Lugosi: Truth Meets Fiction? in Horror Film Stars Forum

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Lugosi: Truth Meets Fiction?

Author	Comment
Wich2		#81	[-]
May 15 12 6:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	No insult meant, Mora - I love Lugosi. Just making a vamp-pun, and recalling from the first Rhodes book that the choice of the heavy (and non-prescription?) shades may have been part of the problem that night. (And in the second book, he recounts the fact that Bela was none too thrilled when he first heard he'd have to take a "gorilla" in tow!) As far as "what was to come," I think Bela was a bit like unto Carradine in that: some of his problems were not of his making, but he also made some pretty poor choices at times that didn't help.
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skelton knaggs		#82	[-]
Jun 5 12 2:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"You can't smell any reefer, can you"?
Ted Newsom		#83	[-]
Jun 10 12 10:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Re: HOUSE OF WAX. The story that Lugosi wasn't informed about the gorilla suit until they were en route to the premiere comes from a Richard Cremer in his interview with Ed Wood. I asked Steve Calvert about it, who had worked with Lugosi the previous year in BROOKLYN GORILLA, and he said there was no problem, that he was aware of, and he got along fine with Bela. Perhaps both are true. Last Edited By: Ted Newsom Jun 10 12 10:27 PM. Edited 1 times.
Mora		#84	[-]
Jun 11 12 1:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks Ted. That was my source, the Cremer bio, but I've heard conflicting stuff since then about the reliability of one of its main sources of information. One thing seems certain: Ed was not of a right mind at the time of the Cremer interviews. With his moods instantly and dramatically changeable, could very likely be that his Lugosi/House of Wax recollection was hazy at best, dramatic at worst.
PhantomXCI		#85	[-]
Jun 11 12 2:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	My take on the Ed Wood quotes, especially all the BS about Bela working on the set of PLAN 9, is that Wood simply made up a story... any story... so that he would have something to tell Cremer. After all, how many interesting anecdotes could Wood relate and still try to look like a respectable, professional filmmaker? You also have to remember that when this interview took place, neither Wood nor PLAN 9 had been rediscovered (the Medved's book was still a-ways away), so Wood probably figured that he could say whatever he wanted to say, 'cause nobody remembered PLAN 9 anyways.
TomWeaver999		#86	[-]
Jun 11 12 5:08 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Alex Gordon accompanied Bela to the HOUSE OF WAX premiere and it seems to me he did once comment about Lugosi's reaction to having to appear with the gorilla ... but that's all my fuzzy memory will cough-up for me.
Wich2		#87	[-]
Jun 11 12 10:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I believe the tale's in Rhodes, which is generally considered a bit more gold-standard than Cremer.
Mora		#88	[-]
Jun 12 12 1:51 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, in the Ed Wood/Cremer version, and now I'm going on memory since I no longer have the Cremer book, does not Bela attempt a move into Dracula mode, pretending to "put the bite" on some girl who responds by dumping a glass of milk over the unfortunate Lugosi? It ends up where Bela became so upset he didn't even bother to go into the theater to watch the movie. I dunno, but I think PhantomXCI has the correct take. And again, Ed was in baaaaad shape by then.
Wich2		#89	[-]
Jun 12 12 4:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just to be clear, Mora, I'm not saying I buy into all the wacky shenanigans described for that night - I was specifically responding to Tom's saying that he seems to recall Gordon confirming the ape part of it.
Mora		#90	[-]
Jun 12 12 6:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Understood, Craig. Certainly no insult or otherwise taken. And I, too, would definitely accept Rhodes's description of the events over anything Ed Wood would be telling at that tragic point in his life. I wonder if the Dennings were privy to whatever really went on that night.
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thehorrorboy		#91	[-]
Jun 13 12 4:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TomWeaver999 wrote: Alex Gordon accompanied Bela to the HOUSE OF WAX premiere and it seems to me he did once comment about Lugosi's reaction to having to appear with the gorilla ... but that's all my fuzzy memory will cough-up for me. I think he said that Lugosi started to get out of the car in anger over when told about the gorilla stunt.
Ted Newsom		#92	[-]
Jun 14 12 10:51 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	But was Alex Gordon even there? Remember, he could well be getting the story from his ex-roommate... Eddie Wood.
FRSJr		#93	[-]
Jun 14 12 1:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	He was, nevertheless, still expoilted mostly by Universal, but also by others, when compared with Karloff's salaries and billings. I feel he was treated best by Poverty Row studios.
FRSJr		#94	[-]
Jun 14 12 1:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Right, I was there, and I did not detect any problems. Bela was actually having a bit of fun with the whole affair. He did have a nip or two on the way to the Paramount Theater.
FRSJr	BL Truth or Fiction	#95	[-]
Jun 14 12 1:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just curious to know what is all the "BS" about Bela working on the Plan 9 set?
Count Gamula		#96	[-]
Jun 14 12 1:55 PM Burgomaster Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	FRSJr wrote: Right, I was there, and I did not detect any problems. Bela was actually having a bit of fun with the whole affair. He did have a nip or two on the way to the Paramount Theater. Thanks Richard. You don't get that kind of eye-witness Lugosi info on most other boards. Kerry Gammill www.monsterkid.com
FRSJr		#97	[-]
Jun 14 12 2:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	GaryP11111 wrote: Getting back to Zombie Dad's original point, Dr. Carruthers' mad response to the $5,000 bonus (about $69,500 in todays dollars) must have seemed terribly unreasonable to a 1940 audience, especially since he was a salaried employee working for a company when he developed his formulas and they didn't have to give him one red cent extra. Prior to this epiphany, even though I realized there was some inflationary difference regarding the purchasing power of the $5,000 bonus, I could kinda sorta see (if I squint and tilt my head) how Dr. Carruthers might have felt insulted by the bonus. Now that I know how much that five grand was actually worth, I have come to the conclusion that Dr. Carruthers was a dick. He was a what? Dick Sheffield
FRSJr		#98	[-]
Jun 14 12 2:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ted Newsom wrote: .... he said there was no problem, that he was aware of, and he got along fine with Bela. Perhaps both are true. Right, I was there, and I did not detect any problems. Bela was actually having a bit of fun with the whole affair. He did have a nip or two on the way to the Paramount Theater. My apologies; just getting used to how to properly post.
thehorrorboy		#99	[-]
Jun 14 12 3:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In the HOUSE OF WAX premiere Warner Pathe newsreel clips included as a bonus on the HOUSE OF WAX/MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM DVD, he looks like he's having fun.
Ted Newsom		#100	[-]
Jun 18 12 10:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	OK, let's see... Richard Sheffield was there, and said Bela was having fun; Steve Calvert was there, and said there was no problem at all. A newsreel of the event shows Bela Lugosi with a big grin on his face, a photo shows him posing like the star of the show. Ed Wood was or wasn't there, and said Lugosi balked and didn't want to do anything with a guy in an ape suit, and got milk spilled all over him; Alex Gordon wasn't there and said there was trouble. Hmmmmm...
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Lugosi: Truth Meets Fiction?