dining with peter lorre

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Peter Lorre at dinner , between 1955 and 1964. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 3429 (Alexandra Studio).

One of the joys of digging through the treasure chest of photos uploaded by the City of Toronto Archives  is finding unusual pictures that end up distracting me from what I’m supposed to be searching for. Take the shot above, found while seeking "dinner" photos.

The scene: a nice restaurant, somewhere in Toronto during the late 1950s or early 1960s (any historic culinary experts good at identifying it?). Actor Peter Lorre is being interviewed by writer Frank Rasky. Lorre holds a sausage, which resembles the breakfast variety despite the picture being taken at dinner, in his fork. He gives it an odd glance. Is Lorre:
  • Pondering his next answer?
  • Discovering there's something wrong with the sausage?
  • Illustrating a point to amuse the interviewer? 
  • Demonstrating a dining technique director Fritz Lang left on the cutting room floor after shooting M?
  • Simply preparing his next bite?

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