Lugosi: The Early Years

I’ve been doing a good bit of research into some of the earliest versions of Dracula, with the most famous being the unofficial, unlicensed Nosferatu (1922) and the now-lost silent movie Drakula Halala, or The Death of Dracula (1921). And when we think of early actors to play the role of Dracula, along with Count Orlok’s Max Schreck, we have Bela Lugosi, who brought the role to iconic status with his star turn in Tod Browning’s 1931 version of Dracula. But, if you look back, this is something that might have happened even earlier…

Lugosi was born Bela Ferenc Deszo Blasko in 1882 in Hungary, and took to the stage from the age of 20. Of course, as the early years of silent film started to emerge, Lugosi (the name he would come to adopt) had the chance to appear in many such features in the 1910s and 1920s. Records of the cinema of the time can be a little sketchy and uncertain, so bear with me while I try and draw something of a timeline.

Under the stage name Arisztid Olt, Lugosi’s first feature appearance was in 1917’s Leoni Leo, starring as an adventurer leading a roguish band of characters known as ‘The Ten’. He would star in his first horror movie Az Elet Királya, or A Royal Life, which was an adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Long before his ‘typecasting’ in the role of Dracula, he would go on to star in many comedy and crime films.

At this time, the cinema industry in Hungary and Austria was very much seen as one of the most prominent film producers, and Lugosi worked with a host of its leading lights – many of whom would have a key hand in Drakula Halala. He starred alongside Karoly Lathjay, who would direct Drakula Halala, in 1918’s A Nászdal, or A Wedding Song. Michael Curtiz – who would go on to be one of Hollywood’s best-known and most prolific directors and producers – was the writer of Drakula Halala, and had directed Lugosi in movies including 99-es számú bérkocsi (Rental Car Number 99) and Az Ezredes (The Colonel). Surely these talented folks would have thought of Lugosi for the iconic Dracula part?

They may well have, but in a stroke of unfortunate timing (for us at least), Lugosi emigrated to Germany just after The Colonel. And it’s here we find our second what-if, because Lugosi worked with none other than Nosferatu director F.W. Murnau on Der Januskopf (The Head of Janus), an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, alongside the superb Conrad Veidt. However, a second change of geography would scupper the chances of Lugosi teaming up with Murnau more, as Bela would leave Germany for Hollywood, where he would make his debut in 1923’s The Silent Command. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I hope you’ll forgive me for this quick game of ‘what if?’ today, but digging around in this timeframe, it feels like not once but twice it would not have been beyond the realms for Lugosi to play Dracula long before treading the board as The Count in the U.S. run of the stage play beginning in 1927. Barring his move to Germany, Lugosi would surely have been in the running to play the vampire in Drakula Halala ahead of Paul Askonas. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a parallel universe where Lugosi stayed in Germany and worked with Murnau a second time around – and what would he have brought to the role of Count Orlok that was made so iconic by Max Schreck?

Tantalising possibilities, I hope you’ll agree, although all’s well that ends well – from stage to screen, beginning in the play that premiered right here in Derby to one of Universal’s most famous monster movies – Lugosi became a Dracula for the ages.