Many of you may not be aware of this—hell, I wasn't until I stumbled across it on Amazon—but St. Clair Entertainment is putting out a 3-disc set on Tuesday entitled The Best of Bela Lugosi. But before all you classic horror buffs get your Lon Chaney underoos in a wad, I should point out that the set is really for Lugosi completists only, consisting mainly of the Hungarian actor's later work in Poverty Row (still, you’re getting nine flicks for the price of one movie ticket, so it's tough to beat.) I suspect that the selections, unfortunately, have a lot to do with rights and distribution issues. Which got me thinking: If I was putting out a true collection of "The Best of Bela Lugosi," what would I include? Which is why I put together this list of the ten finest performances ever given by the guy who's sadly only known by the mainstream public for one...
10. Pull the Strings! - Bride of the Monster (1955)
Despite director Edward D. Wood’s rep for colossally awful films, it’s impossible not to be riveted by Lugosi as the sinister Dr. Eric Vornoff, unspooling his plans to perfect “a race of atomic supermen”—whatever that means. Plus, he wrestles a giant rubber octopus, which just about clinches it.
9. Bela in the Bowery - Spooks Run Wild (1941)
A lot of folks point to flicks like this to illustrate how the master had fallen on hard times by resorting to “undignified” slapstick farce. And while it’s true his asking price probably wasn’t what it once was by this point, I still get a chuckle watching Lugosi mix it up with Leo Gorcey and the rest of the East Side Kids.
8. Leader of the Pack - The Wolf Man (1941)
Appearing alongside Lon Chaney Jr. for the very first time, Lugosi plays the unimaginatively named Bela, a gypsy cursed with a certain lycanthropic disorder that he manages to pass along to poor Larry Talbot. Unfortunately, we never get to see him in wolf get-up before his character is quickly dispatched via a silver cane.
7. The Original Kings of Horror - The Invisible Ray (1936)
This minor Universal gem is one of several team-ups of Lugosi with his counterpart and alleged arch-nemesis, Boris Karloff. Bela plays a low-down backstabber who steals his colleague’s invisibility technology and passes it off as his own. Unfortunately, he forgets about the tendency of invisible men to go crazy and seek violent revenge.
6. Lugosi Meets Lewton - The Body Snatcher (1945)
Blink and you’ll miss him, but Bela makes an impression with a rare understated performance as a handyman on the grounds of the medical school where much of the film’s action takes place. This would be his last on-screen appearance with Karloff.
5. Drac’s Back - Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Believe it or not, this was only the second and final time that Bela Lugosi would ever portray everyone’s favorite Carpathian Count on film. And while this is definitely A&C’s movie, the visibly grateful Bela puts in memorable work as the only person in the world who admires Lou Costello’s brain.
4. One of the Good Guys - The Black Cat (1934)
You don’t come across many 1930s flicks dealing with Satanism, but this is one of them. Plus, in the part of Dr. Vitus Verdegast, B.L. gets a rare opportunity to play a heroic role—and even gets to speak a few lines in his native Hungarian along the way.
3. Murder, She Wrote - White Zombie (1932)
Yes, I know I’m mentioning White Zombie two weeks in a row, but no list of stand-out Lugosi appearances would be complete without his turn as ghoul-master Murder Legendre, so sue me. In fact, this is the only pic on this list that St. Clair Entertainment actually included in its own collection.
2. What Hump? - Son of Frankenstein (1939)
At long last, Lugosi gets to do what it no doubt gave him perverse glee to do, and that’s completely upstage his more successful rival Karloff. Not to take away from Bela in the role of Ygor—or is it Eye-gor?—but Al Gore could’ve probably upstaged poor Boris in his woefully underwritten final turn as the big green guy.
and finally, the top reason why Bela Lugosi still rules…
1. I Am… - Dracula (1931)
I thought about being unpredictable and ironic, but there’s just no way around it. Bela Lugosi doesn’t just play Dracula. Bela Lugosi is Dracula. He’s become a cultural reference, like some kind of Jungian archetype. Perhaps no actor has so completely merged in the public consciousness with a character he portrayed (as much of a stigma as it was a ticket to immortality.) So back off, all you Lee-lovers and Oldman-amaniacs, and show some respect for the o.g. of the undead.
