Want to know the best Peter Lorre movies? How about the worst Peter Lorre movies? Curious about Peter Lorre box office grosses or which Peter Lorre movie picked up the most Oscar nominations? Need to know which Peter Lorre movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
If there was a Mount Rushmore of great classic movie character actors…joining Walter Brennan, Lionel Barrymore and Claude Rains would be Peter Lorre (1904-1964). Lorre was a Hungarian-American actor whose career spanned over 35 years. Lorre’s IMDb page shows 113 acting credits from 1929 – 1964. This page will take a statistical look at Peter Lorre movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.
Drivel part: When looking at our Request Hotline page…two things stick out to us. (1) Peter Lorre’s name has been on the list since our Hub Page days (that was in 2011) and (2) A Peter Lorre page has been requested by many different people….including numerous times by Steve Lensman. Without a doubt Steve has been one of the most supportive people when it comes to our movie pages….so you would think we would make sure to knock out his request quickly. Well finally we have a Peter Lorre page. Sorry it took so long Steve, Flora, Søren, Lyle & OU812.
Peter Lorre Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews, and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1942
Casablanca (1942)
AA Best Picture Win
1943
Arsenic and Old Lace (1943)
1954
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
1941
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
AA Best Picture Nom
1943
The Constant Nymph (1943)
1941
They Met in Bombay (1941)
1947
My Favorite Brunette (1947)
1944
Passage to Marseille (1944)
1957
The Sad Sack (1957)
1940
Strange Cargo (1940)
1945
Confidential Agent (1945)
1949
Rope of Sand (1949)
1942
All Through the Night (1942)
1945
Hotel Berlin (1945)
1959
The Big Circus (1959)
1943
Background to Danger (1943)
1944
The Conspirators (1944)
1946
The Verdict (1946)
1937
Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
1957
Silk Stockings (1957)
1940
You'll Find Out (1940)
1946
Three Strangers (1946)
1963
The Raven (1963)
1931
M (1931)
1964
The Patsy (1964)
1962
Tales of Terror (1962)
1961
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
1944
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
1937
Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937)
1935
Mad Love (1935)
1948
Casbah (1948)
1938
Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
1937
Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
1942
Invisible Agent (1942)
1940
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
1946
Black Angel (1946)
1938
Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)
1937
Lancer Spy (1937)
1935
Crime and Punishment (1935)
1953
Beat the Devil (1953)
1936
Secret Agent (1936)
1939
Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939)
1943
The Cross of Lorraine (1943)
1963
The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
1950
Quicksand (1950)
1938
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)
1938
I'll Give A Million (1938)
1939
Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)
1939
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)
1942
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
1951
Der Verlorene (1951)
1946
The Chase (1946)
1962
Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962)
1960
Holiday in Spain (1960)
1957
The Buster Keaton Story (1957)
1964
Muscle Beach Party (1964)
1956
Congo Crossing (1956)
1957
The Story of Mankind (1957)
Peter Lorre Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Peter Lorre movies by his co-star in the move
- Sort Peter Lorre movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Peter Lorre movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Peter Lorre movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Peter Lorre movie received and many Oscar® wins for each Peter Lorre movie.
- Sort Peter Lorre movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
- If there is a link in the co-star column….that link takes you to that performers’ UMR movie page
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Casablanca (1942) AA Best Picture Win |
Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman |
11.80 | 440.2 | 807.80 | 5 | 95 | 08 / 03 | 100.0 | |
| 3 | Arsenic and Old Lace (1943) | Cary Grant | 8.10 | 291.2 | 491.20 | 17 | 87 | 00 / 00 | 98.6 | |
| 4 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) | James Mason & Kirk Douglas |
22.90 | 535.7 | 535.70 | 3 | 82 | 03 / 02 | 98.5 | |
| 2 | The Maltese Falcon (1941) AA Best Picture Nom |
Humphrey Bogart & Directed by John Huston |
3.40 | 132.5 | 232.50 | 68 | 91 | 03 / 00 | 97.1 | |
| 6 | The Constant Nymph (1943) | Joan Fontaine | 5.40 | 195.1 | 361.30 | 50 | 74 | 01 / 00 | 96.0 | |
| 7 | They Met in Bombay (1941) | Clark Gable | 5.00 | 193.0 | 312.30 | 27 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 95.8 | |
| 5 | My Favorite Brunette (1947) | Bob Hope | 8.40 | 244.1 | 244.10 | 26 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 95.1 | |
| 8 | Passage to Marseille (1944) | Humphrey Bogart | 7.00 | 234.4 | 411.40 | 32 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 92.3 | |
| 10 | The Sad Sack (1957) | Jerry Lewis | 10.00 | 192.5 | 192.50 | 18 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 90.8 | |
| 9 | Strange Cargo (1940) | Clark Gable & Joan Crawford |
3.70 | 144.2 | 210.50 | 35 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 90.4 | |
