BELA LUGOSI FILMOGRAPHY

by Johanne L. Tournier

__________________________________________________________________________

Bela Lugosi first appeared in films made in his native Hungary in the year 1917, shortly after being discharged from the Army. Cremer states that he was dissatisfied and felt that his stage career was basically going nowhere at the time that the producer/director Alfred Deesy ran into the actor at one of Budapest's famous coffee houses and offered the disaffected actor a role in an upcoming production. Jon R. Hand states that Deesy (1877 - 1961) had commenced his acting career in 1894 and had worked with Lugosi in Debrecen during the 1908-1909 theatrical season. Hand indicates that Lugosi signed a two year contract to work with Deesy's company, Star Films. In the following two years, Lugosi is believed to have made eight films for Star. Lugosi is also known to have appeared in three films made by the Phoenix Company which were directed by Mihaly Kertesz. Kertesz himself later emigrated to Hollywood, where, having changed his name to Michael Curtiz, he directed scores of outstanding examples of the filmmaker's art, including "Casablanca," "The Adventures of Robin Hood," and "Captain Blood." It is interesting to note that Lugosi never worked with Curtiz in Hollywood.

In his first Hungarian films, Lugosi used the pseudonym Arisztid Olt, perhaps feeling that acting in films would not enhance his reputation on the legitimate stage.

The list which follows is as correct as it has been humanly possible for me to ascertain as of the date this material was prepared, February 2, 1996. This list should be considered a work in progress, as new titles are uncovered every year. The latest rumour would have it that Lugosi appeared in a bit part as one of the clowns in "He Who Gets Slapped," a 1924 film starring Lon Chaney, Sr. Stay tuned to this page to find out the latest news in regard to the status of Lugosi's films.

• A Leopard [The Leopard] - 1917 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: Adapted from the book by Alphonse Daudet
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Gustav Turan, Peter Konrady, Ila Loth, Klara Peterdy, and Anna Goth.
  • Comment: Lugosi's first screen appearance. He played an aristocrat who romances the daughter of a financier.
• Alarcosbal [Masked Ball] - 1917 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: Adapted from the opera by Verdi, "Ballo in Maschera"
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Norbert Dan, Anna Goth, Robert Fiath, Richard Kornai, and Viktor Kurd.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Rene, the secretary governor, a "red herring" role.
• Leoni Leo - 1917 -
  • Star Company (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: Joseph Pakots, from the play by Georges Sand
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Norbert Dan, Richard Kornai, Ila Loth, and Klara Peterdy.
  • Comment: This film has only recently been identified as having starred Lugosi, but unfortunately there is no other information available regarding it.
• A Naszdal [The Wedding Song] - 1917 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: Ignac Balla and Nandor Ujhelyi, from the story of the same name
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Klara Peterdy, Karoly Lajthay, and Iren Barta.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Bertram, a famous violinist. While honeymooning in the mountains with his wife, he is attacked one night by the pianist Izau, who is in love with her. A bloody fight ensues, and Bertram kills Izau and then escapes to the forest, where he makes a living giving violin lessons. He wife mourns him, because she believes he has died. When by accident, she sees the bearded Bertram, she thinks he is her husband's murderer and has him arrested. While in prison, however, he takes out his violin and plays the song he had played for her on their honeymoon. She hears it and recognizes her husband, and all is well.
    Released in April of 1918, A Naszdal was typical, according to Jon Hand, of the "literary" themes favoured by the Star Company. "Reviewers described the plot as exciting and the photography beautiful, and Lugosi and Peterdy were given excellent notices."
• Tavaszi Vihar [Spring Tempest] - 1917 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: Laszlo Bekeffy
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Norbert Dan, Myra Corthy, Viktor Kurd, Alice Ronay, and Aladar Fenyo.
  • Comment: According to Richard Bojarski, Lugosi played a discarded suitor, but there is no other information available.
• Az Ezredes[The Colonel] - 1917 -
  • Phoenix Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Mihaly Kertesz
  • Screenplay: Richard Falk, from the story by Ferenc Herczeg
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi, Zoltan Szeremy, Bero Maly, Laszlo Z. Molnar, Sandor Goth, Arpad Latabar, Claire Lotto, Geza Boross, Karoly Huszar, and Janka Csatai.
  • Comment: (from Jon Hand) Adapted from a comedy by the famous Hungarian author Herczeg, "Az Ezredes" tells the story of a vagabond called The Colonel, who breaks into the home of a millionaire and is caught in the act. The millionaire then forces The Colonel to steal back a fortune that the millionaire's brother has stolen from him. Kathe, the millionaire's daughter tries to prevent this, because she is in love with The Colonel. Eventually it is realized that all the burgled objects are imitation, and only the love between Kathe and The Colonel is true.
    Jon Hand states that "Az Ezredes" was the first and best of the Lugosi-Kertesz films made at Phoenix Film. He adds that, as managing-director of Phoenix Film, Kertesz preferred stories of real life, adventure, and crime - the so-called "American style".
    A fragment of "Az Ezredes" showing Lugosi exists and is owned by a private Hungarian collector.
• Kuzdelem a letert [Struggle for Life] - 1918 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: from Alfred Daudet's play, "La Lutte Pour La Vie"
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Anna Goth, Klara Peterdy, Ila Loth, and Ferenc Viragh.
  • Comment: Lugosi, playing an architect named Orlay, ruins everybody for the sake of his career, including his loves, a countess and a poor girl. When he believes he has reached his goal, he gets his comeuppance - the father of the poor girl shoots him.
    Jon Hand states that Kuzdelem a Letert was by far Lugosi's greatest success with the Star Company, and that it and Phoenix Film's Az Ezredes were his best Hungarian productions.
• Casanova - 1918 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Cornelius Hintner (according to Cremer) or Alfred Deesy (according to Jon Hand)
  • Screenplay: Jozsef Pakots and Laszlo Bekeffy
  • Cinematography: Karoly Vass
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi, Anna Goth, and Viktor Kurd (according to Cremer) or Alfred Deesy, Kamilla Hollay, Marcel Rolla, Norbert Dan, Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Sandy Igalits, Richard Kornai, and Gusztav Turan (according to Jon Hand).
  • Comment: According to Cremer, Lugosi played a suitor to a rich man's daughter. However, there is serious controversy as to whether Lugosi actually appeared in the film or not. About one third of this film survives and is in the possession of the Hungarian Film Institute, and several knowledgeable people, including Dr. Istvan Molnar, the Director of the Hungarian Film Institute, have stated that Lugosi is nowhere to be found in the surviving portion. On the other hand, in 1970, Lajos Panczel, a friend of Lugosi's from his Budapest days, stated that he remembered Lugosi's performance in the film (he stated that Lugosi did not have the leading role). In addition, there were several movie stills from Lugosi's personal collection which were clearly marked as being from "Casanova," and Lugosi was usually a reliable source for such information.
• Kilencvenkilenc [Ninety-nine] - 1918 -
  • Phoenix Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Mihaly Kertesz
  • Screenplay: Ivan Siklosi, based on the story about Monte Christo
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi, Lajos Rethey, Zoltan Szeremy, Claire Lotto, Mihaly Varkonyi, and Gyula Gal. In addition, Cremer lists Jeno Balassa, while Jon Hand drops him and adds Laszlo Z. Molnar.
  • Comment: A detective-mystery film, with Lugosi playing the role of the inspector who uses an array of disguises to catch the thief.
• Lili [usually cited incorrectly as "Lulu"] - 1918 -
  • Phoenix Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Mihaly Kertesz
  • Screenplay: Jeno Farago, from the opera by Herve
  • Designer: Istvan Szirontai-Lhotka
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi, Klara Peterdy, and Norbert Dan (according to Cremer), or Iren Barta, Klara Peterdy, Bela Lugosi, Ila Loth, Gusztav Turan, and Richard Kornai (according to Jon Hand).
  • Comment: Lugosi played the romantic lead. Jon Hand notes that it is unusual that six contract players with Star Film would appear in a film made by a competitor.
• Az Elet Kiralya [The Royal Life] - 1918 -
  • Star Film (Budapest)
  • Director: Alfred Deesy
  • Screenplay: Jozsef Pakots, from the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
  • Cast: Arisztid Olt (Bela Lugosi), Norbert Dan, Gustav Turan, Ila Loth, Anna Goth, Richard Kornai, Carmilla Hollay, and Viktor Kurd.
  • Comment: The film was released in September, 1918, and, according to Jon Hand, it marked Lugosi's final Hungarian screen appearance. Political events were overtaking the artistic life of the capital, and Lugosi was to becomes heavily involved in the short-lived Communist takeover of the government, helping to organize the Actor's Trade Union, and eventually fleeing Hungary for his life when the white forces ousted the Communists. In this film, Lugosi played Harry Vatton, Dorian Gray's butler-confidant.
    This film also appeared under the alternate title, "Dorian Gray Arckepe" [The Portrait of Dorian Gray]. Apparently it was an unauthorized version of Oscar Wilde's popular novel. A fragment of this film has recently been found and is being restored by the Hungarian Film Institute.

• Sklaven Fremden Willens [Slave of a Foreign Will] - 1919 -
  • Eichberg Film (Berlin)
  • Director: Richard Eichberg
  • Cast: Lee Parry, Bela Lugosi, Karl Halden, Violetta Napierska, Margo Koehler, and Gustav Birkholz.
  • Comment: Lugosi played a hypnotist in this film.
• Nat Pinkerton - 1920 -
  • Dua Film (Berlin)
  • Director: Wolfgang Neff
  • Cast: Olaf Storm, Nestor Pridum, Marian Alma, Sybill de Bree, Bela Lugosi, and E.V. Meghen.
  • Comment: Lugosi played the leader of a gang, which must have been headquartered in a carnival, judging from the costumes.
• Der Fluch der Menschheit [The Curse of Man] - 1920 -
  • Eichberg Film (Berlin)
  • Director: Richard Eichberg
  • Cast: Lee Parry, Bela Lugosi, Willi Kaiser-Heyl, Robert Scholz, Gustav Birkholz, Reinhold Pasch, Marga Koehler, Felix Hecht, Violetta Napierska, and Paul Ludwig.
  • Comment: Lugosi played a reckless saboteur in this film, which was released in two parts: 1)"Die Tochter der Arbeit" ("The Daughter of Work") and 2) "Im Rausche der Milliarden" ("In the Ecstasy of Billions").
• Der Januskopf [The Head of Janus] - 1920 -
  • Lipow Film (Berlin)
  • Director: F.W. Murnau
  • Cast: Conrad Veidt, Margarate Schlegel, Magnus Stifter, Willi Kaiser-Heyl, Bela Lugosi, and Margarete Kupfer.
  • Comment: Bela Lugosi played Dr. Jekyll's butler, in this story, which was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Murnau, the director of this film, later directed "Nosferatu," the first filmed version of "Dracula."
• Die Frau im Delphin [The Woman in the Dolphin] - 1920 -
  • Gaci Film (Berlin)
  • Director: Artur Kiekebusch-Brenken
  • Cast: Emile Sannom, Magnus Stifter, Bela Lugosi, Ernest Pittschau, Max Zilzer, and Jacques Wandryck.
  • Comment: No other information available at present.
• Die Todeskarawane [The Caravan of Death] - 1920 -
  • Ustad Film, Droop & Co. (Berlin)
  • Director: Marie Louise Droop
  • Cast: Carl de Vogt, Mainhart Maur, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi played a lecherous Arab sheik in this film.
• Lederstrumpf [Leatherstocking] - 1920 -
  • Luna Film (Berlin)
  • Director: Arthur Wellin
  • Cast: Emil Mamelok, Bela Lugosi, Herta Heden, Gottfried Kraus, Edward Eyseneck, and Margot Sokolowska.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Chingachgook to Emil Mamelok's The Deerslayer in this version of James Fennimore Cooper's classic, The Leatherstocking Tales, which was released in two parts in Germany: 1) "Der Wildtoeter und Chingachgook" ("The Deerslayer and Chingachgook"), and 2) "Der Letzte der Mohikaner" ("The Last of the Mohicans." The chopped-up American version, only about 60 minutes long, has survived and is available on videocassette.
• Die Teufelsanbeter [The Devil-Worshippers] - 1920 -
  • Ustad Film, Droop & Co.
  • Director: Marie Louise Droop
  • Cast: Carl de Vogt, Bela Lugosi, Meinhart Maur, and Ilja Dubrowski.
  • Comment: No other information is available.
• Johann Hopkins die Dritte [John Hopkins the Third] - 1920 -
  • Dua Film (Berlin)
  • Comment: Lugosi played a cowboy in this German western, the only time to my knowledge that he did so. There is no other information available.
• Der Tanz auf dem Vulkan [The Dance on the Volcano] - 1921 -
  • Eichberg Film (Berlin)
  • Director: Richard Eichberg
  • Cast: Lee Parry, Violetta Napierska,Robert Scholz, Bela Lugosi, Gustav Birkholz, Felix Hecht, and Kurt Fuss.
  • Comment: Lugosi played a Parisian aristocrat in this film, which was released in Germany in two parts: 1) Sybil Young and 2) "Der Tod des Grossfuertens" ("The Death of the Grand Duke"). This film is said to have survived in its chopped-up American version; a print is said to exist at the Eastman House in Albany, New York.

