Peter Lorre & Sydney Greenstreet in "Hollywood Canteen"

[Atheneastro]

I watched the Maltese Falcon last night. Is it too weird that I have fallen for the young Lorre?

[moriokaleiko]

It's sad that Lorre and Greenstreet were just as rare in their own time as they would be in ours. Irrefutable proof that appeal is a skill, not something as innate or superficial as charm. It's such a brief flash of charisma in this clip, strong enough that they can convey menace just by acting interested, appealing enough that you can still laugh at it.

[franzlovesmelody]

sigh... they are the best !

[BrideOfRaven]

all time favourit!

[benalchemist74]

amazing. gem...

[MrLunitunz]

Greenstreet = The Kingpin

[oliviaisgod]

you can really see here how they based the worm in the corpse bride of Lorre here.

[Heralde8]

@oliviaisgod I was watching Corpse Bride with my friends recently and showed them pictures of Peter Lorre at the same time; they could definitely see the inspiration. It's actually a nice character too, very sweet.

[IcePirate3]

@oliviaisgod That Maggot in "Corpse Birde" might be the only Peter Lorre impression that got him dead on!

[TheFieldOfWeed]

I used to watch a lot of Peter Lorre clips on youtube, under the account Pimblits. I lost the password, and I'm too lazy to look for it, so I just made another account. I came back after a long time to watch this, I remembered it, and yet it still entertains me, greatly. I still love these old movies ;)

[Heralde8]

@TheFieldOfWeed Agreed, love coming back to these Peter Lorre clips. It was actually this scene that inspired me to learn more about him as an actor.

[rjworks13]

Great scene!

[omegaman59]

Over acting at its best ! , nice to see "the unholy Laurel and Hardy" sending themselves up......

[Heralde8]

@omegaman59 Yup I think that's why it's the best part of the film for me. It's the movie stars not taking themselves so seriously. :)

[omegaman59]

@Heralde8 Hear , Hear!

[MissMurtagh1]

This is hillarious. It made me laugh out loud.

"We are such gentle people"

ROFL

[levotb]

The big middle-aged soldier who ham scraes it is one of my favorite character actors, Jimmy "Flavanoids" Flavin. His best films were King Kong and Test Pilot but he was good in others as well...

[HeraldMB]

Not crazy about the overall movie, but Sydney and Peter's cameo was perfect!

"Besides, it would be very gruesome!" Lol

[hooah002]

greenstreet and lorre were few of my favorite actors in this movie. Yeah to bad they don't make movies like this anymore.

Hell with actors now days they don't respect americans anymore. now days movies got gayer

[condensedclassics]

They will never make movies like this again hooah002, because the "real" hollywood studios & star system are gone forever. In those days the stars or actors, actresses were the most valuable commodity the studios had and they sold them through movies that were carefully and magnificently crafted. That's why we still know who those starts are today. Have you ever heard of TOM HULCE? In 10-15 years you'll be asking George (Clooney )WHO?

[HankQuinIan]

Lorre and Greenstreet made some great movies.  It's a shame Mask of Dimitrios hasn't been restored and released, or at least released.

[brendaPMB]

That was Hollywood.. they don`t make these movies anymore...

Oh.. I love Lorre!!!!

[Atheneastro]

@brendaPMB I love his voice better in German!

[Atheneastro]

@brendaPMB He's so... so... so CUTE! So strangely cute!

[EBursey]

I could listen to Lorre's voice forever

[mills211]

Ditto. :)

[svengali46]

Lorre and Greenstreet rock

[MorganScorpion]

Wonderful!

Pure class.

[sclogse1]

A very ill friend of mine always said that Maltese Falcon was his favorite film, and I said I'd get him the poster...well, the poster's for the film are really bad..wrong image of bogie from another film,etc. So, I designed a new poster, took a month, exactly the same size as real posters, and even has the national screen service line at the bottom. I've had a film historian over and he went nuts over it. anyone wants to see a jpeg of it, give me a jingle.

[yoss71]

god i love those two. they really knew how to sell it

[scaldingwalter]

These guys were always great together. seems like Peter Lorre always used a lit cigarette as a prop, no?

[Heralde8]

@scaldingwalter True, Peter Lorre was known for using cigarettes and other kinds of props in order to make his role more interesting, and to draw attention to himself in a scene (usually successfully, hehe).

[StrangerUK01]

Ahhh... menace with STYLE! How sadly lacking in movies these days, though who could hope to top two such masters of the art?

[Chizpurfle52595]

The only people who come close are certain English actors like Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Hopkins, Jason Isaacs, and a few others. Sadly, American actors aren't often taught that magical combination, although there are exceptions like Willem Dafoe, Steve Buscemi, Jack Nicholson, and a few other people who deserve credit but whose names I can't remember.

Even still, it's like comparing champagne to orange soda.

[snakelover400]

I like Imp Teaser have only seen hime in one full movie and the same one by the way. But I did see him in a segment of another film. Other then that it's realy just bin clip of movies and such but I still rank him as one of my top faves. Infact there is only one other that I hold as high. The funny thing is it hapins to be a friend of his.

