Tod, I don't know what point you are trying to make. You think Bela is a mediocre actor who is not well known in Europe and that Dracula is not a masterpiece but important because it is a landmark movie. I wouldn't disagree with your observations on Dracula, I agree, it drags as soon as the action moves from Transylvania. However I'm not sure where you are going with the Bela is a mediocre actor angle. Does it matter? Bela was good in some movies (The Black Cat and Son of Frankenstein are his best performances in my opinion), over the top in some others but always entertaining. The same for Chaney Jr (he was very good in his Westerns though). Boris was also mediocre by your standards, great as the Monster and in the BodySnatcher and a dozen other movies. But in many of his movies he's either playing the monster ( The Raven, The Walking Dead) or overacting as in The Invisible Ray and The Lost Patrol, or miscast (in his gangster roles) or just plain boring. The fact is none of our great horror stars were as versatile as a Claude Rains or Lionel Atwill and it shows as they were in very few prestigious non genre A movies. Bela in Ninotchka (his cameo is excellent) and Boris in, well, I can't think of anything right now.

As far as Bela being well know in Europe, are any of the classic horror stars well known these days? I'm in the UK and some people here think Bela and Boris are the same person, Boris Lugosi if you like.