• The Silent Command - 1923 -
  • Fox
  • Director: J. Gordon Edwards
  • Cast: Edmund Lowe, Bela Lugosi, Carl Harbaugh, Martin Faust, Gordon McEdward, Byron Douglas, Theodore Babcock, George Lessey, Henry Armetta, Alma Tell, Martha Mansfield, Betty Jewel, Kate Blancke, and Elizabeth Mary Foley.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Hisston, the head of a gang of foreign spies, whose plan to blow up the Panama Canal is thwarted by heroic Naval officer Edmund Lowe. Partly filmed on location in Panama, this film marked Lugosi's debut in American films. Apparently an agent for Fox saw Lugosi in his English stage debut, in "The Red Poppy," and recommended him to the studio. Unfortunately, a decline in movie production occurred around the same time, many studios closed, and Lugosi returned to the New York area.
• The Rejected Woman - 1924 -
  • Distinctive Pictures
  • Director: Albert Parker
  • Cast: Alma Rubens, Conrad Nagel, Wyndham Standing, George MacQuarrie, Bela Lugosi, Antonio D'Algy, Leonora Hughes, Aubrey Smith, and Betty Jewel.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Jean Gagnon, a Continental type, in this, which appears to be a lost film.
• The Midnight Girl - 1925 -
  • Chadwick Pictures
  • Director: Wilfred Noy
  • Cast: Lila Lee, Gareth Hughes, Bela Lugosi, Dolores Cassinelli, Ruby Blaine, Charlotte Walker, John D. Walsh, and William Harvey.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Nicholas Harmon, a cad and the impresario of an opera house, who vies with his step-son, Hughes, for the love of a sweet, golden-voiced Russian immigrant, played by Lila Lee. After much melodrama, there is a happy ending for all, as Lugosi realizes he really loves his former girlfriend best, and Lee becomes the diva of the opera company. This film is available on videocassette.
• Daughters Who Pay - 1925 -
  • Banner Productions
  • Director: George Terwilliger
  • Cast: Marguerite De LaMotte, Bela Lugosi, John Bowers, and Barney Sherry.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Serge Oumansky, a Communist agent, determined to overthrow the United States government. To the best of my knowledge, this is a lost film.
• Punchinello (short subject) - 1926 -
  • Famous Lovers Production
  • Director: Duncan Renaldo
  • Cast: Duncan Renaldo, Ronda Rainsford, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi played a clown in this short subject, which may have been filmed in two-strip Technicolor. Appears to be a lost film.
• How to Handle Women - 1928 -
  • Universal
  • Director: William J. Craft
  • Cast: Glenn Tryon, Marion Nixon, Raymond Keane, Robert T. Haines, Bull Montana, Cesare Gravina, George Herriman, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi had a bit part in this movie, which appears to be a lost film. The revival of Lugosi's film career which seems to have occurred at this time must have been largely due to his touring the West Coast in the play "Dracula."
• The Veiled Woman - 1928 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Emmett Flynn
  • Cast: Lia Tora, Paul Vincenti, Walter McGrail, Josef Swickard, Kenneth Thomson, Andre Cheron, Ivan Lebedeff, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi plays a small part as an Englishman (the only time he played an Englishman in an American film) who comes courting the heroine and is shot and killed by her. This is Lugosi's last silent film, and is believed to be lost.

