HUNGARIAN STUDIES 11. No. 1. Nemzetközi Magyar ... - EPA

124 KEVIN E. KELLYfollowed it into theaters a few months later to a generally ho-hum reaction. Asthe mad scientist who was nowhere to be found in Edgar Allan Poe's originalstory, Lugosi got the showy kind of role he desired and pulled out all the stopsfor one of his more distinctive performances. But Karloff, who had none ofLugosi's romantic pretensions, and who was frankly hungrier than Lugosi, sawthe potential for a winning characterization as Frankenstein's Monster, acceptedthe makeup rigors and delivered a performance of stunning simplicity thatcaptured audience attention and sympathy. Lugosi's Dr. Mirakle in Murders isunique, but the mad scientist was already becoming something of a cliche, andmost critics felt his film was not much above basic melodrama. More than adecade later, without the options he previously had and humbled by the studiosystem, Lugosi would consent to play the Monster in Frankenstein Meets theWolf Man (1943) - and his performance, reduced from its original length dueto post-preview shortening of the film, would be listed as one of the leasteffective portrayals of Frankenstein's creation on record. (Lugosi's Monsterhad dialogue in the original version, but all of those scenes were cut.) 39Through this, Lugosi's star potential had faded within a year. His namewould always be good for marquee value, but through a combination of hisown inflexibility and the studios' rather simple-minded approach to using him,he was soon to find himself in a rut - a well-paying, at first, but unsatisfyingtangent to his career as either a villain or lead in a horror film.At the same time, Lugosi exercised little judgment in selection of roles. Ajob was a job and a salary, he felt, so in 1932 marking the first step of hisgradual descent into low-budget production he accepted the lead in anindependently-made effort, White Zombie.* 0 Lugosi reportedly accepted S500for the part, thereby reducing his bargaining power within the film community.Dracula expert David J. Skal noted that Lugosi, never a good manager of hisown finances and possessed of a weaker business sense, had already provenhow easy he was to buy on small terms when, in effort to please Universal inthe pre-Dracula stage, he had offered his services free in preparing theHungarian-language version of The Last Performance (1929). 41 Lugosi mayhave viewed the action as a grand gesture on his part, but Universal - andsubsequently, other studios - just saw another anxious actor in need of a job,resulting in the nearly-insulting salary he received for Dracula. (According toSkal, Horace Liveright got Lugosi for the stage Dracula for less money thanhe offered to Raymond Huntley, the Dracula of the London production.)* 2White Zombie was universally dismissed upon release, but has gained a solidcult reputation over the years. 43 The producers used their money wisely,crafting a more expensive-looking production than it really was, and got themost out of their miniscule investment in the star. As a powerful Haitian