The 60+ Best Peter Lorre Movies

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Updated May 15, 2024 23.1K views 64 items
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List of the best Peter Lorre movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. Peter Lorre's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. The order of these top Peter Lorre movies is decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Peter Lorre movies will be at the top of the list. Peter Lorre has been in a lot of films, so people often debate each other over what the greatest Peter Lorre movie of all time is. If you and a friend are arguing about this then use this list of the most entertaining Peter Lorre films to end the squabble once and for all.

If you think the best Peter Lorre role isn't at the top, then upvote it so it has the chance to become number one. The greatest Peter Lorre performances didn't necessarily come from the best movies, but in most cases they go hand in hand.

List films range from Hotel Berlin to Five Weeks in a Balloon.

"This list answers the questions, "What are the best Peter Lorre movies?" and "What are the greatest Peter Lorre roles of all time?"

If you're a fan of Peter Lorre, then check out our lists of the best Charles Laughton and Edward G. Robinson movies as well.

Most divisive: The Patsy
Over 1.2K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The 60+ Best Peter Lorre Movies
  • Muscle Beach Party
    31
    Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Don Rickles
    27 votes
    Suntanned surfer Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and his beach baby, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello), are all set for another summer of dancing, music and fun -- until their favorite surfing spot is invaded by a slew of buff bodybuilders, led by trainer Jack Fanny (Don Rickles). When spoiled contessa Julie (Luciana Paluzzi) arrives to meet a muscle man, she spots Frankie and sets her sights on winning him instead, infuriating Dee Dee and leading to an all-out rumble between surfers and iron-pumpers.
  • Secret Agent
    32
    John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre
    17 votes
    British intelligence fakes the death of Edgar Brodie (John Gielgud) to send him on a mission in Switzerland, where as Richard Ashendon he is to locate and kill a Germany spy. Accompanying Brodie are fellow agents Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll), who is to play Brodie's wife, and an eccentric assassin known as The General (Peter Lorre). Locating the spy on a train, Brodie and Elsa have second thoughts about their mission just as an American (Robert Young) ingratiates himself with them.
  • Background to Danger
    33
    George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet
    17 votes
    Joe Barton (George Raft) is an American intelligence agent working an undercover mission in Turkey during World War II. Turkey is neutral territory, but the Nazis are developing plans to take control of the country. A strange woman passes Barton papers containing details of a supposed Soviet invasion. Also very interested in the documents are a mysterious Russian operative, Tamara Zaleshoff (Brenda Marshall), and traitorous Nazi agent Colonel Robinson (Sydney Greenstreet).
  • Hollywood Party
    34
    Jimmy Durante, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
    17 votes
    When celebrity manager Knapp learns that audiences are bored with the aging lions in his client Schnarzan's (Jimmy Durante) once-popular series of jungle-themed movies, he throws a lavish party at Schnarzan's mansion, where he tries to convince adventurer Baron Munchausen (Jack Pearl) to sell him the new lions he needs to revive Schnarzan's failing career. Liondora (George Givot), the star of a rival movie franchise who fears he may suffer the same fate, crashes the party to disrupt the sale.
  • Island of Doomed Men
    35
    Peter Lorre, Rochelle Hudson, Robert Wilcox
    14 votes
    Madman Stephen Danel (Peter Lorre) presides over a prison on a remote island in the Pacific, where he works the convicts to death and profits from their labor. Aware that Danel has a hand in a slave trading ring and that all is not well on the island, government agent Mark Sheldon (Robert Wilcox) poses as a crook and has himself shipped out to the tropical penal colony. There, he teams up with Danel's abused wife, Lorraine (Rochelle Hudson), in an effort to bring down the psychotic slave driver.
  • My Favorite Brunette
    36
    Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre
    16 votes
    Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness (Dorothy Lamour) actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay (Frank Puglia), Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
  • The Comedy of Terrors
    37
    Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff
    34 votes
    Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) is an amoral undertaker in 19th-century New England who takes to murdering people to have enough cash to support his drinking habit. Desperate for money after a widow stiffs him for a burial, Trumbull and his assistant, Gillie (Peter Lorre), decide to kill the wealthy Mr. Black (Basil Rathbone), their landlord, to whom they're indebted. But murdering Black proves to be quite a challenge, as he seems to keep recovering from death every time they do him in.
  • Confidential Agent
    38
    Charles Boyer, Lauren Bacall, Peter Lorre
    20 votes
    In this adaptation of the Graham Greene novel, set during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, Luis Denard (Charles Boyer) is a Spanish secret agent on a counter-fascist mission to London. He is endeavoring to keep British merchants from selling fuel supplies to enemy factions. When Denard seeks to outmaneuver double agents Contreras (Peter Lorre) and Mrs. Melandez (Katina Paxinou), and is nearly killed, English beauty Rose Cullen (Lauren Bacall) offers her assistance.
