THE GOODS: Bela Lugosi

Showing posts with label Bela Lugosi. Show all posts

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Bela's Birthday Double Feature: Countdown to Halloween (Day 20)

As today was Bela Lugosi, King of the Vampires, birthday, tonight on THE GOODS we have a…

BELA LUGOSI DOUBLE FEATURE

Bela was a self-made man, coming to America in the early 1920s as a seaman and gaining the lead as Dracula in the 1927 play adaptating Bram Stoker's book of the same name. A role he made so popular that a film adaptation was to be made.

Still, he wasn't the studio's first choice for the lead role, even though his hypnotic performance made the play a hit. Browning was brought in as director last minute. And Lugosi's hard lobby for the role and probably his willingness to accept a pittance for the part eventually won over the studio.

DRACULA

The dashing, mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), after hypnotizing a British soldier, Renfield, into his mindless slave, travels to London and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon Dracula begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires. When he sets his sights on Mina, the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing is enlisted to put a stop to the count's never-ending bloodlust.

Dracula 1931 by Alice-Bauer

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE

Sir Borotyn (Holmes Herbert), a prominent Prague resident, is discovered murdered in his home, with all indications pointing to a vampire assault. The victim's friend, Baron Otto (Jean Hersholt), and the physician who analyzes the body are certain that the vampire is the mysterious Count Mora (Bela Lugosi), or perhaps his daughter (Carroll Borland), but receive little help from the law. Professor Zelen (Lionel Barrymore), an expert in the occult, is called in to assist with the investigation.

Mark of the Vampire (1935) by MargaliMorwentari

And, of course, all these years later,

BELA LUGOSI’s still dead:

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Monday, October 21, 2013

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 21

Born October 20, 1882...

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó lies at rest in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. And he has done so for over fifty years. And yet it is as if the man is still alive. His face, his voice, his manerisms are all remembered well to this day. This was the man who made vampires charming and dark and powerful and commanding.

And even sexy.

This was Bela Lugosi.

Lugosi played Dracula unlike any before him and he was perfect for the role. He was from the area, had the accent, but more than that--he emersed himself in the character. His Dracula was like a bullfighter in that his movements were powerful, his command of the stage was complete. He became the Prince of Darkness and he demanded not only the attention of his audience, but their respect and their awe.

And yet, because of his embodiment of the character, because of his absolute mastery of the imagination of the collective audience when it came to what and who Count Dracula was, his career was doomed to be limited or to quote the man himself, “I am definitely typed, doomed to be an exponent of evil.” And, later, “Now I am the boogie man.”

And for his time he was one charming boogie man.

Will always be one sexy scary vampire.

And speaking of Draculas...

Sir Christopher Lee was given the British Institute Fellowship

from fellow actor and friend Johnny Depp at the ceremony.

At age 91 and with over 250 screen credits, what took them so long!

Here's a link to an article about the news:

Christopher Lee awarded Fellowship

And now here's a little appropriate music for the occasion...

STAY TUNED TO TCM at 6:15pm for...

EYE OF THE DEVIL

And finally, some more random Halloweenery...

(As always, Click to BEBIGIFY)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 20

(Vivid Vampire Visuals)

Click for a closer look

Monday, October 7, 2013

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 7

Tonight, a smattering of images and sounds...

IMAGINE THAT DOUBLE-FEATURE!

Can't go a whole October without some Frankenstein!

COUNT DUCKULA DIDN'T GET MUCH PLAY THROUGH THE YEARS, NONETHELESS A NEAT IDEA...

NEVER READ ABOUT THE GHOST OF DRACULA, BUT SCOOBY AND SHAGGY SHOULD BE OKAY--GARLIC BREATH!

Featured music tonight is from one of my favorite bands, SMASHING PUMPKINS, and their smash-hit "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". This song is the first release off of their 1995 double album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The first line of the song "The world is a vampire" had been previously recorded during the making of Siamese Dream, the band's prior album. The video is the last time Corgan made an appearance before his decision to shave his head. The resulting look for the lanky 6'6" musician was very Nosferatu...

