Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula by Koren Shadmi

 

 Reviewed by Jeanne

 

As he did with his excellent graphic novel style biography of Rod Serling, Koren Shadmi presents a fascinating look at another entertainment icon:  Bela Lugosi. The moody black and white drawings seem especially appropriate for a figure whose best known works were filmed that way.  The book opens in 1955 with the elderly Lugosi checking himself into a hospital to try to beat his addiction.  During his delirium, he sees figures, some from his past, some who are just representations, who illuminate his life.

He was born Bela Blasko in Lugos, Hungary, the youngest child of a relatively prosperous family.  His father had begun as a baker but had become a respected banker. Bela’s theatrical aspirations didn’t please his family, so he left for Budapest as a youth, taking the name of his hometown as his surname. The novel traces his career and personal life, both of which could be fraught. He was married multiple times and had numerous affairs, including one with Clara Bow. The “IT Girl” finagled a meeting with Lugosi because she wanted to know more about how he learned his lines phonetically, as his English was limited.  Bow had a thick Brooklyn accent and at that time the motion picture industry was transitioning from silent pictures to talkies. 

Of course, Lugosi’s big break came when he was cast in the stage version of Dracula in 1927, which led to his being cast in the 1931 movie. Suddenly, he was a hot commodity, but his accent and typecasting limited his roles. He had a screen test for the role of the monster in Frankenstein but he hated the heavy make-up and the creature’s lack of lines.  The role eventually went to Boris Karloff.

In order to make ends meet, Lugosi took roles in low-budget productions, which did nothing to enhance his reputation as an actor. Of course, near the end of his life he worked with Ed Wood, which is a whole ‘nother story.

Overall, I enjoyed Lugosi. Shadmi uses the graphic art medium to great effect, uniting image and words to make a memorable story.  I especially love the way he uses the art to both set mood and to give a strong sense of time and place.  I found the scenes set in the ‘20s and ‘30s to be particularly atmospheric. 

The author appends a list of the articles, books, and other sources he used to create this book. Some aspects of Lugosi’s life are given scant attention and some incidents are not included, but that’s also the nature of the medium.  It doesn’t help that in reading about the actor there can be multiple versions of an event, making it difficult for any biographer to sift out truth from fiction. If I have a quibble, it is that I would have liked some indication of the source for some incidents Shadmi depicted.

I recommend this to anyone who has an interest in early Hollywood, and especially the dawn of horror movies, or anyone who enjoys a good graphic novel biography.