  • Beat the Devil
    39
    Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida
    28 votes
    In this John Huston film -- which features an unusual mix of adventure, comedy and crime elements -- Billy (Humphrey Bogart) and Maria Dannreuther (Gina Lollobrigida) are among a number of travelers stranded in Italy en route to Africa. While the Dannreuthers seem like an average couple, they have the same goal as Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm (Jennifer Jones) and some of their other shifty companions -- to lay claim to property that is supposedly rich with uranium.
  • Quicksand
    40
    Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre
    17 votes
    Dan (Mickey Rooney) is a nice guy who needs $20 for a hot date with waitress Vera (Jeanne Cagney). He sneaks the sum from his boss, fully intending to pay it back later by collecting from a buddy who owes him. The friend never makes good on the money, so Dan pulls a small con for the cash. However, this petty crime lands Dan in hot water, and he finds himself committing a more serious transgression to buy his way out of trouble. But this is just the start of a very unlucky pattern.
  • The Sad Sack
    41
    Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Kirk, David Wayne
    23 votes
    Moroccan spies and an Army psychiatrist (Phyllis Kirk) try to figure out a goofy GI (Jerry Lewis) with a photographic memory.
  • All Through the Night
    42
    Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Karen Verne
    20 votes
    When noted gambler Alfred "Gloves" Donahue (Humphrey Bogart) makes a trip to his local bakery to see why his cheesecake hasn't been delivered, he sees nightclub singer Leda Hamilton (Kaaren Verne) leaving the bakery, and finds that his favorite baker has been murdered. Donahue becomes the prime suspect in the case, so he has to take matters into his own hands to clear his name. Things take a shocking turn when he discovers that a Nazi spy ring may have had a hand in the poor baker's death.
  • Strange Cargo
    43
    Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Ian Hunter
    13 votes
    In a French Guiana penal colony, an escape attempt by hardened criminal Verne (Clark Gable) is thwarted by jaded prostitute Julie (Joan Crawford). Undaunted, Verne blackmails brutal killer Moll (Albert Dekker) to join his escape but is left behind only to be provided the route by a mysterious new prisoner, Cambreau (Ian Hunter). On the way to find Moll, Verne rescues Julie, and when they join the escape party, they find that Cambreau has a powerful, mysterious influence over the motley group.
  • Scent of Mystery
    44
    Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lorre, Denholm Elliott
    10 votes
    Scent of Mystery is a 1960 mystery film that featured the one and only use of Smell-O-Vision, a system that timed odors to points in the film's plot. It was the first film in which aromas were integral to the story, providing important details to the audience. It was produced by Mike Todd, Jr., who in conjunction with his father Mike Todd had produced such spectacles as This is Cinerama and Around the World in Eighty Days.
  • Der Verlorene
    45
    Peter Lorre, Johanna Hofer, Karl John
    14 votes
    Der Verlorene is a German language art film in the film noir style. Based on a true story, Peter Lorre wrote, directed, and starred in this film, his only film as director or writer. The film's translated name has been used as the title of his biography.
  • Casino Royale
    46
    Peter Lorre, Linda Christian, Barry Nelson
    14 votes
    Casino Royale is a 1954 television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. An episode of the dramatic anthology series Climax!, the show is the first screen adaptation of a James Bond novel and stars Barry Nelson and Peter Lorre. Though this marks the first onscreen appearance of the character of James Bond, Nelson's character is played as an American agent with "Combined Intelligence" and is referred to as "Jimmy" by several characters. Most of the largely forgotten show was located in the 1980s by film historian Jim Schoenberger, with the ending found afterward. The rights to the program were acquired by MGM at the same time as the rights for the 1967 film version of Casino Royale, clearing the legal pathway and enabling it to make the 2006 film of the same name.
  • The Boogie Man Will Get You
    47
    Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Evelyn Keyes
    21 votes
    The Boogie Man Will Get You is a 1942 comedy horror film, directed by Lew Landers and starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. It was the final film Karloff made under his contract with Columbia Pictures, and it was filmed in the wake of his success in the Broadway production Arsenic and Old Lace. As he had done several times previously, Karloff played the part of a "mad scientist", Professor Billings, who is using the basement of his inn to conduct experiments into using electricity to create a race of superhumans. The inn is bought by a new owner, who is initially unaware of the work Billings is conducting.
  • High and Low
    48

    High and Low

    Peter Lorre, Jean Gabin, Margo Lion
    9 votes
    High and Low is a 1933 French drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst.
  • Hell Ship Mutiny
    49
    Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Mike Mazurki
    9 votes
    Hell Ship Mutiny is a 1957 American South Seas film directed by Lee Sholem and Elmo Williams starring Jon Hall who also produced and narrated the film. It is a compilation of a 1955 unsold television pilot Knight of the South Seas. Hall's father Felix Locher plays the role of a native chief
  • Monte Carlo Madness
    50

