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Post by mblood93 on Jun 27, 2012 2:31:58 GMT
I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread started to Bela. I mean, after all, he was one of the most crucial parts, along with Dwight, of Dracula.
He and Dwight are actually very much the same. Talented, creative, passionate, etc. They also didn't really do the Hollywood scene. They were both horribly typecasted during their lives, but they both always managed to put 120% into each of their performances.
I consider Bela to be one of the finest actors of his time, and one of my favorite actors ever! But I wanna hear what everyone else thinks of him.
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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jun 28, 2012 10:22:42 GMT
Bela was great and an icon of Horror cinema. Do an impression of Dracula and 99% of people will try to conjure up Bela's voice. I think he was more versatile than most critics gave him credit for. The Abbot and Costello film demonstrates he was able to perform comedy. While The Black Cat, my personal favourite Bela film, showed he could perform tragedy and he absolutely breaks my heart in that film.
He wasn't exactly a spring chicken when he found fame and I think his age, the thick accent and his drug addiction didn't help his career. There are also some people that say he took himself far too seriously and wasn't initially willing to keep appearing in horror. I don't blame the guy, I think this might have been one of Dwight's problems. Karloff played the Hollywood game more and seemed happy to get what work he could, probably because his earlier career hadn't been as successful as either Lugosi's or Dwight's.
I think so many people love Bela, we've never bothered putting a thread on here. The reason we actually started the Dwight board was because I, for one, felt there wasn't enough active online support for Dwight. Also I seem to remember one of Bela's biographers had a go at Dwight's performance in Dracula and it made me question the actor's relationship off camera.
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Post by Violet on Jun 28, 2012 22:15:30 GMT
I think Bela was a very fine actor and I greatly admire his courage in overcoming his addiction.
I remember reading in one of the Boris Karloff biographies, I believe it was More than a monster by Stephen Jacobs, that Boris believed that Bela's struggle with learing english affected his work and he was apparently still learning his lines phonetically. Boris was a sweet man and wasn't criticizing him, he had many nice things to say about Bela but I think he felt that perhaps Bela limited his own career a little.
Mrs V, The Black Cat has always been my favourite Lugosi film too. From his opening scene on the train it is impossible to take your eyes off him, his performance was very powerful.
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Post by mblood93 on Jun 28, 2012 22:22:53 GMT
Do you guys know about Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave? It's a great horror anthology comics that has Bela Lugosi as the horror host.
I don't think they were friends in real life, but they weren't enemies either. They just led different lives. But both were professionals.
Not only his performance great, but I consider Poelzig to be Karloff's best role imo.
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Post by Violet on Jun 28, 2012 23:20:28 GMT
Yes, Boris was fabulous in it. I have such a soft spot for Boris, I love him in everything, couldn't pick a favourite performance of his.  I've heard of Tales from the grave and I really must check it out properly. One of my make-up heroes, Rick Baker, did the cover for the second issue. |
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Post by mblood93 on Jun 29, 2012 4:16:19 GMT
Rick Baker's one of my heroes too!!!  He's one of my favorite makeup artists ever! He recently got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! I so want to work with him! |
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Post by liz on Jul 6, 2012 22:22:23 GMT
Bela rules.
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Post by mblood93 on Jul 6, 2012 23:51:34 GMT
If you guys want to see a film where Bela really shines, check out The Raven. It's awesome! One of the best 30s horror films!
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Post by Violet on Jul 7, 2012 13:14:47 GMT
I agree, The Raven is a great film.
Some of my other favourites from the thirties include Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Invisible Ray, White Zombie and The Phantom Creeps. Bela's performances are always enjoyable.
There's a fun little film called You'll find out with Bela, Boris and Peter Lorre... I love that one!
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Post by mblood93 on Jul 7, 2012 17:21:31 GMT
There's a great episode of a show called You Asked for It where Bela reprises the role of Dracula for a fan. It's awesome!
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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jul 22, 2012 12:05:13 GMT
I agree, The Raven is a great film. Some of my other favourites from the thirties include Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Invisible Ray, White Zombie and The Phantom Creeps. Bela's performances are always enjoyable. There's a fun little film called You'll find out with Bela, Boris and Peter Lorre... I love that one! I'm glad you mentioned You'll Find Out, because I think it's one example of how Bela was capable of performing comedy. I really his performance in the Abbot and Costello film because he manages to spoof his Dracula role without cheapening it. If you look througth Dwight's stage board, there's a link to an online copy of The Devil In The Cheese, which is a comedy both Dwight and Bela appeared in (off the top of my head) 1926. (  ) |
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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jul 22, 2012 12:06:10 GMT
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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jul 23, 2012 10:34:01 GMT
 Bela with Tod Brown and Helen Chandler, behind the scenes. |
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Post by Mrs Vindecco on Jul 28, 2012 14:24:03 GMT
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