Monday, October 1, 2012

MONSTER-MONTH - COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 1

(Click to Enlarge any of these Images)

Every year about this time, exactly this time in fact, I continue with my participation in the COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN!

It’s an informal ring of blogs that have banded together to celebrate the awe and wonder of Hallow’s Eve, that great tribute to the dark side of life--that wonderful way to look at that time of year which is equal parts life and death.

Beginnings and endings.

Which, in a roundabout way, could be a tribute to... story.

This year I’ll be doing a few different things in my personal countdown.

And I’ve come to realize as I’ve been preparing for it, that my plans aren’t very unique. The folks who participate in this Countdown have been doing fine work

and sometimes we tend to think alike.

(Click to Enlarge)

From me this year, there will be a daily dose of Frankenstein, gobs of golden age horror comic covers, a touch of Mars Attacks, a piece of pulp, some Scooby Doo,

a little Looney Tunes a handful of seasonal art by myself

and a horde of Halloween goodies!

I thought a countdown of Frankenstein Monsters would be a powerful and interesting subject for each night (and it has been), but I had no idea it had already been tackled by more than a few.

Nevertheless, I plan to continue with that idea throughout the month.

Pointing out versions and adaptations of the FRANKENSTEIN story in various mediums and putting my own spin on each one.

I came to realize in attempting this that there are TONS of variations on Mary Shelley’s tragedy. It left me with plenty of room to choose from,

in fact it made my choosing the hardest part of the plan.

(Click to Enlarge)

So, let’s get started with the first of our monsters of Frankenstein--BORIS KARLOFF in the make-up of Jack P. Pierce for Universal Studios!

His monster is the definitive one.

The one that has far outshined even the original creation of Shelley.

When nearly anyone thinks of Frankenstein (the name of the Doctor who created the Monster, not the actual creation),

they think of Karloff’s Universal Monster.

It’s appearance is so distinctive, so unique as to demand a second look.

He stands six and a half feet tall with green scarred up skin, a flat top head,

sunken eyes, bolted neck, and tight fitting jacket.

He appears the part of a desicated corpse-come-to-life.

And yet, far too well dressed for a monster shindig.

(Click to Enlarge)

Universal Studios was quick to copyright the look of their Monster. And it has proven one of the smartest things they could’ve done, for there have been countless copies (more than a few of which will appear later this month in this very blog).

There is a superb feature on how Universal has held sway over the look of Frankenstein’s Monster for all these years here:

http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/10/24/how-universal-re-copyrighted-frankensteins-monster/

(Click to Enlarge)

The look of Boris in the makeup caused those making the film to be concerned that the seven year old actress playing Maria, the girl who is thrown in the lake by the creature, would be too afraid of Karloff when it came time for her scene.

So as the cast assembled to travel to the location, they were to introduce her to Karloff tentatively. Marilyn Harris, the young actress, is said to have ran from her car directly up to Karloff’s Monster and took his hand.

She then asked to drive to the location with him. Karloff responded,

“Would you, darling?”, in his usual voice.

Monster and victim rode to the shoot together.

(Click to Frankenstein Image)

In all American prints, the scene where the Monster throws the girl into the water was cut before he even reaches her due to censors concerns for the girl’s violent end. Strangely, this left it up to the viewer’s imagination to fill in the blank for what could have happend to the little girl (and one could imagine many more terrible things than what actually occurred in that scene).

Thankfully the footage was restored on DVD.

(Click to Frankenstein-ify)

Five Frankenstein Fun Facts:

Karloff’s boots each weighed 13 pounds.
At the climax of the film, the Monster carries Dr. Frankenstein up the mountainside and through the mill. At James Whale’s insistence Boris actually carried Colin Clive, which took several days to shoot. He badly injured his back and had back problems for the rest of his life.
Bela Lugosi was originally tapped for the role of Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster after that. He rejected the role as not being one worthy of his ability. Lugosi had also insisted on creating his own makeup for the Monster, but his design was rejected (Lugosi’s look for the Monster is said to have resembled The Golem).
John Carradine also turned down the role of Frankenstein’s creation.
Bette Davis was considered for the role of Elizabeth.