For more of my opinions on the world of horror, plus news and other interesting stuff, check out my daily blog, The Vault of Horror.
All true.
Murders in the Rue Morgue, while having nothing to do with the Poe story it takes it's name from, has a no less than awsome performance by Bela.
Right on people,Bela's the sh*t,his dracula will always rule-period.....let some little dipsh*t post and put down the scariest,most articulate,creepy-voiced,morphine addicted,vampire of ALL time.....screw the naysayers
Much as I love Dracula, I'm not sure Lugosi wasn't even better in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. Either way, great list - and big kudos for including BRIDE OF THE MONSTER! Definitely not a great movie in an objective, critical sense, but Lugosi does make magic with that patented Wood gibberish dialogue!
I always liked Mark of the Vampire...the best part is at the end when Bela is told to knock it off and help load the cases. lol There is a 75 min version if u can find it...
Bela Lugosi is incredible and he has indeed become merged with his character more so than probably any other actor I can think of right now. I'm only going to make a stink about one thing you said about Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula. Everything you said is right on target except for the last line, where you refer to him as "the o.g. of the undead." That title obviously goes to Max Schreck, the star of the 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu. Represent!
Hey, B-D, don't diss Mr. Lee in celebrating Lugosi. Lugosi is certainly an exceptionally fine actor and I've enjoyed him in all his various films. Yet vampirism has at its core an erotic element that the sensual Christopher Lee masters and which is missing from Lugosi's Dracula. I find Lee's Dracula more frightening as well; the combination of sexuality and deadly menace is a potent cocktail, and one which Lee delivers even in the smallest scenes, even without dialogue. Yes, the elegant Lugosi is a marvelous Dracula, but so is the lovely, sinister Christopher Lee in the minds of millions of us..please show some respect where it's due.
I love all his films even his last 12 which are films that are always frowned upon because they were made during 1957 to 64 and most thought he was a wash-upped old fart. However became a big star again when he was the first star in rehab. Also the first star in rehab to be kicked because he/she was broke. Then he died in the middle of his last film making it to were he was replace by a dentist who was bald. Such disgrace to a legend of his stats. Chaney great and all but wouldnt never have been as big as he is without Lugosi. Chaney first 850 films were all with Lugosi. Vincent Price is the same way but with Chaney. So is Jack Nicholson. Price and Nicholson's first 100 films were all with Chaney, and were all crap. Except for Chaney's last film which was Nicholson's big film debut.
I'm surprised that you even included The Invisible Ray, The Body Snatchers and The Wolfman. Bela only appeared in those movies for a limited amount of screen time. He was only in them for name value, especially The Wolfman... There were tons of other films out there that inlcude Bela in an actual main character roll. What about Murders In The Rue Morgue, The Raven, Devil Bat, the Phantom Creeps series, hell even the Body Vanishes! Okay list I guess. All films don't necessarily present the actor you are speaking of. If this was a Lugosi list, then why would you include movies where he's not anywhere near the being one of the main characters?
1934's THE BACK CAT [along with the rest of the Universal Franchise Collection] is priceless [how unfortunate that Bela Lugosi never got to share the screen with Vincent Price like Boris Karloff did] - but how could anyone forget his role in 1933's ISLAND OF LOST SOULS [and why the f^&k is this film not on dvd - bitches?]!!
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A few more I could add are 1935's MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, 1939's THE PHANTOM CREEPS serial, 1940's THE DEVIL BAT, 1942's THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN + 1943's FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN [both co-starring Lon Chaney jr], 1944's THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE and 1959's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE [featuring footage of Bela Lugosi from 1956] !!!!
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It was Bela's voice, his accent in particular, that made him unique.Like Peter Lorre (under stress) he was instantly recognizeable by his voice alone. I can't think of too many modern horror stars whose voice are that easy to recognize without seeing them. Bela's voice also was his weapon of fear. It was imported Hungarian Fear wrapped into his voice.
Thank you for making this list. As a young girl, first cutting her teeth on horror movies, Bela Lugosi was one of my all-time favorites. (I also agree with squid grrl about Christopher Lee. He is the icon for the sexy and charismatic vampire. There is room enough in this genre for both of these great actors.)
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