| 11 | Confidential Agent (1945) | Lauren Bacall | 4.50 | 142.2 | 241.10 | 80 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 90.0 | |
| 12 | Rope of Sand (1949) | Burt Lancaster | 6.20 | 156.7 | 156.70 | 34 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 89.2 | |
| 13 | All Through the Night (1942) | Humphrey Bogart | 2.90 | 107.2 | 209.00 | 95 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 88.4 | |
| 14 | Hotel Berlin (1945) | Raymond Massey | 5.00 | 157.6 | 250.10 | 72 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 87.6 | |
| 15 | The Big Circus (1959) | Victor Mature & Red Buttons |
7.70 | 138.6 | 138.60 | 32 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 85.3 | |
| 16 | Background to Danger (1943) | Sydney Greenstreet & George Raft |
3.50 | 125.4 | 175.40 | 88 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 85.3 | |
| 15 | The Conspirators (1944) | Sydney Greenstreet & Paul Henreid |
3.50 | 119.5 | 119.50 | 92 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 85.3 | |
| 19 | The Verdict (1946) | Sydney Greenstreet | 2.70 | 82.6 | 132.10 | 111 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 83.3 | |
| 20 | Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937) | John Carradine | 2.20 | 92.9 | 92.90 | 107 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 83.2 | |
| 20 | Silk Stockings (1957) | Fred Astaire | 5.00 | 95.7 | 154.00 | 48 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 82.6 | |
| 22 | You'll Find Out (1940) | Boris Karloff & Bela Lugosi |
2.90 | 110.0 | 110.00 | 55 | 60 | 01 / 00 | 81.4 | |
| 24 | Three Strangers (1946) | Sydney Greenstreet & Written by John Huston |
2.80 | 86.0 | 137.10 | 105 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 80.1 | |
| 23 | The Raven (1963) | Vincent Price & Jack Nicholson |
3.90 | 48.3 | 48.30 | 62 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 79.7 | |
| 24 | M (1931) | Directed by Fritz Lang | 0.20 | 12.8 | 12.80 | 205 | 89 | 00 / 00 | 79.5 | |
| 25 | The Patsy (1964) | Jerry Lewis | 7.10 | 81.9 | 81.90 | 42 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 79.1 | |
| 28 | Tales of Terror (1962) | Vincent Price | 5.00 | 71.9 | 71.90 | 50 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 78.1 | |
| 29 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) | Walter Pidgeon & Joan Fontaine |
6.60 | 95.7 | 95.70 | 36 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 77.7 | |
| 27 | The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) | Sydney Greenstreet & Zachary Scott |
1.30 | 44.6 | 145.20 | 135 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 77.5 | |
| 30 | Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937) | Victor McLaglen & John Carradine |
2.00 | 85.0 | 85.00 | 118 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 77.4 | |
| 29 | Mad Love (1935) | Colin Clive | 0.60 | 29.0 | 46.70 | 175 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 31 | Casbah (1948) | Yvonne De Carlo | 2.90 | 77.5 | 77.50 | 107 | 63 | 01 / 00 | 76.1 | |
| 33 | Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) | Henry Wilcoxon | 2.20 | 87.5 | 87.50 | 104 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 75.4 | |
| 32 | Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) | J. Carrol Naish | 1.60 | 68.3 | 68.30 | 137 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 75.3 | |
| 34 | Invisible Agent (1942) | Jon Hall | 2.90 | 106.2 | 106.20 | 97 | 52 | 01 / 00 | 74.3 | |
| 34 | Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) | John McGuire | 1.10 | 42.0 | 42.00 | 158 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 73.6 | |
| 35 | Black Angel (1946) | Dan Duryea | 1.50 | 46.8 | 46.80 | 126 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 72.6 | |
| 37 | Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938) | Ward Bond | 1.90 | 74.6 | 74.60 | 124 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 72.4 | |
| 38 | Lancer Spy (1937) | George Sanders | 1.60 | 66.1 | 66.10 | 140 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 72.1 | |
| 39 | Crime and Punishment (1935) | Directed by Josef Von Sternberg | 1.40 | 61.2 | 61.20 | 97 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 71.6 | |
| 40 | Beat the Devil (1953) | Humphrey Bogart & Directed by John Huston |
3.00 | 54.5 | 54.50 | 120 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 69.6 | |
| 41 | Secret Agent (1936) | Robert Young | 1.00 | 43.4 | 43.40 | 144 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 67.0 | |
| 44 | Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939) | Ricardo Cortez | 1.90 | 71.9 | 71.90 | 123 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 66.3 | |
| 43 | The Cross of Lorraine (1943) | Gene Kelly | 1.70 | 60.1 | 128.10 | 125 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 66.0 | |
| 42 | The Comedy of Terrors (1963) | Vincent Price & Boris Karloff |
1.60 | 19.5 | 19.50 | 103 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 64.9 | |
| 45 | Quicksand (1950) | Mickey Rooney | 1.80 | 40.1 | 40.10 | 155 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 63.5 | |
| 46 | Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938) | Rochelle Hudson | 1.70 | 67.9 | 67.90 | 138 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 62.7 | |
| 46 | I'll Give A Million (1938) | Warner Baxter | 0.60 | 23.5 | 23.50 | 189 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 61.7 | |
| 48 | Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939) | Jean Hersholt & Ward Bond |