• The Last Performance - 1928 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Paul Fejos
  • Cast: Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Leslie Fenton, Fred MacKaye, Gustav Partos, William H. Turner, Anders Randolph, Sam DeGrasse, and George Irving.
  • Comment: Lugosi dubbed Veidt's voice for the Hungarian version.
• Prisoners - 1929 -
  • First National
  • Director: William Seiter
  • Cast: Corinne Griffith, James Ford, Bela Lugosi, Ian Keith, Julanne Johnston, Ann Schaeffer, Barton Hesse, and Otto Matieson.
  • Comment: Lugosi played Brottos, the owner of a Viennese nightclub in this part-talking, part-silent feature. It is believed to be a lost film.
• The Thirteenth Chair - 1929 -
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Director: Tod Browning
  • Cast: Conrad Nagel, Leila Hyams, Margaret Wycherly, Holmes Herbert, Mary Forbes, Bela Lugosi, Helene Millard, John Davidson, and Joel McCrea.
  • Comment: Lugosi has a pivotal role as Inspector Delzante, Margaret Wycherly plays Madame LaGrange, the medium, and Conrad Nagel and Leila Hyams play the young lovers in this version of the famous murder mystery play. This is Lugosi's first talkie which is known to have survived, and it is available on bootleg videocassettes.
• Such Men Are Dangerous - 1930 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Kenneth Hawkes, who was killed in a mid-air collision during the making of the picture.
  • Cast: Warner Baxter, Catherine Dale Owen, Albert Conti, Bela Lugosi, Hedda Hopper, and Claude Allister.
  • Comment: Warner Baxter played Ludwig Kranz, one of the world's richest but homeliest men, whose wife leaves him on their wedding night, rather than spend the night with him. He then fakes his death and turns up at the clinic run by plastic surgeon Dr. Gutman (played by Lugosi). Lugosi, in a warm and sympathetic performance, transforms Mr. Kranz into handsome Warner Baxter. He woos his wife, intending to humiliate her, but all's well that ends well when they end up truly falling in love with one another.
• King of Jazz - 1930 -
  • Universal
  • Director: John Murray Anderson
  • Cast: Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, John Boles, Laura LaPlante, Bing Crosby and the Rhythm Boys, Jeanette Loff, Glenn Tryon, Merna Kennedy, Slim Summerville, Billy Kent, Brox Sisters, Marian Statler, and Don Rose, The Tommy Atkins Sextet, and The Russell Markert Dancers.
  • Comment: Lugosi served as the Master of Ceremonies in the Hungarian language version of this film, which was filmed in early Technicolor. It also marked Bing Crosby's screen debut.
• Wild Company - 1930 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Leo McCarey
  • Cast: Frank Albertson, H.B. Warner, Sharon Lynn, Joyce Compton, Claire McDowell, Mildred Van Dorn, Richard Keene, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi played nightclub owner Felix Brown in this cautionary tale of youth gone bad.
• Renegades - 1930 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Victor Fleming
  • Cast: Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, Noah Beery, Gregory Gaye, George Cooper, C. Henry Gordon, Bela Lugosi, Colin Chase, and Noah Beery, Jr.
  • Comment: Lugosi plays the Marabout in this melodramatic tale of four French Foreign Legionnaires who turn their coats and find employment training Lugosi's troops to attack their former comrades. Loy has an especially juicy role as a double-dealing woman of dubious reputation. A grand climax occurs in which all the major characters kill each other off (except Lugosi?). Available on bootlegged videos.
• Oh, For a Man! - 1930 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Hamilton McFadden
  • Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Reginald Denny, Marjorie White, Warren Hymer, Alison Skipworth, William B. Davidson, Albert Conti, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi plays Jeanette MacDonald's singing teacher, Frascatti, in this far-fetched tale of an opera singer who falls in love with a burglar played by Reginald Denny. To my knowledge this is only available in really bad bootlegged versions.
• Viennese Nights - 1930 -
  • Warner Brothers
  • Director: Alan Crosland
  • Cast: Vivienne Segal, Alexander Gray, Jean Hersholt, Walter Pidgeon, Louise Fazenda, Alice Day, Bert Roach, June Purcell, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi had an unbilled part as the (Russian?) ambassador, who is hosted by Vivienne Segal in this early Technicolor Sigmund Romburg operetta, which even featured Walter Pidgeon in a singing role. The UCLA Film Archive has a beautiful pristine print of this film, which is only available on video in poor quality bootlegged versions.
• Fifty Million Frenchmen - 1931 -
  • Warner Brothers
  • Director: Lloyd Bacon
  • Cast: Olsen and Johnson, William Gaxton, John Halliday, Helen Broderick, Claudia Dell, Lester Crawford, Charles Judels, Carmelita Geraghty, Nat Carr, Vera Gordon, and Bela Lugosi.
  • Comment: Lugosi had an unbilled and minute part (and it lasted about a minute) in this unfunny comedy, which had been a Cole Porter musical on Broadway. By the time it was made, musicals were out, so all the songs were cut, and the rest is practically insufferable. This film was originally in Technicolor.
• Dracula - 1931 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Tod Browning
  • Screenplay: Garrett Fort, based on the book by Bram Stoker and the Broadway play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston
  • Cinematography: Karl Freund
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dracula), David Manners (John Harker), Helen Chandler (Mina), Dwight Frye (Renfield), Edward Van Sloan (Van Helsing), Herbert Bunston (Dr. Seward), Frances Dade (Lucy Weston), Charles Gerrard (Martin), Joan Standing (Briggs), Moon Carroll (Maid), Josephine Velez (Nurse), Michael Visaroff (Innkeeper), Wyndham Standing (Surgeon), Daisy Belmore (English Passenger), Nicholas Bela (Transylvanian Passenger), Carla Laemmle (Coach Passenger), Donald Murphy (Passenger), and Tod Browning (Harbormaster).
  • Comment: This, of course, is Lugosi's signature role. It is a cliche now to refer to people as "icons," yet that term may be accurately applied to Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula. After his appearance in this film, Americans came to believe that the vampire wore white tie and tails and an opera cape with a high, upturned collar, that he had black,patent leather hair, and spoke with Lugosi's distinctive accent. The part, as he freely admitted, was both a blessing and a curse to him, for it brought him star status that he had never had before, yet his starring parts were mostly limited to horror roles, and he vigorously and vociferously resisted the typecasting which was to be his lot in Hollywood for the rest of his life.
• Women Of All Nations - 1931 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Raoul Walsh
  • Screenplay: Barry Connors
  • Cast: Victor McLaglen (Quirt), Edmund Lowe (Flagg), Bela Lugosi (Prince Hassan), Greta Nissen, El Brendel, Fifi Dorsay, Marjorie White, T. Roy Barnes, Humphrey Bogart (whose footage was cut before the film was released), Jesse De Vorska, Charles Judels, and Joyce Compton.
  • Comment: This was an overly-long and episodic comedy, based on characters created in What Price Glory, by Maxwell Anderson and Lawrence Stallings. There were four or five different settings around the world, as the film followed the rivalry between the two Marine buddies, played by McLaglen and Lowe. Note that McLaglen was a friendly soccer rival of Lugosi's (Lugosi sponsored the Magyar team and and McLaglen sponsored the Irish team in Hollywood), and Lowe was to appear with Lugosi in five films over the course of twelve years. The sequence in the Mideast where Lugosi appeared as the Prince, ready to castrate any male intruders into his harem, was the funniest part of the film, and showed that Lugosi had a flare for screen comedy. It should be noted that although playing the character in the turban became almost as cliched for him as playing Dracula, he interpreted every such character somewhat differently, and even his appearance differed substantially from one role to another (compare his characterizations in this movie and "Renegades," for example).
• The Black Camel - 1931 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Hamilton MacFadden
  • Screenplay: Barry Connors and Philip Klein
  • Cast:Warner Oland (Charlie Chan), Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi (Tarnevarro), Dorothy Revier, Victor Varconi, Robert Young, Marjorie White, Richard Tucker, J.M. Kerrigan, Mary Gordon, C. Henry Gordon, Violet Dunn, William Post, Dwight Frye, and Murray Kinnell.
  • Comment: Based on one of the novels in the Charlie Chan series by Earl Derr Biggers. Released June 1931. This was the only Charlie Chan movie actually filmed on location in Hawaii. The production values were good, the cast was excellent - this was one of the youthful Robert Young's first movies - and Lugosi looked good as the red herring but ultimately sympathetic Tarnevarro, the crystal gazer.
• Broad-minded - 1931 -
  • First National
  • Director: Mervyn LeRoy
  • Screenplay: Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
  • Cast: Joe E. Brown, Ona Munson, William Collier, Jr, Marjorie White, Holmes Herbert, Margaret Livingston, Bela Lugosi (Pancho), Thelma Todd, Grayce Hampton, and George Grandee.
  • Comment: Released July, 1931. Richard Bojarski commented: "In a startling switch of roles following on the heels of "Dracula", Lugosi was enjoyably funny as a temperamental South American in his encounters with the comedy star, Joe E. Brown. The script united Lugosi with the girl in the end - an unusual occurrence in the course of his career. He hoped the film would convince producers that he could handle similar straight, non-horror roles, but Lugosi would not do another comedy until two years later, in "International House.""
• Murders in the Rue Morgue - 1932 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Robert Florey
  • Screenplay: Tom Reed and Dale Van Every.
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Mirakle), Sidney Fox (Mlle. Camille L'Espanaye), Leon Waycoff [Ames] (Pierre Dupin), Bert Roach (Paul), Brandon Hurst (Prefect of Police), Noble Johnson (Janos, the Black One), D'Arcy Corrigan (Morgue Keeper), Betsy Ross Clarke (Mme. L'Espanaye), Arlene Francis (Woman of the Streets), Herman Bing (Franz Odenheimer), and Charles Gemora (Erik the Ape).
  • Comment: Based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, one of the first true detective stories. Released Feb. 21, 1932. This was Lugosi's consolation prize when he backed out - for whatever reason - of the film "Frankenstein," a move which was acknowledged by everyone including himself to have been the worst career move he ever made, because it paved the way for Boris Karloff, whose career quickly overshadowed Lugosi's. However, at the time this movie was made, Lugosi was still the number one horror star, and this film is a quintessential example of his versatility in characterization, especially the opening twenty minutes, which contains his spellbinding declamation to the carnival crowd on his determination to prove man's "kinship with the ape." This movie also featured the premiere screen appearances of Leon Ames (later Mr. Ed's neighbor in the TV program of the same name) and Arlene Francis.
• White Zombie - 1932 -
  • United Artists
  • Director: Victor Halperin
  • Screenplay: Garnett Weston
  • Cinematography: Arthur Martinelli
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Murder Legendre), Madge Bellamy (Madeline), Joseph Cawthorn (Dr. Bruner), Robert Frazer (Beaumont), John Harron (Neil), Clarence Muse (Coach Driver), Brandon Hurst (Silver), Dan Crimmins (Pierre), Frederick Peters (Chauvin), George Burr MacAnnan (Von Gelder), John Printz (LaTour), Claude Morgan and John Fergusson (Zombies), and Annette Stone and Velma Gresham (Maids).
  • Comment: Released July, 1932. Most sources seem to agree that Lugosi did the starring work in this atmospheric horror classic for under $1000.00. The film was made for less than $100,000, at night on the Universal back lot, in eleven days, using existing sets and actors, most of whom had seen their best days during the silent era. The weakest links are John Harron and Madge Bellamy - though she makes a great zombie - but Lugosi's performance is a mesmerizing study of pure evil. The zombie-master Legendre makes Dracula look like a choir boy. And Robert Frazer's performance as the tragic Beaumont, whose willingness to use any means to gain Madeline for himself makes him ultimately a victim of Legendre's evil, is the linchpin which makes the otherwise far-fetched tale credible. Many critics hail this as Lugosi's finest performance.
• Chandu the Magician - 1932 -
  • Fox
  • Director: Marcel Varnel and William Cameron Menzies
  • Screenplay: Philip Klein and Barry Connors
  • Cast: Edmund Lowe (Frank Chandler - Chandu the Magician), Irene Ware (Princess Nadji), Bela Lugosi (Roxor), Herbert Mundin, Henry B. Walthall, Weldon Heyburn, Virginia Hammond, June Vlasek, and Nestor Aber.
  • Comment: Released in October, 1932, the film was based on the radio program created by Harry A. Earnshaw, Vera M. Oldham, and R.R. Morgan. Bojarski quoted the review in the New York Daily News : "If it hadn't been for Chandu and his Yogi powers, the terrible Roxor would surely have accomplished his dreadful purpose of destroying one half of the world in order that he . . . rule the other half . . . Bela Lugosi, as Roxor, is the very devil of a villain . . . and the sight of him sends shivers up and down one's back." Art direction was by the masterful William Cameron Menzies, who won several Oscars during his lengthy Hollywood career, including a special one for production design on "Gone With the Wind." Frank Dello Stritto has told me that Roxor was the first supervillain whose aim was to conquer the world. Lugosi's creation was one of the best comic-book-style supervillains of all time.
• Island of Lost Souls - 1933 -
  • Paramount
  • Director: Erle C. Kenton
  • Screenplay: Philip Wylie and Waldemar Young
  • Cinematography: Karl Struss
  • Cast: Charles Laughton (Dr. Moreau), Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi (The Sayer of the Law), Kathleen Burke (The Panther Woman), Arthur Hohl, Stanley Fields, Robert Kortman, Tetsu Komai, Hans Steinke, Harry Ekezian, Rosemary Grimes, Paul Hurst, George Irving, and Joe Bonomo. Comment: Release in January, 1933, this film was an adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau." One of the finest horror movies of the early 30's, this film, whose theme was the efforts of a renegade doctor to transform animals into "humans" through vivisection, was a product of the more daring era before the role of the Breen Office in censoring movies was strengthened in 1934. It contains one of the finest mad doctor performances ever in Charles Laughton's creepy characterization of the monomaniacal Dr. Moreau, and many of the scenes still have the power to shock. Lugosi's supporting role, though small, was a key one in the film.
