Long before the days of morphine, grade Z thrillers and Brooklyn gorillas, Bela Lugosi lived large. Still warm (if not hot) from his first flush of Dracula success, when he began his claim as one of Hollywood's premiere bogeymen (and whose bogeyman skills eventually cursed him to the dusty backlots of Poverty Row), Lugosi maintained the simple and elegant lifestyle of a European sophisticate in Southern California, as evidenced in these remarkable fan magazine photos presented here and here by Greenbriar Picture Shows, a wonderful new blog that specializes in presenting publicity stills, art, and press books. Cool stuff presented in the last two months include some publicity for the Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard spook comedy The Ghost Breakers (including this remarkable image); a couple of trade ads from MGM at the start of the talkies ("Reach for a talkie instead of a squeak!"); and spending the day with Olivia DeHavilland.
An interesting quote from Lugosi: "Where once I had been the master of my professional destinies, with a repertoire embracing all types of men... I became Dracula's puppet."
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