Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)



It's debatable if this can even be considered a Bela film. Released nearly three years after his passing, it contains (by my count) only eight shots containing Bela. Furthermore, it went into production after Bela died, using test shots and footage from another unrealized project. Bela had no knowledge of this film, didn't agree to be in this film, and (as far as I know) his estate did not receive compensation for his appearance in this film. Still, he got top billing on the film, and it is (unfortunately) a film he is associated with almost as often as Dracula.

Plot (0-5 points): As with Glen or Glenda, one has to give Wood credit for vision ahead of his time. When you unwrap all that is wrong with the script and dialogue, what you are essentially left with is a film about the dead rising from their graves on a massive scale a decade before Night of The Living Dead. And yet, just like with Glen or Glenda, everything else about this script is ludicrously bad. 1/5

Atmosphere (0-5 points): Part of what hurts most about this film is how hard it tries, but fails anyway. You can watch one of Don Glut's homemade monster films and feel less pain because it is clearly filmed in an alleyway by a bunch of kids, but Wood piles on the thick fog and then gives you cardboard tombstones grouped impossibly close together. He gives you the iconic visual look of Vampira, and then shows you a slow-motion car chase happening in the same scene but inexplicably by daylight. We get half convincing flying saucers and then a cardboard airplane cockpit. Tor Johnson rises from the grave to the swelling of decent music and solid lighting, but it's Tor Johnson, and his face and mannerisms just can't carry off the moment. We come so close to GOOD atmosphere that the weaknesses hurt even more. -2/5

Other Actors (0-3 points): I really don't think these folks are as bad as the actors in Glen or Glenda. Criswell's hokey narration, Tor Johnson, and the police officer scratching himself with a gun aside, these folks are almost adequate. 0/3

The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): He may have proudly asserted that he was a new man with a new lease on life in his interview outside of the state hospital, but this is not A level Lugosi we are seeing in these eight shots. Granted, it was mostly test footage, but Bela could do amazing things in serials filmed in one take. Here, he is melodramatic to the point where his acting would look downright laughable if it weren't for the cast he is surrounded with. Still, it's the final recorded performance of Bela, and that's worth something. 1/10

Overall: Who would have thought we'd ever see a film score 0/23 in this thread?

I'm thrilled to have discovered an extremely important Lugosi performance that I didn't know had survived until today!


The Milton Berle Show (Television, September 27, 1949)



Whereas the urban legend about a drugged out Lugosi utterly flubbing his lines on live TV has often been ascribed to his appearance on The Red Skelton Show in 1954, it turns out this event actually took place here, on the Milton Berle show, in which Bela initially gives a fantastic performance and then stumbles over his lines at the end and exits abruptly, leaving Berle to mock him ("You kill people on the screen; you also kill jokes"). It's not anywhere near as awkward as the legends make it out to be, but yeah, it was definitely unprofessional.


Plot (0-5 points): Dracula tries to entice Milton Berle to buy his house and hilarity ensues. The humor is outstanding, depending on physical comedy more than lines on the page. It's difficult to know if there was much of the script left when Bela exited abruptly. 3.5/5

Atmosphere (0-5 points): A cardboard backdrop and some run of the mill props and costumes. 2/5

Other Actors (0-3 points): Berle is phenomenal, even if he is also cruel. I suppose his remark at least gave the skit an ending instead of allowing it to awkwardly trail off. 3/3

The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): An extremely tough one to call. I'm actually amazed by how on-the-ball Bela is with the physical comedy early on in the skit, keeping perfect rhythm with Berle through a fast-paced scene that requires (among other things) quick use of Bela's legs, the source of his agonizing pain. He does it damned well and truly seems every bit as funny as Berle until he suddenly blows the whole thing at the close. If I were attempting to be fair, I'd give Bela a zero for unprofessionalism and for killing the scene, but for my own personal gratification I thoroughly enjoy him throughout most of the skit and would gladly return to it again and again for further enjoyment. 8/10

Overall: Bela + Berle is truly FUNNY until it isn't. For one minute and sex seconds, Bela was young, capable, and fun again. Then the next twenty one seconds happened. 16.5/23

This made my day.

Of course, it almost has to be posed. How else are they still holding on to their scripts?

Happy Belated Birth Anniversary to Bela Lugosi (it was yesterday, he was born October the 20th, 1882). Definitely older than google.

-M

I'm sure this is my own romanticizing of Bela's life, but I like to believe he'd never heard of Dracula until he auditioned for the play.

"This Dracula seems like a great lover."

"Actually, he's a...well, sure. Go with that."

I am positively thrilled to see that a "lost" film of Bela's recently surfaced. At the time that I completed this project in 2020, I was aware that the George Eastman House was in possession of a copy of The Rejected Woman (1924). But, at that time, they had only released two short fragments of the film, and I had begun to lose hope that we would ever see more. Apparently, it finally made its way to Youtube eleven months ago, and so, tonight, for the first time in three years, I had new Bela Lugosi to watch!


The Rejected Woman (1924)



Hot off of the success of Bela's first big American role in The Silent Command, he settles for a far smaller role here, in a a lavish but indecisive film that wavers between being a romance, a melodrama, and at times even a comedy.


Plot (0-5 points): If you identify with flighty girls living in the canadian wilderness who dream of having something more, enjoy buddy comedies that end with the guy knocking up said flighty girl and ditching her, corporate intrigue and plots to deprive trust fund children of their inheritances, all ending in a riveting fist fight and a happily ever after, this might be the film for you. If you enjoy films making good use of Bela Lugosi, this probably isn't. 2

Atmosphere (0-5 points): Surprisingly great. Impressive sets, bold location shoots, outstanding use of lighting, tinting, and even a scene that almost looks like it's shot in color. This film is often a pleasure to look at, which is great because it has little else going for it. 4.5

Other Actors (0-3 points): Alma Rubens and Conrad Nagel are relatively strong in their roles, certainly stronger than the script deserves. Some of the others are a tad over the top, though that may be more a result of poor writing and directing than anything else. 2

The Lugosi Factor (0-10 points): While his character is initially set up to be the film's antagonist, he is literally pushed out of a scene, and then we never see him again. Before that, he is an over-the-top bully with no opportunities for a nuanced performance. A true waste of Bela's talents. 1


Overall: Some really nice atmosphere and some decent acting, but there's nothing Bela-related to make this film worth returning to.9.5