• The Death Kiss - 1933 -
  • World-Wide Pictures
  • Director: Edwin L. Marin
  • Screenplay: Barry Barringer and Gordon Kahn
  • Cast: David Manners, Bela Lugosi (Steiner), Adrienne Ames, John Wray, Vince Barnett, Alexander Carr, Edward Van Sloan, King Baggott, Harold Minjir, Wade Boteler, Barbara Bedford, Al Hill, Mona Maris, and Lee Moran.
  • Comment: Released in January, 1933, this film was based on a novel by Madelon St. Denis. The title and the studio publicity photos are misleading, because this is not a vampire film, but a murder mystery with a Hollywood studio setting. David Manners plays the scenario writer/amateur detective and Lugosi's role is a red herring. The film's reputation has suffered, because of the failure to utilize Lugosi to his full potential while he was still in his prime. It was basically a case of exploitation of his name, with him having minimal screen time and not very much interesting to do. If, however, the film is viewed as a murder mystery featuring a capable performance by the unfairly (in recent years) maligned David Manners in the lead role, it is fairly entertaining and features an interesting look behind the scenes in a movie studio of the time.
• The Whispering Shadow - 1933 -
  • Mascot
  • Director: Al Herman and Colbert Clark
  • Screenplay: George Morgan, Colbert Clark, Wyndham Gittens, Howard Bimberg, Barney Sarecky, and Norman Hall.
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Adam Strang), Viva Tattersall (Vera Strang), Malcolm MacGregor, Henry B. Walthall, Robert Warwick, Roy D'Arcy, Karl Dane, Lloyd Whitlock, Robert Kortman, Lafe McKee, George Lewis, Tom London, Ethel Clayton, Jack Perrin, and Norman Feusier.
  • Comment: Released in February, 1933, this was Lugosi's first serial. It was also his third sojourn in Poverty Row (the nickname that was given to the independent studios. Mascot was a studio which was primarily known for producing serials, which were generally intended for juvenile audiences and never got the respect which was accorded to feature films. Looking at the number of screenwriters reminds me of the line that "a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee." The result in this case was just as much of a mish-mash. Lugosi is okay but doesn't have that much screen time (he was paid, by the way, about three times for this movie what he was paid for "Dracula"); the only other things I can say really positive are that Viva Tattersall, who played his daughter, is truly lovely, while Malcolm MacGregor, as the hero, is a handsome and stalwart hero. There were many far worse actors than these who became big stars in later years. But, overall, the movie feels and looks cheap.
• Hollywood on Parade - 1933 -
  • Paramount
  • Director: Lewis Lewyn
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Mae Questel (Betty Boop), Eddie Borden, Rex Bell, Dorothy Burgess, George Sidney, Charlie Murray, Gayne Whitman, and Marie Prevost.
  • Comment: This was the eighth in a series of twenty-four shorts produced by Paramount in 1932-33, which featured comedian Eddie Borden visiting a wax museum, where the exhibits come alive. Betty Boop is shown singing "My Silent Love." Dracula comes alive and stalks her, bending her over backward with the line, delivered in his inimitable Lugosian style, "Boop! You have Booped your last Boop!" as he attacks. Richard Bojarski commented, "Lugosi recreated his famous role and played it mock-serious with surprisingly funny results....Though his scene lasted barely a minute, Lugosi's appearance in this short made it the best of the series."
• International House - 1933 -
  • Paramount
  • Director: Edward Sutherland
  • Screenplay: Francis Martin and Walter DeLeon
  • Cast: W.C. Fields, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Stuart Erwin, Sari Maritza, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bela Lugosi (General Nicholas Petronovitch), Edmund Breese, Lumsden Hare, Franklin Pangborn, James Wang, Sterling Holloway, Rudy Vallee, Colonel Stoopnagle and Budd, Baby Rose Marie, and Cab Calloway and his orchestra.
  • Comment: Released in May, 1933, the screenplay was based on a story by Neil Brant and Louis Heifitz. Lugosi played the jealous ex-husband of much-married Peggy Hopkins Joyce. It was a zany and episodic comedy, consisting essentially of a series of sketches strung together with a thin plot, which involved the representatives of a number of countries gathering in Wu Hu, China, to bid on a newly developed television, which was supposed to be able to pick up the six day bicycle races in New York. Lugosi again demonstrated his flair for straight comedy, essentially playing a caricature of himself, and, by the way, he looked absolutely gorgeous in this film.
• Night of Terror - 1933 -
  • Columbia
  • Director: Benjamin Stoloff
  • Screenplay: Beatrice Van and William Jacobs
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Degar), Sally Blane, Wallace Ford, George Meeker, Tully Marshall, Edwin Maxwell, Bryant Washburn, Gertrude Michael, Mary Frey, and Matt McHugh.
  • Comment: Columbia and Universal were apparently considered the least of the majors at this point in Hollywood's history, but for my money the Columbia pictures of the 30's generally look a lot cheaper than the Universal films. This one has "programmer" written all over it. Lugosi wears a turban again. It has been noted that he brings a good deal of dignity to the role of Degar, the Hindu, but essentially he's a red herring again in a not-very-good mystery. Wallace Ford is a stand-out in this, his first of three movies with Lugosi.
• The Devil's in Love - 1933 -
  • Fox
  • Director: William Dieterle
  • Screenplay: Howard Estabrook
  • Cast: Victor Jory, Loretta Young, Vivienne Osborne, David Manners, C. Henry Gordon, Herbert Mundin, J. Carroll Naish, Emile Chautard, Robert Barrat, Akim Tamiroff, Dewey Robinson, and John Davidson.
  • Comment: Release in July, 1933, it was based on a story by Harry Hervey. Lugosi had an unbilled part as the Military Prosecutor at Victor Jory's court martial in this French Foreign Legion flick. His scene is actually fairly lengthy, and he is quite convincing in the role, but the movie as a whole seems overly long and talky.
• The Black Cat - 1934 -
  • Universal
  • Director:Edgar Ulmer
  • Screenplay: Peter Ruric
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Vitus Werdegast), Boris Karloff (Hjalmar Poelzig), David Manners (Peter Allison), Jacqueline Wells (Joan Allison), Lucille Lund (Karen Poelzig), Harry Cording (Thamal), Egon Brecher (The Majordomo), Anna Duncan (Maid), Albert Conti (The Lieutenant), Henry Armetta (The Sergeant), George Davis (Bus Driver), Paul Weigel (Station Master), Herman Bing (Maitre d'Hotel - cut from final print), Luis Alberni (Train Steward), Michael Mark , King Baggott, Paul Panzer, Virginia Ainsworth, Peggy Terry, Lois January, John George, Duskal Blane, and John Carradine (Cultists).
  • Comment: Released May 7, 1934, it was loosely inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe story, but really owes more to the story of Satanist Aleister Crowley. Lugosi plays a sympathetic part, emotionally kin to his "Dr. Gutman" in "Such Men Are Dangerous." This is one of my all- time favorite Lugosi movies: he looks and sounds elegant, and he has a chance to play a character who displays a wide range of emotions, from light-hearted banter, to tortured loss, to over-the-top insanity. His character is a romantic and tragic one, and the depth of the characterization has seldom been sufficiently recognized. The production values are especially impressive, considering the film was shot almost on a shoestring. The film has been called the sickest of the 30's, but the sick elements are rather subtly implied for the most part, and the film provides a worthy venue for the first pairing of Lugosi with Boris Karloff.
• The Gift of Gab - 1934 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Karl Freund
  • Screenplay: Rian James
  • Cast: An all-star cast, including Bela Lugosi (The Apache), Boris Karloff (The Phantom), Edmund Lowe, Gloria Stuart, Ruth Etting, Phil Baker, Ethel Waters, Alice White, Alexander Woolcott, Victor Moore, Hugh O'Connell, Helen Vinson, Gene Austin, Tom Hanlon, Henry Armetta, Andy Devine, Wini Shaw, Sterling Holloway, Edwin Maxwell, James Flavin, Douglas Fowley, Chester Morris, Roger Pryor, Douglas Montgomery, Graham McNamee, Paul Lukas, Binnie Barnes, June Knight, Beale Street Boys, and The Downey Sisters.
  • Comment: Released in September, 1934, based on a story by Jerry Wald and Philip G. Epstein. Seemingly lost, although it would seem there should be a copy in the Library of Congress or the Eastman House. Edmund Lowe and Gloria Stuart were the leads in a thin plot which served as an excuse to string together a series of gags, musical numbers, and comedy scenes. Lugosi, according to Bojarski, had little to do, except to stand in a closet, holding a gun and ask, "What time is it?" Horror film buffs are quite interested in this film, simply because it is the only lost film featuring both Karloff and Lugosi.
• The Return of Chandu - 1934 -
  • Principal
  • Director: Ray Taylor
  • Screenplay: Barry Barringer
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Frank Chandler/Chandu the Magician), Maria Alba (Princess Nadji), Clara Kimball Young, Lucien Prival, Phyllis Ludwig, Dean Benton, Bryant Washburn, Peggy Montgomery, Wilfred Lucas, Cyril Armbrister, Elias Lazaroff, Dick Botiller, Murdock McQuarrie, Jack Clark, and Joseph Swickard.
  • Comment: Released in October, 1934, based on the radio serial by Harry M. Earnshaw, Vera M. Oldham, and R.R. Morgan. Lugosi got to play the mysterious and romantic Chandu the Magician in this serial, rescuing the lovely Princess Nadji and winning her love at the same time. Lugosi and Alba were both improvements over Lowe and Ware, who had acted in the original, but the movie suffers from poor scripting and production values. But it gains in interest by virtue of casting Lugosi as a romantic hero, which he plays intriguingly and convincingly.
• The Best Man Wins - 1935 -
  • Columbia
  • Director: Erle C. Kenton
  • Screenplay: Ethel Hill and Bruce Manning
  • Cast: Edmund Lowe, Jack Holt, Bela Lugosi (Dr. Boehm), Florence Rice, Forrester Harvey, J. Farrell MacDonald, Bradley Page, Mitchell Lewis, Esther Howard, Selmer Jackson, Frank Sheridan, and Oscar Apfel.
  • Comment: Released in January, 1935. This movie featured Lugosi as a straight villain in a story of the rivalry between two hard-hat salvage divers. Edmund Lowe becomes a tool of Lugosi, who is smuggling gems into the harbor. He conveniently dies at the end of the film, thus allowing hero Jack Holt to get the girl. Lugosi's part was pretty much a stock villain role, its most unusual feature being the fact that it allowed him to affect a German accent. Not readily available on video.
• The Mysterious Mr. Wong -1935 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: William Nigh
  • Screenplay: Nina Howatt
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Mr. Wong), Wallace Ford, Arline Judge, Fred Warren, Lotus Long, Robert Emmet O'Connor, Edward Peil, Luke Chan, and Lee Shumway.
  • Comment: Released in March, 1935, the film was based on "The Twelve Coins of Confucius," by Harry Stephen Keeler. This was Lugosi's first of two tries at a Chinese character. At least he was better than Karloff in "The Mask of Fu Manchu"! The movie is not particularly well written - the movie is full of deus ex machina plot devices, obvioiusly pulled out when the writers couldn't figure out any other way to move the plot on. It is a fun junky movie, though, and it is obvious that Lugosi is playing this arch-villain for all he is worth and having a ball with it.
• Mark of the Vampire - 1935 -
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Director: Tod Browning
  • Screenplay: Guy Endore and Bernard Schubert
  • Cast: Lionel Barrymore (Professor Zelen), Elizabeth Allen, Bela Lugosi (Count Mora), Carroll Borland (Luna), Lionel Atwill, Jean Hersholt, Henry Wadsworth, Donald Meek, Jessie Ralph, Ivan Simpson, Holmes Herbert, and Michael Visaroff.
  • Comment: Released in May, 1935. Was this Tod Browning's homage to himself, or simply a sign that he had run out of ideas, because it appears that this film was an amalgam of the plot of "London After Midnight" combined with the casting, "special effects," and even many of the lines from "Dracula." Lugosi and Borland were surprisingly effective as the "vampires," even though they had no dialogue till the end of the film. Lugosi did his own make-up (except for the bullet hole in his temple) and designed his costume for the role. He was successful enough that in the New York area he was given billing above Lionel Barrymore.
• The Raven - 1935 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Louis Friedlander (later Lew Landers)
  • Screenplay: David Boehm
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Richard Vollin), Boris Karloff (Edmund Bateman), Irene Ware (Jean Thatcher), Lester Matthews (Dr. Jerry Halden), Samuel Hinds (Judge Thatcher), Inez Courtney (Mary Burns), Ian Wolfe (George "Pinky" Burns), Spencer Charters (Colonel Bertram Grant), Maidel Turner (Harriet Grant), Arthur Hoyt (Chapman), and Walter Miller (Dr. Hemingway), Cyril Thornton (Servant), Nina Golden (the Dancer), Raine Bennett (Poe).
  • Comment: Released July, 1935, the movie was inspired by Poe's poem of the same name. This is another Lugosi role which many of his fans consider one of his finest. Bojarski considered it Lugosi's definitive interpretation of the mad scientist,"...not merely a crazed scientist, but an egocentric individual whose fascination with Poe and torture concealed a strong streak of sensitivity." Cremer put it succinctly when he said that the film "...pulled all the stops on Lugosi's barnstorming theatrical style and ranks as the finest soapbox for Lugosi's flamboyant style."
• Murder by Television - 1935 -
  • Imperial-Cameo
  • Director: Clifford Sanforth
  • Screenplay: Joseph O'Donnell
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Arthur Perry), June Collyer, Huntley Gordon, George Meeker, Henry Mowbray, Charles Hill Mailes, Claire McDowell, Hattie McDaniel, Allan Jung, Charles K. French, and Henry Hall.
  • Comment: Released in October, 1935. This film was a straight murder mystery centered around the development of television. Not particularly well written and the production values are not the best. Lugosi's dual performance as good and bad twins has been criticized as not being convincing, but he does the best he can in a quickie which does not give him the opportunity to differentiate the characters. Originally titled "The Houghland Murder Case," according to Bojarski, it received only limited bookings and was overlooked by most trade reviewers.

