Pull The Strings!

I adore the work of Bela Lugosi! I prefer Karloff, but Lugosi is a reliable showman in his movies, always working hard to make an impression on the audience, even in productions where his presence is really all that's required.

The relationship between Bela Lugosi and Ed Wood is well documented, if debated, and I was reminded of it yesterday when I stumbled across Ed Wood's transvestite classic Glen or Glenda. I'd forgotten Bela had a role in that. I watched this very weird movie (which also has Lyle Talbot in it for goshsakes) and thoroughly enjoyed Bela's disjointed but completely mesmerizing performance as the "Scientist", a narrator of sorts in the movie who comments on the nature of mankind and seems to function almost as a godfather to the befuddled men in the movie.

Here's a link to one of his more famous speeches from the movie:

BELA LUGOSI In GLEN Or GLENDA -- The Pull the Strings SPEECH

Bela Lugosi is someone I can watch all day long. I've done it more than a few times. His weakest performance is ripe with his personality. His personal life was a modern tragedy, but he was a guy who had it all for a short time but ended up on the down and out. It happens to most of us, but poor Bela's rise and fall is recorded for all to see.

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