0.90 | 36.0 | 36.00 | 181 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 53.2 | |
| 49 | Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939) | Joseph Schildkraut | 0.80 | 30.0 | 30.00 | 192 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 51.5 | |
| 51 | The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942) | Boris Karloff | 1.10 | 39.8 | 39.80 | 173 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 49.4 | |
| 50 | Der Verlorene (1951) | Directed by Peter Lorre | 0.00 | 0.4 | 0.40 | 241 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 47.7 | |
| 52 | The Chase (1946) | Robert Cummings | 0.90 | 29.1 | 29.10 | 143 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 46.7 | |
| 51 | Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962) | Red Buttons & Fabian |
3.40 | 49.3 | 49.30 | 71 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 46.4 | |
| 53 | Holiday in Spain (1960) | Denholm Elliott | 2.10 | 32.8 | 32.80 | 99 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 41.2 | |
| 55 | The Buster Keaton Story (1957) | Donald O'Connor | 1.40 | 26.1 | 26.10 | 138 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 40.7 | |
| 55 | Muscle Beach Party (1964) | Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello |
4.10 | 46.7 | 46.70 | 70 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 34.5 | |
| 56 | Congo Crossing (1956) | Virginia Mayo & George Nader |
1.20 | 23.8 | 23.80 | 165 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 23.8 | |
| 57 | The Story of Mankind (1957) | Marx Brothers | 0.60 | 12.2 | 23.40 | 185 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 10.7 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Peter Lorre Table
- Seventeen Peter Lorre movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 30.35% of his movies listed. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) was his biggest box office ht when looking at adjusted domestic box office gross.
- An average Peter Lorre movie grosses $85.60 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 44 Peter Lorre movies are rated as good movies…or 78.57% of their movies. Casablanca (1942) is his highest rated movie while The Story of Mankind (1957) was his lowest rated movie.
- Seven Peter Lorre movie received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 12.50% of his movies.
- Two Peter Lorre movie won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 3.57% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 60.00. 38 Peter Lorre movies scored higher than that average….or 67.85% of his movies. Casablanca (1942) got the highest UMR Score while The Story of Mankind (1957) got the lowest UMR Score.
Peter Lorre was an ecxellent actor and his performance in M was impresive. Anyway, congratulations for having found the box office for this german movie. By the way, a foreign movie’s page would be very interesting.
Hey laurent. I agree Lorre was an excellent actor. The M box office total is from many different releases….from 1933 to 1984…..none of the releases seemed to break the box office bank. Pretty sure the worldwide grosses would be huge. I have been thinking about your foreign movie request….one day I will come up with a good way to do it. As always…thanks for stopping by.
Beat the Devil is a funny movie.
I saw it as a noir comedy.
When that vehicle of theirs starts to roll down the road after they have gotten out to push it I have one of my biggest laughs in all time.
I would love to see Mr. Moto.
How did you have access to see Mr. Moto movies?
This is great fun these pages.
I will have to give it another spin. I think my expectations might have been too high. I enjoyed Bogart’s We’re No Angels much more the second time. My local library had all the Mr. Moto movies…I saw them all in 2013….when I lost my mind and watched over 1400 movies that year. Go hand in hand with the Charlie Chan movies. I agree these pages are fun. So glad more and more people are finding them.
Hello Bruce. Thanks for this page on Peter Lorre and the page on Claude Rains. Two of my favorite character actors. I’ve seen many of they’re films. Many of my favorite films have these two great film actors. I just love Lorre in The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace and The Mask of Dimitrios. Thanks again for two more great pages.
Hey Lyle….glad you like the Rains and Lorre pages. I had much better luck with Rains than I did Lorre. The Lorre page was very very frustrating. I was just glad to get over half of his movies on the page. I like Lorre in all of the movies you mentioned. I have not seen The Mask of Dimintrios. Warner Brothers made a ton of movie off of that movie. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Thanks for finally doing a page on Peter Lorre, Bruce, much appreciated amigo. I know you like box office info but on these old films I wouldn’t have bothered, apart from a few big movies the old classics had roughly the same box office, usually 1 or 2 million dollars, sometimes 3. I would have gone with critical and IMDB ratings, no box office for films of the 30’s and 40’s. But you’re the boss. 🙂
Lorre has always been one of my favorite character actors, that voice and those bulging eyes seemed perfect for the old black and white classics, particularly Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, both at the top of the UMR and critics charts, as they should be. Its also good to see 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea up there, one of the biggest hits of the 1950s.
