Boris Karloff vs Bela Lugosi

Boris Karloff vs Bela Lugosi

Who is your favorite?

I think the coolest Karloff ever looked was in the Black Cat. He had a weird, aristocratic, erudite, mad scientist look to him. What was the deal back in the 30's when Karloff got top billing over Lugosi even though Lugosi had twice as many lines?

They are both great though.

1. Karloff, but not by much

Both are indeed phenomenal. Lugosi deserves special recognition for actually dying during the filming of Plan 9, but Karloff's resume includes How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and you just can't beat that.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top Lethe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-30-09 12:24 AM Response to Reply #1

3. hah! yeah i remember that

Karloff narrated The Grinch didn't he?

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top Orrex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-30-09 12:30 AM Response to Reply #3

4. That's correct! And he provided the Grinch's voice, too!

IMO, the beauty of it is that we have this guy who's done a thousand horror films narrating what must be the #1 or #2 all-time children's classic Christmas Special. He's playing against type, and the effect is brilliant, especially as paired with Thurl Ravenscroft's excellent vocals.

However, here's a Lugosi role you may have missed: Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

I urge you to rent it before you go to sleep tonight--it may be the best film in the history of cinema.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top Lethe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-30-09 12:34 AM Response to Reply #4

5. no luck on the torrents

but i think that may be a factor.

Karloff had a distinguished british accent, whereas Lugosi didn't even learn english until the late 30's. He memorized phoentically his parts.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top bridgit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-30-09 01:17 AM Response to Original message

8. Karloff

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Tue Mar 29th 2016, 01:28 PM Response to Original message

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