• Mystery of the Mary Celeste (U.S. - "The Phantom Ship") - 1935 -
  • Hammer
  • Director: Denison Clift
  • Screenplay: Charles Lackworthy
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Anton Lorenzen/Gottlieb), Shirley Grey, Arthur Margetson, Edmund Willard, George Mozart, Ben Welden, Dennis Hoey, Gibson Gowland, Clifford McLaglen, Terence de Marney, Herbert Cameron, and Ben Soutten.
  • Comment: Released in November, 1935, this film was based on the real life mystery of an American ship found floating near Gibraltar in the 1870's without a soul on board and no sign of violence. The film provides a speculative explanation for what might have happened during the voyage. Lugosi convincingly portrays the role of the battered and abused seaman. Bojarski incorrectly says that this was "the closest thing to a sympathetic part in a straight film that Lugosi had ever played." He notes that the film was criticized because British actors portrayed the American crew, but this is really narrow-minded, as Americans portray foreigners constantly and don't expect criticism for doing so. The supporting cast is excellent and the portrayal of life at sea is quite convincing.

• The Invisible Ray - 1936 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Lambert Hillyer
  • Screenplay: John Colton
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Felix Benet), Boris Karloff (Janos Rukh), Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Violet Kemble Cooper, Nydia Westman, Daniel Haines, George Renavent, Frank Reicher, Inez Seabury, and Walter Miller.
  • Comment: Released in January, 1936, the film was based on a story by Howard Higgin and Douglas Hodges. Lugosi again plays a sympathetic part as the humanitarian Dr. Benet, and Karloff proves he can overact as the visionary scientist whose discovery results in his becoming radioactive, and he literally glows in the dark. Increasing madness leads him to wreak vengence for imagined wrongs on the other cast members in this early science fiction movie. An excellent supporting cast, especially Frances Drake, who is undoubtedly one of the loveliest ladies in horror films, convincing special effects, and solid production values make this one of the best of the "Universal horrors."
• Postal Inspector - 1936 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Otto Brower
  • Screenplay: Horace McCoy
  • Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Patricia Ellis, Bela Lugosi (Benez), Michael Loring, David Oliver, Wallis Clark, Arthur Loft, Guy Usher, William Hall, Spencer Charters, and Hattie McDaniel.
  • Comment: Released in August, 1936, the film was based on a story by Robert Presnell and Horace McCoy. An uproar against horror films resulted in a virtual ban on them in Britain and Charles Rogers took over management of Universal Studios, Lugosi was assigned a supporting role in this straight drama as a sleazy nightclub owner whose financial problems lead him to attempt a big heist from the Postal Service. Cortez (equally sleazy, it seems to me) as the hero foils him. This is basically a film with not much redeeming value, except the opening scenes, which give Lugosi a brief chance to display his flair in a straight role before the character descends into a stock villain role.
• Shadow of Chinatown - 1936 -
  • Victory
  • Director: Bob Hill
  • Screenplay: Isadore Bernstein and Basil Dickey
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Victor Poten), Joan Barclay, Herman Brix [later Bruce Bennett], Luana Walters, Maurice Liu, William Buchanan, Forrest Taylor, Charles King, James B. Leong, Henry F. Tung, Paul Fung, and George Chan.
  • Comment:Released in 1936. This serial, for my money, is Lugosi's worst film of the 30's and is right up there in the running in the vigorous competition for worst movie he ever made, along with "Plan 9..." and "Scared to Death." Produced by "Jungle" Sam Katzman, "celebrated Hollywood tightwad," the total effect of the poor production values and scripting is to make "The Whispering Shadow" look like a really high-quality production. Lugosi plays Eurasian Victor Poten who wishes to destroy both the Oriental and Caucasian races. Lugosi's performance - and Luana Walters' luscious appearance (unfortunately not coupled with acting ability - are the only saving graces in this film, which does, however, allow him to showcase a number of interesting make-ups, as the villain disguises himself to elude capture. Otherwise, boring, repetitive, cheap-looking, and dull.
• SOS Coastguard - 1937 -
  • Republic
  • Directors: William Witney and Alan James
  • Screenplay: Barry Shipman and Franklyn Adreon
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Boroff), Ralph Byrd, Maxine Doyle, Herbert Rawlinson, Richard Alexander, Lee Ford, John Piccori, Lawrence Grant, Thomas Carr, Carleton Young, Allen Connor, and George Chesebro.
  • Comment: Released August, 1937. This was a quality serial production by "MGM of Poverty Row." Republic knew how to make action pictures, and the fairly tight scripting and good production values make this an enjoyable movie for the whole family, which still holds up well. Lugosi's role is that of an unscrupulous inventor, who, episode after episode, is foiled in his attempts to sell his lethal disintegrating gas to a fictitious foreign power. Ralph Byrd later played Dick Tracy in the 40's serials. Later edited into a feature film which was released in April, 1942.
• Son of Frankenstein - 1939 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Rowland V. Lee
  • Screenplay: Willis Cooper
  • Cast: Basil Rathbone (Wolf von Frankenstein), Boris Karloff (the Monster), Bela Lugosi (Igor), Lionel Atwill (Inspector Krogh), Josephine Hutchinson (Elsa von Frankenstein), Edgar Norton (Thomas Benson), Donnie Dunagan (Peter von Frankenstein), Emma Dunn (Amelia), Perry Ivins (Fritz), Lawrence Grant (the Burgomaster), Michael Mark (Ewald Neumuller), Lionel Belmore (Emil Lang), Gustav von Seyffertitz, Lorimer Johnson, Tom Ricketts (Burghers),Caroline Cooke (Frau Neumuller), Clarence Wilson (Dr. Berger), Ward Bond, Harry Cording (Gendarmes at Gate), Bud Wolfe (double for Karloff), Betty Chay, Jack Harris.
  • Comment: Released in January, 1939, and based on the character created by Mary Shelley. The horror ban had lasted almost two years, and Lugosi had been unemployed for almost a year and a half when this film began production. Lugosi had been badly humbled, having had to ask for assistance to cover the birth of his son and having lost his grand home on Outpost Drive to foreclosure. His part was originally to be that of the Inspector; the part of Igor does not appear in the script, along with many other features of the final film, which were improvised on the set. Lillian Lugosi credited Rowland Lee with this generosity toward Lugosi, as Universal had wanted his scenes completed in one week and offered him $500.00. Lee vowed he would keep Lugosi on for the entire shoot, and many delightful small bits were included in the final film, which make his hunchbacked Igor with the bad dental work and raspy voice one of the most enjoyable characters in his film career. Again, this is one of those roles that Lugosi aficionados consider to be one of his best, while Karloff's monster looked weak by comparison. Lionel Atwill's Inspector Krogh is another highlight of the film, but top-billed Rathbone plays Wolf on a rather hysterical note almost throughout.
• The Gorilla - 1939 -
  • 20th Century-Fox
  • Director: Allan Dwan
  • Screenplay: Rian James and Sid Silvers
  • Cast: The Ritz Brothers, Bela Lugosi, Anita Louise, Patsy Kelly, Lionel Atwill, Joseph Calleia, Edward Norris, Wally Vernon,Paul Harvey, and Art Miles.
  • Comment: Released in May, 1939, this film was based on a play of the same name. Lugosi was a last minute replacement for Peter Lorre as Peters, the butler. This was a variation on the generic "old dark house" thriller, with Lionel Atwill as the owner of the house whose life is being threatened by the serial killer known only as "The Gorilla." The plot is almost indistinguishable from that of "The Bat," as well as Lugosi's earlier vehicle, "Night of Terror," with the addition of the almost insufferable Ritz Brothers as a trio of incompetent gumshoes. Lugosi is pretty much of a red herring in this film, but it does give him the opportunity of solving the crime and apprehending the true killer at the climax. Lionel Atwill is wasted, as he spends most of the film bound and gagged in a secret passageway.
• The Phantom Creeps - 1939 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind
  • Screenplay: George Plympton, Basil Dickey, and Mildred Barish
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Alex Zorka), Robert Kent, Regis Toomey, Dorothy Arnold, Edward Van Sloan, Eddie Acuff, Anthony Averill, Edwin Stanley, Jack C. Smith, Roy Barcroft, Forrest Taylor, Karl Hackett, Robert Blair, Jerry Frank, Dora Clement, Hugh Huntley, and Charles King.
  • Comment: Released in August, 1939, this serial was based on a story by Willis Cooper. This was Lugosi's last serial and in it he played scientist on the verge, who is finally driven to madness by having inadvertantly caused the death of his wife. The emotional highlight occurs at the beginning, when he discovers his wife's body, dissolves instantaneously into grief, and then just as suddenly has to compose himself in order to conceal his identity. Otherwise, a pretty typical exercise in juvenile serial fare, with Lugosi using a giant robot, mechanical spider exploding device, and a "devisualizer belt" in an attempt to conquer the world. Bojarski notes, "Lugosi's obvious enjoyment in plotting mass destruction for his enemies is so contagious we find ourselves rooting for him." (Not for the first, or the last, time, I might add.)
• Ninotchka - 1939 -
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Director: Ernst Lubitsch
  • Screenplay: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and Walter Reisch
  • Cast: Greta Garbo (Ninotchka), Melvyn Douglas (Count Dalgo), Ina Claire (Grand Duchess Svana), Bela Lugosi (Comrade Razinin), Sig Rumann, Felix Bressart, and Alexander Granach (Iranov, Bulyanov, and Kapalsky), Gregory Gaye, Rolfe Sedan, Edwin Maxwell, Frank Reicher, and Peggy Moran.
  • Comment: Released in October, 1939, based on a story by Menyhert Lengyel. This is the only film of Lugosi's which was nominated for best picture - in 1939, the year "Gone With the Wind" won. The film is still hilarious, despite being dated, and was famous at the time for the advertising catch-phrase "Garbo laughs". Lugosi, though billed fourth, had only one scene, and unfortunately, because the part was essentially a straight depiction of a Communist functionary, Lugosi really did not have a chance to display his flair for comedy (although he did get to play against Greta Garbo).

• The Dark Eyes of London (U.S. - The Human Monster) - 1939 -
  • Pathe Films Ltd.
  • Director: Walter Summers
  • Screenplay: Patrick Kirwin, Walter Summers, and John Argyle
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Orloff/Mr. Dearborn), Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt, Edmond Ryan, Wilfred Walter, Alexander Field, Arthur E. Owen, Julie Suedo, Gerald Pring, Bryan Herbert, May Haliatt, and Charles Penrose.
  • Comment: Released in November, 1939, based on a story by Edgar Wallace. A well-constructed horror film which still can shock. Lugosi plays an unscrupulous doctor who runs an insurance scam, using a deformed blind man to kill people so he can collect the insurance. He also masquerades throughout the film as the kindly director of the house for the blind. His performance was effectively underplayed, his characterization totally convincing, and was made even more so by the fact that his voice was dubbed perfectly by British actor O.B. Clarence. This film was released in the U.S. by Monogram.

