Fritz Lang's M (1931) is the story of a child murderer (Peter Lorre) in Berlin during the last years of the Weimar Republic. When the police fail to capture the terror of Berlin it's up to the criminal underworld to do the job.
Written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, The Maltese Falcon (1941) stars Humphrey Bogart as gumshoe Sam Spade who unravels the mystery of the titular black bird.
Special Guests: Gregory W. Mank, Stephen D. Youngkin Guest Co-Host: Samm Deighan
Shocktober 2017 kicks off with Karl Freund's final film as a director and Peter Lorre's first film in America, Mad Love (1935). Based upon Maurice Renard 's The Hands of Orlac, the film shifts focus from the titular Orlac to Dr. Gogol, a cunning physician who specializes in some questionable procedures. He’s fascinated by the actress Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) and, rebuffed in his advances, manages to enter her life after he backhandedly helps her husband, concert pianist Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive), by giving him a new pair of hands after his have been crushed in an accident. But what kind of gift are the hands of a murderer on a master musician?
Special Guests Stephen Youngkin Guest Co-Hosts: Samm Deighan, Daniel Bird
In The Lost One (AKA Der Verlorene) (1951) we find Peter Lorre as Dr. Karl Rothe (AKA Dr. Karl Neumeister), working at a displaced persons camp after World War II. When a figure from his past, Hösch (AKA Nowak) (Karl John), appears at the camp the two men reminisce about their shared history during the war.
The film is a tense film noir by way of the German trümmerfilm (rubble film) and the only feature directed by Peter Lorre.
Daniel Bird and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss The Lost One, Fritz Lang's M, and much more.
Special Guest: Francis M. Nevins Jr. Guest Co-Hosts: Maitland McDonagh, Cullen Gallagher
Noirvember 2016 concludes with a look at Arthur D. Ripley's The Chase (1946). Adapted by Philip Yordan from a Cornell Woolrich novel, the film tells the tale of Chuck Scott (Robert Cummings) a down-on-his-luck veteran who ends up working for gangster Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran) before falling for Roman's wife (Michèle Morgan) and stealing away with her to Cuba.
Cullen Gallagher and Maitland McDonagh join Mike to discuss The Chase, Cornell Woolrich, and more.
Special Guest: Stephen D. Youngkin Guest Co-Hosts: Maitland McDonagh, Samm Deighan
Directed by Boris Ingster with a screenplay by Frank Partos , Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) defines the stylistic conventions that would come to be known as film noir. The movie stars John McGuire as a hot shot reporter and Margaret Tallichet as his best gal (who eventually becomes the protagonist). He's framed for a murder committed by the man only known as "The Stranger" (Peter Lorre).
Maitland McDonagh and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss this first entry in the film noir pantheon as well as what it helped spawn. Author Stephen D. Youngkin joins the program to talk about the captivating Peter Lorre.
Guest Co-Hosts: Samm Deighan, Jamey Duvall
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