I’ve seen 24 of the 39 films you’ve listed. Looking at my database you’re missing a couple of Hitchcock films – Secret Agent (1936) and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The Boogie Man Will Get You (with Karloff) plus 7 more Mr. Moto films which are a lot of fun. If you want to see Peter Lorre karate chopping and judo throwing the bad guys across a room than check out the Mr. Moto series. 🙂
Other Lorre favorites besides the films I’ve mentioned include – Fritz Lang’s M (the film that made him a star, I wrote a hub on that film a few years ago), Mad Love, Tales of Terror and The Raven (with Price and Karloff).
Lorre movies I’ve missed include The Constant Nymph, They Met in Bombay and Conspirators.
Good work Bruce, keep em coming! Voted Up!
Hey Steve. Sorry it took so long. It bugged me for many many moons that so many Lorre movies were not included. Recently I stumbled across some stats on the very first Moto movie…..that let me finally get an idea of how much it made. But the rest of the Moto movies remain in the Bermuda Triangle.
The more numbers I do find….I am started to see that even 200 or 300 hundred thousand can make a huge difference when it comes to calculating box office….one day…a Paramount ledger will be found….and I will be doing a Disney dance.
I tried very hard to find the two Hitch movies. The Boogie Man Will Get You and The Beasts With Five Fingers were two movies that I felt I came close to finding….but they both escaped me. I think when I get to the USC library…I will find box office for both of those movies.
I have actually seen all 8 Moto movies…to be I could not included them in my tally count. Speaking of tally count…Flora 25, Steve 24 and me 8. Close between you and Flora. Flora is glad the Moto movies were not included…lol.
Mad Love is the movie that made list of movies to watch…everytime I do a page at least one movie gets the label. Thanks for the visit and the comment.
Hi, Bruce.
Well, if Box Office information can’t be found, it can’t be found.
I love Peter Lorre movies and even when he is in a so-so movie he shines. Also, he distracts you from the leads when he shares screen time with them.
This comment will only talk about the films you could find.
The highest rated movie I have seen is Number 1: Casablanca.
The lowest ranking movie I have seen is Number 38: Muscle Beach Story.
The highest ranking film I have not see is Number 12: The Sad Sack.
I have seen all of the top 10.
I have seen 17 of the top 20.
I have seen 23 of the top 30
I have seen 25 of these movies.
In looking at the films I have not seen, I did not know anything about there being a Buster Keaton Story. Why is it so low? Is it the lack of knowledge or quality?
These are favourites of mine:
The Maltese Falcon
Beat the Devil
Casablanca (not first or second as he is quickly killed)
M
My Favourite Brunette
Arsenic and Old Lace
All Through the Night
The Mask of Demetrious
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Confidential Agent
Three Strangers
Silk Stockings
You will notice I have not listed Mr. Moto. This is because I have yet to see him as Mr. Moto.
You will also notice that I am a big fan of his films with Sydney Greenstreet.
Anything with lorre, for me I a great Lorre film
20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea
HOW DID I MISS LISTING THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH????????????????????????
That leaves me with unlucky 13 again, so I will also add
:
Strange Cargo!
Actually, I see how this has errors with 20,000 Leagues under the sea not listed correctly IN THE RIGHT PLACE..
With 20,000 Leagues and Strange Cargo….you are away from 13…as I have it at 14 favorites.
Sadly I was unable to find box office information on The Man Who Knew Too Much. I would have loved to include both Hitch/Lorre movies…but it just did not happen.
Hey Flora
1. I think that I could only include one Moto movie was one of the main reasons that I did not publish this page sooner. Seemed that I needed to include more movies of one of his most famous roles.
2. Your %…100%, 85%, 76% & 64%…seems UMR score worked with his pages.
3. The Buster Keaton Story was a huge flop that got killed by critics back in the day. So bad box office and bad reviews….puts it pretty low in the rankings.
4. I have seen 6 of your Top 12 movies….the only one I did not enjoy was Beat The Devil….maybe my expectations were too high….but I thought that was a pretty weak movie.
5. Tally counts….Flora 25, Steve 24 and me….drum roll….8…yeah…. me and Steve take you down….lol……32 to 25.
6. I have actually seen all of the Moto movies….but I could not find anything on box office with those movies. Even the one listed was done with reverse engineering…as found a few nuggets about budget and profitability for the first Moto movie.
7. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was his biggest hit.
Glad you like my Lorre page…sorry it is missing so many movies.