• The Saint's Double Trouble - 1940 -
  • RKO
  • Director: Jack Hively
  • Screenplay: Ben Holmes
  • Cast: George Sanders (Simon Templar/The Boss), Helene Whitney, Jonathan Hale, Bela Lugosi (the Partner), Donald MacBride, John F. Hamilton, Thomas W. Ross, Elliot Sullivan, Walter Miller, and Ralph Dunn.
  • Comment: Released in February, 1940, based on the mystery novels by Leslie Charteris. Lugosi was trying to break out of the horror mold by accepting parts such as this one, but Bojarski indicates it was a futile effort, because his part was not very noticeable. In addition, this was one of the least of the Saint movies. It is fun, though, to hear Lugosi say, "Can you play "Home, Sweet Home"?" The trick photography which enabled Sanders to play a dual role was very effective.
• Black Friday - 1940 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Arthur Lubin
  • Screenplay: Curt Siodmak and Eric Taylor
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Eric Marnay), Boris Karloff (Dr. Sovak), Stanley Ridges (Dr. Kingsley/Red Cannon), Anne Nagel, Anne Gwynne, Virginia Brissac, Edmund MacDonald, Paul Fix, Murray Alper, Ray Bailey, Jack Mulhall, Joe King, and John Kelly.
  • Comment: Released in March 1940. The story is famous now that Boris was originally cast as Kingsley, but he or someone else felt he couldn't handle the dual role, so he managed to slip into the Sovak role, originally intended for Lugosi. Sovak was supposed to be a refugee from the Nazis, but they left this angle virtually unexplored. Lugosi was persuaded to take the part of the gangster Marnay, according to Bill Obbagy, because he wanted a chance to play something other than his usual mad scientist characterization. The result has been described as a "fascinating misfire," in which the two stars didn't even have one scene together, and Lugosi had only about eight minutes of total screen time. This movie is remembered chiefly now, because of a publicity stunt in which Lugosi, who was supposed to suffocate to death in a closet, was hypnotized by Manley P. Hall. The debate still goes on as to whether Lugosi was really hypnotized or not. In addition, the film marks Lugosi and Karloff's last appearance together in a Universal film.
• You'll Find Out - 1940 -
  • RKO
  • Director: David Butler
  • Screenplay: James V. Kern
  • Cast: Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi (Prince Saliano),Boris Karloff (Judge Mainwearing), Helen Parrish, Dennis O'Keefe, Alma Kruger, Joseph Eggenton, Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Ish Kabibble, Louise Currie, and Sully Mason.
  • Comment: Kay Kyser and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge was a popular swing band of the time, which was featured in a weekly radio program. This is the only film in which the three famous "horror men" appeared together. It is basically a musical comedy "old dark house" movie involving a plot by the three villains to do in a beautiful young heiress, laced with passable melodies by Kyser and his crew. Personally, I quite enjoyed Ish Kabibble (whose name in Yiddish means something like "What, me worry?") and his dog Prince, who sported the same hair-do as Ish. Lugosi was the most effectively menacing of the three villains.
• The Devil Bat - 1941 -
  • PRC
  • Director: Jean Yarbrough
  • Screenplay: John Thomas Neville
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Paul Carruthers), Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Guy Usher, Yolande Mallott, Donald Kerr, Edward Mortimer, Gene O'Donnell, Alan Baldwin, John Ellis, Arthur Q. Bryan, Hal Price, John Davidson, and Wally Rairdon.
  • Comment: Released in January, 1941, it was based on a story by George Bricker. Despite the fact that Lugosi had by now made a number of forays into Poverty Row, in the 60's I felt that this film marked the real decline of his movie career. From here on, he generally played starring parts in Poverty Row productions and supporting parts in major studio films. I also found this film marked a sad decline in the career of the actor whom I had idolized as the suave and elegant Count Dracula and Vitus Werdegast. Seeing it again several times in the last year or so, however, made me aware of how much fun it really is. Lugosi plays kindly Dr. Paul Carruthers, beloved by all of Heathville, who secretly seathes with bitterness, because he sold his cold cream formula to the Heath family for a pittance, with the result that they all became millionaires at his expense. So, in his secret laboratory he develops a race of giant bats, trained to attack and kill when they detect his new shaving lotion. PRC was considered the lowliest of the Poverty Row studios, but everyone seems to enjoy this cheapie. It's funny how wholesome in the old days a movie about a serial killer could be.
• The Black Cat - 1941 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Albert S. Rogell
  • Screenplay: Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo, Eric Taylor, and Robert Neville
  • Cast: Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Bela Lugosi (Eduardo, the Keeper of the Cats), Gale Sondergaard, Anne Gwynne, Gladys Cooper, Cecilia Loftus, Claire Dodd, John Eldredge, and Alan Ladd.
  • Comment: Released in April, 1941, supposedly based on the Edgar Allan Poe story. Lo, how the mighty have fallen! In this feeble "old dark house" thriller, "Lugosi's meager dialogue was limited and most of his brief footage was restricted to peering sinisterly through windows," as Bojarski commented. The only feature of interest that I can think of is provided by the presence of the slinkily sinister Gale Sondergaard, in her only film with Bela. And even she doesn't have a whole lot to do.
• The Invisible Ghost - 1941 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: Joseph H. Lewis
  • Screenplay: Al and Helen Martin
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Charles Kessler), Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse, Terry Walker, Betty Compson, Ernie Adams, George Pembroke, Fred Kelsey, and Jack Mulhall.
  • Comment: Released in May, 1941. Lugosi signed a nine-picture contract with Banner Pictures, described in Filmfax Magazine as a "B studio's B production unit." It was headed by "Jungle" Sam Katzman, for whom he had made "Shadow of Chinatown." It has been said that this marked an auspicious beginning. However, there is nothing invisible and there is no ghost, a bad sign. Lugosi plays kindly Dr. Kessler, who goes into a homicidal trance whenever his dotty wife (who was supposed to have been killed in a car accident) shows up. Of course, she is never seen by anyone else in the household. Yes, it is a lot of fun - any movie where Lugosi has a large part seems to guarantee a good deal of enjoyment - and both Clarence Muse and Polly Ann Young are credible screen presences. But, I am not so sure this movie is all that great. It just looks good in comparison to most of the other Monogram pictures Lugosi made.
• Spooks Run Wild - 1941 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: Phil Rosen
  • Screenplay: Carl Foreman and Charles Marion
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi ("The Monster"), Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, David Gorcey, Sammy Morrison, Donald Haines, Dave O'Brien, Dorothy Short, Dennis Moore, Rosemary Portia, Guy Wilkerson, Angelo Rossitto, Joe Kirk and Jack Carr.
  • Comment: Released in November of 1941, this is one of the least of Lugosi's Monogram efforts, although interesting in that it pairs Lugosi with Angelo Rossitto, a dwarf, for the first time, and Lugosi is a red herring and in fact turns out to be a nice guy after all. An "old dark house" type movie, it features a seemingly interminable series of mishaps by the East Side Kids in secret rooms, passageways, trapdoors, etc. The movie plays up Lugosi's Dracula image and he looks pretty good in his tux, cape and black Homburg.
• The Wolf Man - 1941 -
  • Universal
  • Director: George Waggner
  • Screenplay: Curt Siodmak
  • Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (Lawrence Talbot), Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Bela Lugosi (Bela the Gypsy), Patric Knowles, Maria Ouspenskaya, Evelyn Ankers, Fay Helm, Forrester Harvey, J.M. Kerrigan, Doris Lloyd, Harry Stubbs, Harry Cording, and Kurt Katch.
  • Comment: Released in December, 1941, the Wolfman is known as the last of the Universal classic monsters. Curt Siodmak, who seems to have become quite bitter in later years, referred to Lugosi as a "pest," who kept after him for some of the "meaty parts." For example, he wanted to play the part of the Wolfman. Instead, he got the tiny part of Bela, the Gypsy, the lycanthrope who infects Larry Talbot. Most memorable in these movies for my money is marvelous character actress, Maria Ouspenskaya, as Maleva, Bela's mother. And, of course, Claude Rains was always dependable, though his part here is a bit dull.
• The Ghost of Frankenstein - 1942 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Erle C. Kenton
  • Screenplay: W. Scott Darling
  • Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (the Monster), Sir Cedric Hardwicke (Ludwig von Frankenstein), Ralph Bellamy, Bela Lugosi (Igor), Lionel Atwill (Dr. Boehmer), Evelyn Ankers, Janet Ann Gallow, Barton Yarborough, Doris Lloyd, Leyland Hodgson, Olaf Hytten, Holmes Herbert, Harry Cording, Michael Mark, Dwight Frye, Lionel Belmore, and Lawrence Grant.
  • Comment: Released in April, 1942. Based on the character created by Mary Shelley. Lon Chaney, Jr.'s only attempt at essaying the role of the Frankenstein's Monster, he was effective at conveying the sense of brute strength of the Monster, but did not bring that sense of pathos to the role that was Karloff's greatest strength. Many commentators have noted that this film gives Lugosi as Igor even more screen time than "Son of Frankenstein," but for my money, this film was obviously intended almost purely as an exploitation film. The plot seems perfunctorily thrown together, a mish-mash, and for some inexplicable reason they have cleaned Igor up, so he doesn't give the impression of the scoundrelly curmudgeon as effectively as he did in "Son of . . ." Very few memorable moments in this one.
• Black Dragons - 1942 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: William Nigh
  • Screenplay: Harvey Gates
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (M. Colomb/Dr. Melcher), Joan Barclay, Clayton Moore, George Pembroke, Robert Frazer, Stanford Jolley, Max Hoffman, Jr., Irving Mitchell, Edward Peil, Sr., Robert Fiske, Joseph Eggenton, Kenneth Harlan, and Bernard Gorcey.
  • Comment: Released in April, 1942. Described in Filmfax Magazine as "a minor milestone in the history of incoherent cinema," this film is one of those exemplars of why Lugosi has developed a devoted cult following in recent years. The film makes almost no sense on any plane at all, except that the cast is for the most part quite competent and therefore they do the best they can with the ridiculous screenplay. It features such unique elements as a pair of car headlights being flashed on and off to simulate a following vehicle, Lugosi and his intended victims disappearing mysteriously and inexplicably from the back of taxicabs, the bodies of the victims mysteriously and inexplicably popping up on the steps of the Japanese Embassy without anyone seeing anything, six Japanese fifth columnists plotting (and executing!) acts of sabotage during the course of one dinner, and Lugosi mysteriously and inexplicably being able to perform plastic surgery on himself in a prison cell in order to effect his escape! It also features some of the most mind-boggling lines ever to be immortalized on the silver screen, and Lugosi deserved an Oscar just for being able to say some of them with a straight face. Well, at least it is a lot of fun, and the mayhem doesn't stop from first reel to last.
• The Corpse Vanishes - 1942 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: Wallace Fox
  • Screenplay: Harvey Gates, Sam Robins, and Gerald Schnitzer
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Lorenz), Luana Walters, Tristram Coffin, Elizabeth Russell, Minerva Urecal, Kenneth Harlan, Vince Barnett, Joan Barclay, Frank Moran, Angelo Rossitto, Gwen Kenyon, George Eldredge, and Gladys Faye.
  • Comment: Released in May, 1942. Here is another prime example of Monogram filmic nonsense. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it is a lot of fun and features a fine supporting cast, including little Angelo and Minerva Urecal (later TV's "Tugboat Annie"). Lugosi plays a reclusive doctor who drugs brides at their weddings with drugged orchids. He then picks up the "corpses" and scoots them up to his secluded mansion, keeping them in a semi-comatose state so he can inject his aging hag of a wife (Elizabeth Russell as a real bitch!) with their vital bodily fluids to keep her youthful beauty intact. Somehow when he is finally foiled and he and his henchmen manage to kill each other off in a strange but morally satisfying denouement, the brides revive with seemingly no ill effects. Enjoy!
• Bowery at Midnight - 1942 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: Wallace Fox
  • Screenplay: Gerald Schnitzer
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Professor Brenner/Karl Wagner), John Archer, Wanda McKay, Tom Neal, Dave O'Brien, Vince Barnett, John Berkes, Ray Miller, J. Farrell MacDonald, Lew Kelly, Lucille Vance, Anna Hope, George Eldredge.
  • Comment: Released in October, 1942. This movie should have included a credit indicating it was borrowed from "Dark Eyes of London, because the debt to that movie is obvious. Lugosi plays a dual role, that of a kindly college professor (complete with pince nez) by day and a kindly manager of a Bowery soup kitchen by night who is actually the leader of a gang of vicious criminals. This is one of the most popular of Lugosi's Monogram efforts, it contains a fair amount of gritty realism for a Monogram picture, and a few shocking scenes - although it is lacking in horror elements, with the exception of the zombified remnants of Lugosi's victims who live in the sub-basement of the Mission. As per usual, a large quota of improbable and unexplained elements, such as how the drug-addicted ex-doctor who sweeps up the joint is capable of reviving these guys from the dead. But, of course, they are necessary to give the film the suitably horrific climax when Lugosi gets his. More fun!
• Night Monster - 1942 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Ford Beebe
  • Screenplay: Clarence Upson Young
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Rolf), Lionel Atwill, Irene Hervey, Ralph Morgan, Don Porter, Nils Asther, Leif Erikson, Fay Helm, Frank Reicher, Doris Lloyd, Francis Pierlot, Robert Homans, Janet Shaw, Eddy Waller, and Cyril Delevanti.
