October 20,1882-HAPPY BIRTHDAY,BELA LUGOSI!

RCMerchant · October 19, 2011, 05:29:19 AM

That's right! It's that time of year again.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY,BELA LUGOSI

Today the Master is 129 years undead!
And here's a rare treat!
The oldest surviving film clip of Bela Lugosi-and of his film work in his native Hungary-
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE (1918)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu9AvkLHXAg

Another rarity-COLOR footage (Warner Bros. used an early color process in such films as DR.X and MYSTERY in the WAX MUSEUM as well)
From 1930-VIENESSE NIGHTS-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCF1ER-54II&feature=related

Below is an ad for the stage production of NO TRAVLER RETURNS...with co-star Ian Keith. Keith was the first choice for the role of DRACULA in 1931! He turned it down-and it went to Bela!

By belamerchant at 2011-10-19

An image of Bela and Keith fom the above show....

By belamerchant at 2011-10-19

Some more treats-Bela at a live spook show fro the erly 50's..

By belamerchant at 2011-10-19

And ads for same...

By belamerchant at 2011-10-19

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

bob · October 19, 2011, 05:46:15 AM

happy birthday Bela!

tracy · October 19, 2011, 12:23:08 PM

Happy birthday to one of the greats...

major jay · October 19, 2011, 06:39:03 PM

Happy birthday.

RCMerchant · October 20, 2011, 01:34:25 AM

^ That pic is kinda ironic. On the set of he BLACK SLEEP (1956) Bela and Lon held quite a bit of aminosity towards each other. Bela kinda felt that Lon had stolen the part in SON OF DRACULA (1943) from him. Lon supposedly grabbed Belaplayfully giving him a bear hug and lifting him off his feet. This p**sed Lugosi off.

OK-heres another rare reat-Lugosi at th HOUSE OF WAX premiere in 1953!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBrj9K_e7I

Hammock Rider · October 20, 2011, 08:36:55 AM

Rev. Powell · October 20, 2011, 02:52:48 PM

By complete coincidence we published a long overview of Bela's career today: http://366weirdmovies.com/lugosi. I had no idea it was his birthday when I scheduled it! Spooky, no?

Jim H · October 20, 2011, 04:48:40 PM

By another coincidence, I watched Ghost of Frankenstein for the first time today! And a few days ago I watched Son of Frankenstein! And a few days before that, the Devil Bat. Yeah, been on a minor Lugosi kick. His performance in Son of Frankenstein is probably my favorite, even better than in Dracula. There's a reason Ygor/Igor became so synonymous with Frankenstein, even though he's not in the two most iconic films of the series.

**MINOR LUGOSI MOVIE SPOILERS**

On another note, I have yet to see Lugosi survive in any film! He sure dies a lot. Even when he played a good guy, like in The Black Cat.

**END**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbbqJQRSdKg&feature=related

My favorite line is "He was out....hunting", though it's not in this clip.

RCMerchant · October 20, 2011, 06:09:27 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on October 20, 2011, 02:52:48 PM
By complete coincidence we published a long overview of Bela's career today: http://366weirdmovies.com/lugosi. I had no idea it was his birthday when I scheduled it! Spooky, no?

HE moves in mysterious ways!

RCMerchant · October 20, 2011, 06:18:05 PM

Quote from: Jim H on October 20, 2011, 04:48:40 PM
By another coincidence, I watched Ghost of Frankenstein for the first time today! And a few days ago I watched Son of Frankenstein! And a few days before that, the Devil Bat. Yeah, been on a minor Lugosi kick. His performance in Son of Frankenstein is probably my favorite, even better than in Dracula. There's a reason Ygor/Igor became so synonymous with Frankenstein, even though he's not in the two most iconic films of the series.

**MINOR LUGOSI MOVIE SPOILERS**

On another note, I have yet to see Lugosi survive in any film! He sure dies a lot. Even when he played a good guy, like in The Black Cat.

**END**

My favorite line is "He was out....hunting", though it's not in this clip.

Ygor is such a lovable retrobate!

That scene in the court room is hilarious!
Bela said that personally Ygor was one of his favorte roles. He likened it to comedy!
My top 5 Bela flms-in order-
1.DRACULA
2.The RAVEN
3.WHITE ZOMBIE
4.SON OF RANKENSTEIN
5.BRIDE of the MONSTER.

BoyScoutKevin · October 29, 2011, 04:24:19 PM

Jim H. really made a statement "I have yet to see Lugosi survive in any film," that really made me stop and think. Karma for that Jim H.

Have I seen Lugosi survive in any film? And while it took me a while to go through the list of films that I have seen Lugosi in, and while he does NOT survive in most of his films that I have seen, he does survive in one of his films, that I saw. It is "Mark of the Vampire." And not to give away too much, this is the synopsis from the website imdb.com: "When a nobleman is murdered, a professor of the occult blames vampires, but not is all what it seems."

Of course, I have not see all of Lugosi's films, so there might be many more in which he survives, but which I have yet to see.

JaseSF · November 08, 2011, 01:49:39 AM

He doesn't die in some of his red herring roles in murder mystery/old dark house movies.

Pacman000 · April 09, 2012, 12:09:22 PM

He dies in Murder By Television...then walks out of a back rood and tells everyone it was his evil twin.

October 20,1882-HAPPY BIRTHDAY,BELA LUGOSI!

Pacman000