Conrad Veidt as the model for Joker

[Flex Mentallo]

 

I'm kind of glad things turned out the way they did, and Lugosi got the role. I'm sure Veidt would have been excellent; he was a superior actor to Lugosi most of the time. But Lugosi is one of the great Hollywood personalities, like Monroe and James Dean, and without his star turn in Dracula, I don't know if we would have ever been given the chance to appreciate him.

 

Was he known widely before Dracula? He struggled unsuccessfully to get out from under Dracula's shadow ever after.

[telerites]

He began as an actor in his native Hungary. He had some roles in some silents in the US before playing Dracula on stage prior to the screen. I think Lon Chaney (Sr.) was slated to play Dracula in film but he died. He was certainly typecast after the role.

 

Outside his stage performance, he only played Dracula twice on film - the original and maybe the best comedy horror ever made (IMO) - Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

 

Anyone know who played the Frankenstein monster in that one? Think Gunsmoke...

 

 

 

[Larryw7]

 

I'm kind of glad things turned out the way they did, and Lugosi got the role. I'm sure Veidt would have been excellent; he was a superior actor to Lugosi most of the time. But Lugosi is one of the great Hollywood personalities, like Monroe and James Dean, and without his star turn in Dracula, I don't know if we would have ever been given the chance to appreciate him.

 

Was he known widely before Dracula? He struggled unsuccessfully to get out from under Dracula's shadow ever after.

 

Dracula is what put him on the map. Sorry I didn't make that clearer in my original post.

 

A great book to read about Lugosi and his tragic career is Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary Don Rhodes. Lugosi's life was very complex and had a definite aura of tragedy.

What's sad about his death is that if he had lived a few more years, he would have seen his fame grow to great heights when his classic movies where revived on television in the late fifties. He was much more popular after he died, unfortunately for him.

[Larryw7]

He began as an actor in his native Hungary. He had some roles in some silents in the US before playing Dracula on stage prior to the screen. I think Lon Chaney (Sr.) was slated to play Dracula in film but he died. He was certainly typecast after the role.

 

Outside his stage performance, he only played Dracula twice on film - the original and maybe the best comedy horror ever made (IMO) - Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

 

Anyone know who played the Frankenstein monster in that one? Think Gunsmoke...

 

 

 

Gotta agree on A&C Meet Frankenstein. It improves with age.

[Jayman]

Are you saying it was James Arness, I thought it was Glenn Strange who played the monster?

[Larryw7]

Glen Strange was Sam the Bartender on Gunsmoke.

[Jayman]

Ahh. Gotcha. (thumbs u

[telerites]

Yep Sam the Bartender - Glenn Strange played the Monster in the A&C Meet Frankenstein movie. And among things, he played a stage coach driver in a few episodes of one my favorite westerns - The Rifleman.