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I'm 20 and I proudly include ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN in my 100 greatest films*

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Then you talk some sense into him, Iz!

I'll bet Lugosi himself would be delighted to be considered a comedic actor. Around the same time, he had a part in that goofy play THE DEVIL ALSO DREAMS (wasn't that the title); he overplayed, Vollin-to-the Nth-degree style, the mad scientist in a Bob Hope radio sketch with Hope as Superman (Paulette Goddard as Lois; Sterling Hollaway was in there somewhere, too); and four years later in the shipboard interview, he specifically said he'd like the chance to play more comedy.

The image of Lugosi as Dracula in A/C is iconic and memorable, as much or more so than Lugosi as any other vampire character, including his first film. This was the image that stared at us from the store shelves from the stacks of Aurora model kits, courtesy of James Bama, the image glowering on the cover of Famous Monster... when Dracula turns into a bat, people don't think of the awkward cheat with a clumsy pan to a window and a prop on strings, they think of seeing the "real" thing (albeit cartoon animation), the most elaborate and detailed bat-to-man bits in the Universal canon, and perfectly suited for a horror comedy.

Regarding the role as written: the character Dracula actually has something to do, a goal, not just packing up the U-Haul and moving to new digs-- as it is in 1931, 1943 and 1944 (actually, I'm hard-pressed to see ANY motivation for the character in HOUSE OF F, except to cringe and stay alive lest the nutbar Niemann poke him with that big stick again).

Thus the character-- by writers' intention or happy coincidence-- combined not only the iconic Lugosi as vampire image, but his mad doctor roles as well.

The acting style of the actor is more relaxed and naturalistic (within the confines of a comedy), yet he remains a menace who clearly knows himself and his own powers: the arrogance of the delivery of the line, "Pardon me, Mr. Talbot," the deadly ominousness of the threat in the simple dialogue, "I have other ways of sucuring your cooperation. Look into my eyes."

There's a vigor to the performance, too, despite Lugosi's age: the running battle with the Wolf Man in the castle, with no Eddie Parker or Gil Perkins to help. His movements here and elsewhere are sure and elegant. And the big close-ups of his eyes actually have the spotlight focused on them, not on his cheek or his nose.

He's good within the confines of the Browning film, but that film, with his (and the others') stylized, stagey acting style and the amateurishness of the whole enterprise, makes the film a chore for "modern" audiences-- and I'd bet "modern" in this case dates back to the 40s.

That, and he probably got paid more than he had in years, or ever would again. That's a neat thing, too.