TCM Schedule for Fri, June 26, 2026: Peter Lorre / Classic Film Noir / Paul Newman as "Harper"
TCM celebrates the birthday of actor Peter Lorre, June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964.
Included in the morning tribute are the films Stranger on the Third Floor and The Maltese Falcon, both cited as the earliest examples of classic Film Noir. And that's especially fitting, since tonight's special theme "Summer of Darkness" features three excellent late 1940s Noir efforts, all of which make up TCM host Eddie Muller's blog, 25 Noir Films That Will Stand the Test of Time (https://www.eddiemuller.com/top25noir.html).
Late, late night: Neo-noir with Paul Newman.
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Peter Lorre was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States.
Known for his timidly devious characters, appearance, and accented voice, he was frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. He was caricatured throughout his life and his cultural legacy remains in the media today.
He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before moving to Germany, where he worked first on the stage, then in film, in Berlin during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Lorre, who was Jewish, left Germany after Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. Lorre caused an international sensation in the Weimar Republic–era film M (1931), where he portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls. His first English-language film was Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), made in the United Kingdom.
Eventually settling in Hollywood, he later became a featured player in many Warner Bros. crime and mystery films. He acted in Mad Love (1935), Crime and Punishment (1935), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Passage to Marseille (1944), and My Favorite Brunette (1947).
Full bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lorre
DAYTIME (listings EST)
6:45 AM M (1931)
The mob sets out to catch a child killer whose crimes are attracting too much police attention.
Dir: Fritz Lang | Cast: Theo Lingen, Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke
8:45 AM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
While vacationing in Switzerland, a British couple gets wrapped up in an assassination plot.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock | Cast: Leslie Banks, Peter Lorre, Edna Best, Nova Pilbeam
10:15 AM Mad Love (1935)
A mad doctor grafts the hands of a murderer on to a concert pianist's wrists.
Dir: Karl Freund | Cast: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive
11:30 AM Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
A newspaperman's testimony convicts an innocent man while the real murderer remains free.
Dir: Boris Ingster | Cast: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet
12:45 PM The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Private detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir: John Huston | Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet
2:45 PM The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
A meek novelist investigates the mysterious death of a notorious scoundrel.
Dir: Jean Negulesco | Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson
4:30 PM Three Strangers (1946)
Three people who share a sweepstakes ticket travel a tangled road to collect their winnings.
Dir: Jean Negulesco | Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre
6:15 PM The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
After a famous pianist's murder, his hand returns to wreak vengeance.
Dir: Robert Florey | Cast: Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre
PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING
8:00 PM Out of the Past (1947)
The quiet life of a retired private eye is interrupted when an old client comes calling.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur | Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas
10:00 PM Raw Deal (1948)
A convict breaks out of prison to get revenge on the mob boss that wronged him.
Dir: Anthony Mann | Cast: Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt
11:30 PM Moonrise (1948)
When a murderer's son accidentally kills a man, even love can't stop him from fleeing in fear. But to find his redemption, he must face his guilt.
Dir: Frank Borzage | Cast: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore
PAUL NEWMAN as "HARPER"
1:15 AM Harper (1966)
A broken-down private eye sets out to find a rich woman's missing husband.
Dir: Jack Smight | Cast: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris
3:30 AM The Drowning Pool (1975)
Harper, the wisecracking private investigator, goes to New Orleans to help out an old flame.
Dir: Stuart Rosenberg | Cast: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tony Franciosa
5:30 AM Torture Money (1937)
The police track down a fraud operation that stages automobile accidents to collect insurance money.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet | Cast: Edwin Maxwell, George Lynn, Murray Alper