    Monte Carlo Madness

    Peter Lorre, Heinz RĂĽhmann, Kurt Gerron
    11 votes
    Bomben auf Monte Carlo is a 1931 comedy film written by Fritz Reck-Malleczewen, Jenö Heltai, Hans Müller, Franz Schulz and directed by Hanns Schwarz.
  • They Met in Bombay
    51
    Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell, Peter Lorre
    11 votes
    Gerald Meldrick (Clark Gable) is a dashing international jewel thief with designs on a diamond held by the Duchess of Beltravers (Jessie Ralph). He meets his match in the form of Anya Von Duren (Rosalind Russell), a beautiful con artist. As they work against each other, Gerald acts as a Scotland Yard detective, and Anya adopts the identity of a haughty aristocrat. With an inspector and a greedy mercenary captain (Peter Lorre) in hot pursuit, the two team up to pull off a big score.
  • Silk Stockings
    52
    Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige
    12 votes
    When movie producer Steve Canfield (Fred Astaire) attempts to convince respected Russian music composer Peter Illyich Boroff (Wim Sonneveld) to score his next movie, his methods prove a little too effective. Accustomed to rigid communist ideals, Boroff is immediately charmed by the excess of Parisian nightlife and refuses to return to Russia. Unwilling to lose its national treasure, Moscow dispatches frigid bureaucrat Ninotchka Yoschenko (Cyd Charisse) to retrieve the wayward composer.
  • Lancer Spy
    53
    Dolores del RĂ­o, George Sanders, Peter Lorre
    12 votes
    In World War I, British naval Lt. Michael Bruce (George Sanders) bears a striking resemblance to a renowned German officer, Baron Kurt von Rohback (also Sanders) who's been imprisoned by the Allies. Bruce's superiors hatch a plan to send him, in disguise, to Germany in order to impersonate von Rohback and gather secrets from his contacts. But the head of the German secret police, Maj. Gruning (Peter Lorre), suspects that the returned Baron is an impostor and so devises a plan to expose him.
  • The Patsy
    54
    Jerry Lewis, Ina Balin, Everett Sloane
    26 votes
    Eccentric bellhop Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis) is recruited unexpectedly by the comedy team of a recently deceased entertainer. Stanley struggles to become a song-and-dance man as the team -- including producer Caryl (Everett Sloane), writer Chic (Phil Harris) and assistant Ellen (Ina Balin) -- grooms him to become a star. But as the date of a high-stakes appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show grows near, they begin to fear that the only astonishing thing about Stanley is his utter lack of talent.
  • I Was an Adventuress
    55

    I Was an Adventuress

    Peter Lorre, Erich von Stroheim, Richard Greene
    8 votes
    I Was an Adventuress is a 1940 film directed by Gregory Ratoff.
  • Rope of Sand
    56
    Burt Lancaster, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains
    11 votes
    Rope of Sand is a 1949 adventure-suspense film noir produced by Hal Wallis and directed by William Dieterle. Set in South West Africa, the film stars Wallis contract star Burt Lancaster and three stars from Wallis's Casablanca; Paul Henreid, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre. The film introduces Corinne Calvet, and features Sam Jaffe, John Bromfield and Kenny Washington in supporting roles. Desert portions of the film were shot in Yuma, Arizona.
  • Double Confession
    57
    Peter Lorre, William Hartnell, Ronald Howard
    9 votes
    Double Confession is a 1950 British crime film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Peter Lorre and William Hartnell. The screenplay, written by William Templeton, is based on the book All On A Summer's Day by HLV Fletcher, written under the pen name "John Garden". Double Confession was missing from the BFI National Archive, and is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" lost films. In February 2013 a restored edition was released on DVD by Renown Pictures in the UK.
  • The Mask of Dimitrios
    58
    Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Zachary Scott
    50 votes
    While on vacation in Istanbul, mystery novelist Cornelius Leyden (Peter Lorre) is given the opportunity to view the body of the recently deceased criminal mastermind Dimitrios Makropoulos (Zachary Scott). Upon seeing the body, Leyden becomes obsessed with uncovering the story behind the crime lord's rise to power. With the help of local police Colonel Haki (Kurt Katch), Leyden journeys across Europe, piecing together a sordid narrative of Makropoulos' life and uncovering long-buried secrets.
  • You'll Find Out
    59
    Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff
    16 votes
    Janis Bellacrest (Helen Parrish) books Kay Kyser (Kay Kyser) and his big band to play at her 21st birthday party. Between performances, Kyser has a series of disturbing interactions with Bellacrest's bizarre guests, including quirky Aunt Margo (Alma Kruger), pretentious professor Fenniger (Peter Lorre), creepy Prince Soliano (Bela Lugosi) and irritable Judge Mainwaring (Boris Karloff). When a powerful storm blows in, Kyser and Bellacrest begin to suspect something treacherous is afoot.
  • Hotel Berlin
    60
    Helmut Dantine, Andrea King, Raymond Massey
    17 votes
    After escaping from a Nazi prison camp, Martin Richter (Helmut Dantine), a captured member of the German Resistance, poses as a waiter and hides among the guests at the Hotel Berlin. Richter begins an unlikely friendship with Lisa Dorn (Andrea King), a famed stage actress who is being courted by disgraced Nazi Gen. Arnim von Dahnwitz (Raymond Massey). Surrounded by potential informants, Richter and Dorn struggle to secure safe passage out of Germany in the final days of World War II.