HAPPY 90TH TO THE BROWNING/LUGOSI DRACULA

Perhaps one's 90th anniversary isn't as momentous as one's 100th, but there's still good cause to celebrate, especially if it's Tod Browning's film adaptation of Dracula, starring the one and only Bela Lugosi. 

Based on the popular play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on Bram Stoker's masterpiece novel, and produced by the canny Carl Laemelle, Dracula may have been headlined by any number of top actors of its day, but destiny dictated the role go to the hypnotic Hungarian who made his vampiric mark as the Count on stage. Horror cinema has never been quite the same and all for the macabre better.

Like the novel, Dracula is a dark, offbeat romance, which is why Universal Studios released it on Valentine's Day. Dracula also churns a surreal atmosphere (especially in its original, scoreless format), distinguishing itself from other Browning movies that roll at a much quicker clip. In addition, thanks to Karl (the Mummy) Freund's fantastic cinematography, the movie holds a comparable atmosphere to Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyre, Herk Harvey's Carnival of Souls and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead: a gripping, slow-burn document spooled from one's brain and imprinted on celluloid for the masses to examine. 

Lugosi's cast mates complement the eerie flavor: Helen Chandler as Mina Harker; David Manners as Jonathan Harker; Francis Dade as Lucy Weston; Herbert Bunston as Dr. Seward; Dwight Frye as the poor, deranged Renfield; and Edward Van Sloan as the moral and wise Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. 

Dracula is iconic, historic, haunting and in every sinister way well played. Whether one watches it for the first or the ninetieth time, one can't pull one's eyes from it. 

Watch Dracula this Valentine's Day. Add on Lambert Hillyer's Dracula's Daughter to make an extra-saucy double feature. The batty combination will surely season one's blood for any fanged night-roamer one wishes to invite. 

HAVE A DRAC-WRISTING THANKSGIVING 2020!!!

Collectible Time: Bela Lugosi Lobby Cards

There's no stopping my friend, Mel. She keeps surprising me with delightful, lobby-card reproductions of my favorite films. This time it's all old school with the iconic Bela Lugosi (the examples shown here taken from sharp, stock sources for clarity's sake).

Two of the three, Lugosi, 11" x 14" images represent Carl Laemmle Jr/Tod Browning's ultra-classic, "Dracula". The 1931, Universal smash (based on Bram Stoker's classic novel and Hamilton Deane and John Balderston's famous stage show in which Lugosi starred) never grows old, only tastier with age (like fine wine, I suppose, even though the Count would never drink such. Ha, ha). 

The initial "Dracula" card spotlighted for this post captures a famous, promotional image, which is why I chose it to top this post: A green-hued Lugosi glowers behind a cobweb, with wee images of his brides spread throughout. Of course, the lovely Helen Chandler is also included as the sweet, succumbing Mina Harker. 

The next "Dracula" card is a tad more basic, but no less bewitching. Lugosi and Chandler/Drac and Mina dominate, and through their contrasting (and yet somehow reciprocal) countenances one can feel that destined bite. Ouch! (And I do mean that in a most erotic way.)

The third card isn't from "Dracula" but rather springs from Lew Landers' "Return of the Vampire": a 1944, British production that was at one time intended as a genuine sequel to the Universal entry. Due to licensing complications, Lugosi instead played Armand Tesla (aka Hugo Bruckner), though for all intents and purposes, he's still the Count. One only needs to bend one's mind a smidgen to rationalize the attribution, for Randall Faye and Griffin Jay's script embraces the Universal mode to the max.  

This "Return of..." card captivates by emphasizing Lugosi's hungry, hypnotic stare, his fingers cranked in that recognizable, trance-inducing state. (Say, is that a shadow on the left side of Lugosi's face or might this image be a stolen from Browning's "Mark of the Vampire"? Hmmm.)

Ah, sweet, generous Mel, will wonders and marvelous, lobby-card gifts never cease? Heck, I'm not complaining. As a lifelong Lugosi leaguer, these reproductions are precious beyond Bela-belief.