Bela Lugosi's Frankenstein

[samurainoir]

http://www.amazon.com/Alive-Valentino-Mystery-Loren-Estleman/dp/0765333317

Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man

[Mikey]

Note: cursing in clip

[samurainoir]

http://classicmoviemonsters.blogspot.ca/2012/08/monster-art-belastein.html

[palitoy]

From what I've read, the Bela test makeup resembled a golem.

[Mikey]

From what I've read, the Bela test makeup resembled a golem.

He looks more like a UFO moonbase girl

[PNGwynne]

^I've read that, too.

I'm prepared to embrace all things Universal, and I think Ygor is nearly as good as Dr. Pretorius & probably the best character acting Lugosi did, but I'm pretty tepid about his Monster, even if the script was changed/edited.

[Earth 2 Chris]

My wife brought me the "Alive" book home from the library, but I never got around to reading it.

It's interesting to hear the stories of how Lugosi's make-up test was laughed at by Lammle, Jr. Not sure if I believe it, but they say Flory was bitter about losing Frankenstein for the rest of his career. I wonder if this isn't where some of Lugosi's characterization in Ed Wood came from.

Chris

[hedrap]

Oh yeah. Bela never thought Frankenstein would reach Dracula.

I always wished he never started burning bridges. House of Frankenstein/Dracula would have been amazing showcases for him.

I thought the final straw for Lugosi was he looked too short to be a monster. That he had no physical presence without the Dracula theatrics. That's always made sense to me when you look at him in Meets Wolfman, and why Glenn Strange is always the more go-to Frankenstein default image.

[MIB41]

I've read allot of conjecture on this since I was a kid and personally I think the Legosi estate and diehard fans of this actor have chosen to make more out of it than what really exists. It doesn't take 20/20 vision to see that Legosi would have made a ridiculous monster had he been chosen for the part (regardless of the makeup applied). Subsequently the fate of Frankenstein as a licensed monster (not to mention Universal's fortunes) would have been dramatically altered. Casting plays such a critical role in how and why movies succeed. So it follows Legosi no more would have made a convincing Frankenstein monster, than Karloff would have made a believable seductive vampire in Dracula. These movies worked, in part, because of the way they were cast. Of course Frankenstein tends to hold up better because of the brilliance of the director. But as characters, fans clearly know the difference here.

[enyawd72]

Lugosi was a better actor than he was ever given credit for, but his career suffered because he had delusions of being a Hollywood leading man. Fans wanted to see him in horror films, yet he resisted them at first, believing such roles were beneath his abilities. To be fair, maybe they were, but you have to give your fans what they want to see.
There's no doubt that Boris Karloff embraced his typecasting and went with it, resulting in a much more successful career. By the time Bela finally came around to accepting his lot, it was too little too late.

[HumanWolfman]

It would be neat to actually see Bela's screen test for the monster. I always thought his was the weakest version. Karloff, Strange and even Chaney Jr all had great "monster" presence when they played the part.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Agreed. I think Chaney gets overlooked a bit too much. Strange has that iconic, perfectly craggy face, but he honestly didn't get to do much at all as the monster. Chaney's face looked a bit too chubby in spots, but he was a pretty big guy, and that brutish nature shined through. His "Lenny" persona was slightly projected as well, especially when he interacted with the little girl. Now wanting her brain...that's where this movie loses me.

Of course they all pale to Karloff. Strange has a great look, but I wouldn't give two craps about the monster if Boris hadn't given that character life to begin with.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Agh! The dreaded double post! IGNORE ME!!!

[madmarva]

^^ Of Mice and Men was on TCM last night. Chaney Jr. Was great in the role of Lenny. He had more aching chops before he became jaded and drunken than most give him credit. I really like the Intersanctum movies. They were B movies, but had fun plots.

[HumanWolfman]

You know where else Chaney Jr is over looked is in Son Of Dracula. That is one of my favorite Universal Monster movies. He gives a an amazing, believable performance as the count that many don't seem to realize.