It is not exactly Author or Art cinema, nor review a genius of acting, but the cycle “Bela Lugosi from darkness”which will be seen in Sala Lugones since Thursday, promises quite ajocijo, good discoveries, there, still, some scare, a look at the genre of horror of old days, and the recognition of one of its first stars. Not the first, because before it was Lon Chaneynicknamed the man of the thousand faces, nor the only one of his time, because he was also Boris Karloffbut Bela Lugosi He has his brightness: he really was a star (lost in darkness).
Born Béla Ferenc Dezso Blasco In the town of Lugos, Transylvania, 1882, our character was the youngest son of a solid banker, he was a lieutenant of infantry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, actor after the war, first among his own, then in Germany , where it appeared in about thirty movies and mute series, finally in the US.
High, serious voice and elegant figure, his first great success was leading the play “Dracula”of Balderston & Deanein Broadway scenarios. The second great success was the cinematographic version of that same work, “Dracula”of Tod Browning. He was spent in the genre, it is true, but his ordeal was not that, but the vice of the morphine that began consuming by medical recommendation to calm certain pains. Already big, he had to enter. It came out healthy, but without really attendable job proposals. He referred to the most bizarre cinema, where, notably, they still adore him.
Thus describes Diego Curubetoin your book “Bizarro cinema”its characterization for the film of Edward Wood “Glen or Glenda”: “Bela Lugosi is a spirit that observes the actions of men and presents history. It is not known if Lugosi really worked to compose the role or if it was the effect of the morphine that the actor consumed, but the result is magnificent, especially when Wood superimpresses some cars in his lap, that old Bela looks with hallucinated expression. ”
Lugosi He died of the heart in 1956, and his wife and son decided to put him in the coffin with Dracula’s suit. “It’s what he would have wanted,” they said. Worthy of appreciation, the characterization of Martin Landau as Lugosi old man in Tim Burton “Ed Wood”1994. Johnny Depp He was the protagonist, but the Oscar went to Landau.
The Lugones Sala cycle extends until March 14, and in addition to several fear classics includes some of Lugosi’s few incursions in suspense, rambling and comedy. Thursday opens with a recommended good, “The black cat” (Edgar Ulmer1934), disturbing Revenge Story, where he faces Boris Karloff. Also with Boris Karloff will be seen later “El Cuervo” (Louis Friedlander1935), “Tombs desecator” (Robert Wise1945, long before doing “The rebel novice”) and “Frankenstein’s son” (Rowland Lee1939), where it embodies the hunchback Igor, perhaps the best role of his career, he says Curubeto.
Friday, of course, “Dracula” (Tod Browning1931), with Helen Chandlerand a classic, although in certain aspects we continue to prefer the Hispanic version with the snore Lupita Tovar. Saturday, “Ninotchka” (Ernst Lubitsch1939), with Greta Garbopretty comedy where, really, LugosI barely appear, but it looks, in the role of a Stalinist commissioner. Sunday, attention, “The island of lost souls” (Erle Kenton1932), free version of the novel of HGWELLS “THE ISLAND OF DR. Moreau “nothing less than with Charles Laughton as the scientist who experiences turning animals into semihuman beasts (there are later, less truculent versions, with BURT LANCASTER1977, and Marlon Brando1996).
More titles: “The vampire brand” (Tod Browning1935), with Lionel Barrymorethe little view “Chandú el Magico” (Marcel Varnel and Cameron MenzieS, 1932), “Morgue Street crimes” (Robert Florey1932), free version of the story of Poealso the comic “Abbott and Costello against ghosts” (Charles Barton1948, where other “sacrificed day laborers of terror” also appear, as he said Calki In his book “Hollywood Sacred Monsters”and the quirky “I changed my sex ”(Edward Wood1953). That is the list, which is repeated from March 1 to 14, but another cycle can be expected with more films from Lugosi. The man acted in 113 productions, nothing less, and some are good.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