[YouzTube99]

If at all possible, find the movie 'M'.  Peter Lorre gives an extraordinary performance in an extraordinary film.

And no, it's not a comedy.

[HOHNancy]

@YouzTube99 I love Lorre's performance in "M"! I also liked the actor who played the crime boss as well (he's full German). :) Both were awesome in the film. :)

[mRsBedLO]

good-better-great!

[brendaPMB]

If only we would have had actors like these in Argentina...

Great scene...

[ImpTeaser]

I think the only movie I've seen all the way through with Peter Lorre in it was "The Raven" which doesn't really even count. But I have seen enough clips, characterizations and parodies (with Looney Tunes at the top of that list) that I totally get how each was "playing" himself, or rather, the public's perception of each. The breast pocket grab, and the hand on Sidney's coat, subtle, but perfect. Not to mention the way he says "mayhem" and "gruesome". I'll be on the lookout for this one.

[bchfront]

Although, as I mentioned in another post on "Hollywood Canteen" my grandfather made a pretty sizable contribution to this film (he wrote the title song, as well as "Sweet Dreams, Sweetheart" which was nominated for an Oscar that year), for me, this scene IS "Hollywood Canteen". Beautiful to watch the two "Masters of Mayhem" playing off their screen-characters so nicely. The soldier who sets the scene in motion, by the way, is erstwhile character-man James Flavin. R.J.

[Chizpurfle52595]

That's awesome. What other stuff did your grandfather do?

[31bravophil]

totally. i love this movie so interesting on how actress and actors acted to the military people in those days not anymore..

But i think best actress in this movie was michigans own joan leslie ( i would love to met me her)

[NatashaNabokov]

I love it! Classic! Peter Lorre is awsome! I love that last line.

[doloho432]

BWAHAHA!! Peter Lorre is great! I love the bit where he pokes at the soldier's medals... he's always doing extra business like that in his films.

[JTPM4ever]

booaaaa genial!!!!

peter4ever!!!!

[thatdrattedcat]

ah so good. how unexpected!

[HeraldMB]

I know! Honestly as I was watching the film I was getting a little sick of the soliders gushing over the movie stars. Then this scene came up and it was such a breath of fresh air!

[Pimblit]

But anyways, does anyone know if the actors were acting as a different character, or just being themselves?

[SCRAMBLER390]

In the context of the movie, they were acting. The purpose of the movie, "Hollywood Canteen" was to show the people what the actors and actress of the day were doing to help the war effort. The "Hollywood Canteen" was a "club" where soldiers could go and literally "rub shoulders" with the stars who served them (waiting on them, etc...)The Canteen still stands today. I'm sure it was mostly acting, but the purpose was to show the stars of the day "helping". The Canteen was made real by Bette Davis

[Pimblit]

I love Peter Lorre, he's such a funny wee man.

[MarksCoffeehouse]

It's always cool to see actors having fun with their personas.

[Anzac1974]

Those were the days. Love the 40's. In the memory of Georgette Bauerdorf who worked there at the Hollywood Canteen.

[manwithoutabody]

That's one of the funniest routines I've ever seen.

[akarpowicz]

There are lots of talented people now, but they just don't have character actors like these fellows anymore. Thanks for posting

[Zoisitetta]

LOL! Poor Peter.

[hkins]

They do so much with just their eyes and gestures. Wonderful actors!

[ladylove1972]

I like how at the end Sydney Greenstreet starts to creep Peter out! :)

[Xmchord]

That's my favorite part.

[HOHNancy]

Who's the actor who played the soldier who tried to dance with Patty?

[Chizpurfle52595]

I'm reminded of that scene in Catcher in the Rye when Holden's out dancing with a couple of girls and one of them thinks she sees Peter Lorre and goes "Oh he's cute!" or something.

[stechino123]

Thank you so much for uploading this!! have been looking for it a long time.... could you PLEASE upload the scenes with the violin duet by jack benny and joseph szigeti?

[maryjanethesquirrel]

Hey, I sure could. That'll be the next thing I upload. :)

[stechino123]

thank you for uploading this!! have been looking for it for a very long time.... could you PLEASE upload the scenes with the violin duet by jack benny and joseph szigeti?

[000266617]

The little clip shows what great actors the two are. Peter Lorre was very good especially.

[stechino123]

great!!

[WNM52]

"...gruesome". I LOVE it!

[Halfdan1]

Pure greatness!

[escottish140]

ROFL! Poor Peter...

[toured87]

AhAAAAAAAA!, Honey I'm gonna dance ya hips right outta their sockets

[ladylove72]

OH MY GOODNESS!! Where did you find this marvelous gem????  I love it! :D

[maryjanethesquirrel]

It was actually on TCM just this morning. I recorded it hoping for a Peter cameo, and sure enough! :)

[ladylove72]

Cool beans!! But...but how did you know?? How did you suspect he'd be in it?? **bow bow** I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! *lol!*

[takineko]

LOL! "AHAAaaaaah!"