Last night I watched an MST3K of Bride of the Monster. It was shades of awful and hilarious. It was directed by Ed Wood, famous for his exceptionally bad films. It starred Bela Lugosi, who I've always been a fan of. After the film I wondered aloud why he'd take such roles. My husband explained about this raging drug addiction. I hadn't known about that. It really unsettled me. I mean, he did look enfeebled in his late films. Nothing like the dashing, powerful Dracula character from 1931. I checked Wikipedia's article on Lugosi and it's quite comprehensive. I'm not surprised that his type-casting greatly frustrated him. It was unfortunately a common problem for character actors at that time, but his situation was even worse. His accent type-casted him even more deeply into horror films, and frequently into "B" horror films. He made a couple attempts to break out, but never succeeded. It's really quite sad.
There is still some debate as to whether director Ed Wood took advantage of Lugosi at a stage of life when he could not say no to any role. My husband tells me the film Ed Wood is highly sympathetic to both men. It's undeniable that Lugosi needed the money. Well, I consider the 1931 Dracula a horror film classic. It shows Lugosi at his best, and it's a film that still effects the way we think of movie vampires. His name didn't dwindle into obscurity, and that comforts me.
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