes.
Deleted scene from "The Conspirators"
Deleted
scene from "The Boogie Man Will Get You"
MISCELLANEOUS
ITEMS:
In
this category you will find and a number of items produced for mass consumption
that utilized the popular image of Peter Lorre, as well as a few rare candid
photos that reveal little known facts about him.
Peter Lorre Greets Some Young Fans