  • Comment: Released in November of 1942. The down-side - Lugosi and Atwill are wasted in roles which do not take advantage of their talents. Atwill is killed off early, and we do not even find out whether Lugosi's character survives the inferno at the end. The up-side - the film is capably directed by Beebe, who directed "The Phantom Creeps," and the film is taut, eerie and suspenseful. Many critics agree that this is one of the finest and most underrated horror movies of the 40's. Well worth a look-see.
• Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man - 1943 -
  • Universal
  • Director: Roy William Neill
  • Screenplay: Curt Siodmak
  • Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (Lawrence Talbot), Bela Lugosi (The Monster), Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Maria Ouspenskaya, Dennis Hoey, Don Barclay, Rex Evans, Dwight Frye, Harry Stubbs, Adia Kuznetzoff, Jeff Corey, Torben Meyer, and Doris Lloyd.
  • Comment: Released in March of 1943. Based on the character created by Mary Shelley. This is a hard film for a Lugosi fan to review, because it contains one of the most disappointing portrayals in his body of work - that of the Frankenstein Monster, which he had originally walked away from in 1931. Unfortunately, as the film was edited (butchered might be a better word) after filming, it is difficult to judge the quality of his performance. Originally, he could talk (in Igor's voice - because Igor's brain had been transplanted into the Monster's body at the end of "Ghost of . . ."), and he was blind. The powers-that-be at Universal, in their infinite wisdom, decided his Hungarian accent sounded funny coming out of the Monster's mouth and chopped all the scenes of him talking. Also deleted were references to his blindness, which left audiences wondering why he stumbled around so. Like, "Night Monster," however, this is a surprisingly effective horror film, containing marvelous performances by almost all the other stars and great atmosphere. As a result, it is regarded as one of the best of the "monster rally" films, so-called because Universal started to feature multiple monsters in its forties horror films, starting with this one and climaxing in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."
• The Ape Man - 1943 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: William Beaudine
  • Screenplay: Barney Sarecky
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. James Brewster), Wallace Ford, Louise Currie, Minerva Urecal, Henry Hall, Ralph Littlefield, J. Farrell MacDonald, George Kirby, Wheeler Oakman, Charles Hall and Emil Van Horn.
  • Comment: Released in March of 1943. When I was a teenager, not having been exposed to the Ed Wood movies or "Scared to Death," I regarded this as the ultimate embarrassment for my idol, Lugosi. Here he was, shambling about in ape make-up and even sharing a cage with a (fake) gorilla. Oh, the ignominy of it all! The script is ridiculous, as you would expect (it's Monogram, after all), but the cast is fine and features again dependable Wallace Ford and Minerva Urecal and Louise Currie, Monogram's loveliest and most intelligent leading lady. There are a few enjoyably fun moments, but not as much inspired lunacy as in most of Lugosi's other Monograms.
• Ghosts on the Loose - 1943 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: William Beaudine
  • Screenplay: Kenneth Higgins
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Emil), Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Ava Gardner, Rick Vallin, Minerva Urecal, Wheeler Oakman, David Gorcey, Stanley Clements, Billy Benedict, Sammy Morrison, Bobby Stone, and Frank Moran.
  • Comment: Released in June, 1943. Probably regarded by most Lugosi' aficinados (as in the survey by Tom Weaver in Poverty Row Horrors , published by McFarland) as just about the least of his Monogram efforts, mainly due to the fact that he is given relatively little to do, playing the leader of a gang of Nazi spies, and the movie is just plain dull in any case.Fortunately, there are better (realizing that term is relative) ones to come.
• The Return of the Vampire - 1944 -
  • Columbia
  • Director: Lew Landers (formerly Louis Friedlander)
  • Screenplay: Griffin Jay
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Armand Tesla/Dr. Otto Bruckner), Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Matt Willis, Roland Varno, Miles Mander, Ottola Nesmith, Gilbert Emery, Leslie Denison, William C.P. Austin, Jeanne Bates, Sherlee Collier, Donald Dewar, Billy Bevan, and George McKay.
  • Comment: Released January, 1944. Just when one was coming to the conclusion that Lugosi was simply a hammy has-been hanging on by his claws - uh, fingernails - to his movie stardom, he was selected to reprise his Dracula role in this modestly-budgeted film, directed by the gentleman who had directed him in "The Raven" in 1935. Lugosi here at age 61 shows that he was still the King of the Vampires, and there are some real chilling touches which made a big impression on me as a kid. This is one of those preeminent examples of Lugosi playing a truly diabolical and heartless villain, but nevertheless one with a mysterious power over women. In Bojarski, the Brooklyn Citizen is quoted as commenting, "Lugosi, as usual, gives a suave and polished performance in the title role." The film also featured a fine performance by Frieda Inescort, as a sort of female amalgam of Drs. Seward and Van Helsing from Dracula, and Nina Foch in her first screen appearance.
• Voodoo Man - 1944 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: William Beaudine
  • Screenplay: Robert Charles
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Marlowe), John Carradine, George Zucco, Michael Ames, Wanda McKay, Ellen Hall, Louise Currie, Henry Hall, Dan White, Pat McKee, Terry Walker, Claire James, Ethelreda Leopold, and Ralph Littlefield.
  • Comment: Released February, 1944. This has been referred to as a veritable Monogram all-star production, as it contains their three top stars of the 40's. Supposedly the last made, although the next one in the list was actually the last to be released, it is probably one of the more atmospheric of the series. The plot was a reworking of "The Corpse Vanishes." Lone females who stopped at George Zucco's gas station are diverted by means of a phony detour sign into a cut-off where they can be carted off by John Carradine playing a moronic half-wit and his cohort played by Pat McKee. Not a bad role for Lugosi - his efforts to revive his dead wife draw some sympathy, and he looks distinguished in his goatee. Zucco's okay, although the phony voodoo scenes where he invokes the god "Drambuna" are hoaky, to put it charitably. But, the part of the half-wit is a gross embarrassment for John Carradine, and Tom Weaver feels it is probably the low point in his long career, "which is saying a lot about an actor who went on to make films with titles like "Blood of Ghastly Horror," "Vampire Hookers," and "Demented Death Farm Massacre . . . The Movie."
• Return of the Ape Man - 1944 -
  • Monogram
  • Director: Phil Rosen
  • Screenplay: Robert Charles
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Professor Dexter), John Carradine, Frank Moran, Judith Gibson, Michael Ames, Mary Currier, Ed Chandler, Mike Donovan, George Eldredge, Horace Carpenter, Ernie Adams, and Frank Leigh.
  • Comment: Released July, 1944. Well, there are some fans who feel this is near the top of Lugosi's Monogram efforts, but I would disagree. However, it does have a different brand of loopiness than the other Monograms, being as it purports to portray an expedition to the Arctic, described by Tom Weaver as follows: "After a lot of stock footage of ships and polar ice, we find Dexter and Gilmore in furry parkas standing in front of a wall with a snow-covered hill painted on it; behind them, two "Eskimos" are chopping away with pickaxes (obviously being careful not to damage the sound stage floor)." It also features a bemusedly cynical Lugosi, plotting to transplant part of a modern man's brain into his revived ape man, seated at a party, puffing on his big cigar, and opining, "I was just thinking that some people's brains would never be missed." Overall, middle of the pack.
• One Body Too Many - 1944 -
  • Paramount
  • Director: Frank McDonald
  • Screenplay: Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane
  • Cast: Jack Haley, Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi (Larchmont), Bernard Nedell, Blanche Yurka, Douglas Fowley, Dorothy Granger, Lyle Talbot, Lucien Littlefield, Jessica Newcombe, Fay Helm, Maxine Fife, and William Edmunds.
  • Comment: Released October, 1944. Produced by Pine-Thomas, who had an arrangement with Paramount to use their studio and release their films under the Paramount logo, this was Lugosi's third butler role in five years. It seems to me the movie had a good cast (Jack Haley was the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz"), hampered by a second-rate screenplay. As I recall, Lugosi's part consisted mainly of circulating among clusters of unhappy potential heirs, with a loaded tray, asking them if they would like coffee. Just another red herring role for the man who had been playing them for almost 30 years.
• The Body Snatcher - 1945 -
  • RKO
  • Director: Robert Wise
  • Screenplay: Philip MacDonald and Carlos Keith (Val Lewton)
  • Cast: Boris Karloff (Gray the Cabman), Bela Lugosi (Joseph), Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Russell Wade, Rita Corday, Sharyn Moffatt, Donna Lee, Bill Williams, Robert Clarke, Mary Gordon, and Jim Moran.
  • Comment: Released in March, 1945, it was based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Usually assessed as one of the finest horror films of the 40's, it was a product of the remarkable efforts of Val Lewton, who produced a number of fine programmers for RKO during the 40's. Boris Karloff is definitely the star of this one, and for my money, his characterization of the sleazy, slimy Gray is the finest acting job of his career. Lugosi's supporting part was added to take advantage of his name value, paired with that of Karloff, but this is a rip-off, similar to the exploitation of his name in "Black Friday." He plays Henry Daniell's dim-witted servant, also a slimy and greasy character, very convincingly. The scene where Gray "burkes" him is still stunning. The film is intelligently written, features wonderful acting all the way around, and manages to realistically recreate 19th. century Edinburgh, Scotland despite a modest budget. A great movie!
• Zombies on Broadway - 1945 -
  • RKO
  • Director: Gordon Douglas
  • Screenplay: Lawrence Kimble
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Renault), Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Anne Jeffreys, Sheldon Leonard, Frank Jenks, Russell Hopton, Joseph Vitale, Ian Wolfe, Louis Jean Heydt, Darby Jones, and Sir Lancelot.
  • Comment: Released April, 1945. Brown and Carney were RKO's second- string versions of Abbott & Costello. There had been a string of zombie movies in the 40's, but somehow Lugosi, who had helped found the genre with "White Zombie," had escaped all the previous versions. This is pretty formulaic but it is okay B-movie fun and is still amusing. Lugosi, as was usually his technique in these films, played his role pretty straight, sometimes exagerrating the traits he was famous for, and serving as an effective foil for the comics. It does feature one of the few occasions where Lugosi got a chance to do some physical comedy - in a scene where he tries to catch the monkey who has swiped his hypodermic needle. This film is rated as the best of the Brown-Carney films.
• Genius at Work - 1946 -
  • RKO
  • Director: Leslie Goodwins
  • Screenplay: Robert E. Kent and Monte Brice
  • Cast: Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Bela Lugosi (Stone), Lionel Atwill, Anne Jeffreys, Marc Cramer, Ralph Dunn, Robert Clarke, Philip Warren, and Harry Harvey.
  • Comment: Released July, 1946. This was the last picture in a three- picture contract that Lugosi had with RKO, and probably the least of the three. In a switch of roles, he plays the henchman to Lionel Atwill's serial killer, The Cobra. Often denigrated as a small part, in fact Lugosi has as much screen time as Atwill. It is not remarkable in any way, being neither as funny as "Zombies on Broadway," nor as scary as "The Body Snatcher," but it is far from being the worst picture Lugosi ever appeared in. Lionel Atwill tragically died shortly after this film was made, and the film also marks the final teaming of Brown and Carney.
• Scared to Death - 1947 -
  • Screen Guild
  • Christy Cabanne
  • Screenplay: W. J. Abbott
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Leonide), George Zucco, Nat Pendleton, Joyce Compton, Roland Varno, Molly Lamont, Angelo Rossitto, Gladys Blake, Lee Bennett, Stanley Andrews, and Stanley Price.
  • Comment: Released June, 1947. This film's only distinction is that it is Lugosi's only starring colour movie. That, and the fact that he speaks some Hungarian to little Angelo. It is a muddled murder mystery, told in flashback by a corpse in the morgue! (Perhaps a forerunner of "Sunset Boulevard"?) It looks cheap, and worst sin of all in a Lugosi film, it is dull! To my way of thinking, this is right up there in the vigorous contest for Worst Film Lugosi Ever Made, making the Ed Wood films look, maybe not polished, but at least superior to this hopeless mish-mash.
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein - 1948 -
  • Universal-International
  • Director: Charles T. Barton
  • Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, and John Grant
  • Cast: Bud Abbott (Chick), Lou Costello (Wilbur), Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula), Lon Chaney (Lawrence Talbot), Glenn Strange (The Monster), Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph, Frank Ferguson, Charles Bradstreet, Frank Fenton, Joe Kirk, Clarence Straight, Bobby Barber, and Vincent Price.
  • Comment: Released July, 1948. This was really Lugosi's last great hurrah - only his second time on the screen actually portraying Dracula, and this at age 65! It was also Universal's last fling at bringing the classic monsters to the screen. It is universally acknowledged that Lugosi was masterly in the role, again being suave and debonair, but bringing a slightly different quality to the role than he had his other vampire characterizations. It is interesting to note that the film really revolves around his efforts to transplant a more flexible brain (Wilbur's) into the Monster; thus the role is really an amalgam of Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein. Lugosi thus gives us a glimpse of the qualities he would have brought to the latter role, had he gotten a chance to portray it as had been the original intention. Many people who are middle-aged boomers now got their original conception of Dracula from this film, not the 1931 "Dracula." Great fun!

• Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (Vampire Over London, My Son, the Vampire) - 1952 -
  • Renown Pictures
  • Director: John Gilling
  • Screenplay: Val Valentine
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Von Housen), Arthur Lucan (Old Mother Riley), Dora Bryan, Richard Wattis, Judith Furse, Philip Leaver, Maria Mercedes, Roderick Lovell, David Hurst, Hattie Jacques, Dandy Nichols, Arthur Brander, Ian Wilson, and Graham Moffatt.
  • Comment: Released July, 1952. Lugosi's tour of Britain in "Dracula" in 1950 was pretty much a disaster, leaving him stranded without the funds to get back to the States. So, Richard Gordon managed to arrange for him to be paid $5000 for starring in this, the last of a series in which Arthur Lucan cross-dressed as Old Mother Riley. It should be noted that Lugosi looks great, and he played this part with a lot of the vigor that he had put into his roles in the 30's. The British humour is overdone, but Lugosi's performance makes this one worth checking out.

• Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla - 1952 -
  • Jack Broder Productions
  • Director: William Beaudine
  • Screenplay: Tim Ryan
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Zabor), Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo, Charlita, Muriel Landers, Al Kikume, Mickey Simpson, Milton Newberger, Martin Garralaga, Ramona the Chimp, and Ray Corrigan.
  • Comment: Released September, 1952. Lugosi was approaching 70, and his marriage to Lillian was about to end, when Jack Broder, who had previously re-released a number of Lugosi's earlier films under the Realart label, put together a project utilizing a pair of Dean Martin/ Jerry Lewis imitators, Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo. Usually panned as a sad parody of Lugosi's former menacing persona, I found this film to be surprisingly funny. Sure, it's cheap, but it is at least as funny as Gilligan's Island, to which this horror comedy bears much resemblance, and Sammy Petrillo is often very funny as the Lewis character. Lugosi looks ill, but he plays his part with relish and manages to be as credible as one could be in a schlockfest like this one. This is junky fun for the whole family.
• Glen or Glenda - 1953 -
  • Screen Classic Productions
  • Director: Edward D. Wood, Jr.
  • Screenplay: Edward D. Wood, Jr.
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (The Spirit/Mystic), Daniel Davis (Edward D. Wood, Jr.), Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell, "Tommy" Haynes, Charles Crafts, Conrad Brooks, Henry Bederski, and George Weiss.
  • Comment: Released in April, 1953. Lugosi's career had pretty much hit bottom when he met aspiring producer Wood through British expatriate, Alex Gordon, the brother of Richard, both of whom had met Lugosi during his years in New York in the late 40's. Wood and Lugosi were not as intimate as portrayed in the movie "Ed Wood," nor was Lugosi as totally dependent on Wood as the movie would have it appear, but certainly the recreation of the scenes from the originals are almost uncanny. This film is the strangest combination of inspired dreck I have ever seen. It was incredibly cheap, costing about $23,000 to produce, and Lugosi was paid $1000 for five day's work on the film. Supposedly inspired by the Christine Jorgensen sex-change story, it gave Wood the opportunity to portray his transvestism - movingly, I might add. Lugosi's part has little to do with the rest of the movie, but appears to have been added to take advantage of his name value. Weird, but intriguing.
• Bride of the Monster - 1955 -
  • Rolling M Productions
  • Director: Edward D. Wood, Jr.
  • Screenplay: Edward D. Wood, Jr. and Alex Gordon
  • Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Eric Vornoff), Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy, Loretta King, Harvey Dunn, George Becwar, Paul Marco, Don Nagel, Bud Osborne, Ann Wilner, Dolores Fuller, William Benedict, John Warren, and Ben Frommer.
  • Comment: Released in May, 1955. Sinister Cinema calls this "the best Ed Wood film." Well, at least it is the one that most resembles a real movie, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Lugosi had become dependent on prescription narcotics and alcohol after his divorce from Lillian in 1953, and his condition deteriorated dramatically during the filming of this movie, which was stretched out over a year due to financial constraints. Perhaps because of the fact that Lugosi felt he had lost the most important things in his personal life, he put his all into the role of Vornoff, and the result is a mad scientist portrayal which is tragic and yet magnificently defies his mortality. Of course most of the other actors are wooden - that is quintessential Ed Wood. Somehow Lugosi manages to triumph among the lousy actors, cardboard sets, and turgid dialogue.
• The Black Sleep - 1956 -
  • United Artists
  • Director: Reginald Le Borg
  • Screenplay: John C. Higgins
  • Cast: Basil Rathbone (Dr. Cadman), Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi (Casimir), John Carradine, Herbert Rudley, Patricia Blake, Phyllis Stanley, Tor Johnson, Sally Yarnell, George Sawaya, Claire Carleton, and Louanna Gardner.
  • Comment: Released June, 1956. Lugosi had been optimistic when he left the State Hospital in August, 1956, looking forward to his next Ed Wood production, "The Ghoul Goes West." But that project had failed to materialize, and perhaps his spirit was too brittle at this point to handle the disappointment. This film was shot in February, 1956, and Lugosi looks so frail and old here, it is hard to recognize him. Conrad Brooks, too, indicated that he was drinking on the set, although he did not let it show when he was acting. Apparently, he was unhappy with the part, since he had no dialogue, although there is a nice picture of him in an antique chair, surrounded by Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney, and John Carradine, who presented him with an autographed copy of the script. The film is unmemorable and wastes the talents of the major stars in the cast.
• Plan 9 From Outer Space - 1959 -
  • Reynolds Pictures
  • Director: Edward D. Wood, Jr.
  • Screenplay: Edward D. Wood, Jr.
  • Cast: Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Bela Lugosi (the Ghoul Man), Duke Moore, Tom Keene, Vampira, Tor Johnson, Lyle Talbot, Dudley Manlove, John Breckinridge, Joanna Lee, Paul Marco, Conrad Brooks, and Criswell.
  • Comment: Released in July, 1959. Wood believed that this would be the film he would be remembered for, and in a perverse way, he was right. The film of Lugosi was silent footage shot, apparently, shortly before his death. It would appear that Wood had two different scenarios in mind, because some of the footage of Lugosi looks like an older gentleman mourning his wife (more or less as narrated by Criswell in the movie), and then there are outdoor scenes in the cemetery where Lugosi definitely seems to be portraying Dracula, wrapping himself in his full-length cape. Those scenes, which are re-used several times, give a sad picture of the Great Man a short time before his death. Still the showman and giving it his all, he looks sadly wasted, which seems to corroborate the stories that he had returned to drinking (tho never to drugs). As is well known by now, Lugosi died shortly after about ten minutes of film had been shot, and Wood was later inspired to create a film to be called "Grave Robbers from Outer Space," around the Lugosi footage. When I was a kid it was just considered to be a bad movie. Now it is THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE, thanks to the Golden Turkey crowd, and a new generation has brought Wood more fame than he ever knew in his lifetime. This one is bad, but it certainly does demonstrate why Wood is uniquely arresting among bad movie makers.