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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive, November 29, 2005
By now, everyone knows that Arthur Lennig has reworked his 1974 mini-cult classic THE COUNT. What I didn't know was the extent to which he did.
THE COUNT was tough to come by when I was a kid trying to read about Lugosi, Karloff, and Chaney Jr. My public library had it, and my brother and I would check it out on alternative weeks to keep it in our possession (seemingly, no one else was clamoring for it). When Lennig released the rewrite, I kept waiting for the price to fall (it never really did), so a year later, I caved in and bought it.
I'm glad I did. Lennig has expanded the book beautifully, utilizing the latest scholarship and revising entire chunks. He's also re-evaluated the credibility of some of his sources (Caroll Borland among them), and integrated some of the opinions of Gregory William Mank. The new book also softens some of the pot-shots he took at Karloff in 1974, and casts Chaney Jr. in a far less unfavorable light. The Epilogue is really interesting and up to date. In fact, the one fault is that Lennig may still have too much affection for Lugosi to be truly objective--but that's a "fault" easily excused if you have the same "fault" yourself!
In all, THE IMMORTAL COUNT is a terrific read, nicely updated, and a great addition to your library.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent biography, January 24, 2004
This is a total rewrite of the author's first edition of 1974. It tells a fascinating story about a man and his talents and his demons. A man that made some very bad career choices because of his cavalier attitude about money. It tells the whole tale, warts and all, and gives a very lucid picture of an intelligent, talented actor that was ever the dedicated craftsman, no matter how bad the picture was that he was in.The book especially casts some light on Bela Lugosi Jr. and his lawsuits dealing with his father's image. The light it casts does not portray Junior in a pretty picture. The only negative criticism I have is the author's penchant for going into multi-page synopses of Lugosi's pictures interwoven with the text. I found this to interrupt the flow of the book, but that is my personal opinion. Perhaps for others, the synopses would be more than welcome. But that minor personal criticism does not deter me from giving the book 5 stars. Well-researched, well written, a must for any Lugosiphile!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Immortal Admiration...But Fair., November 20, 2005
I was a little apprehensive when I first started considering reading this book. I'd gathered the impressed that the author, Arthur Lennig, was a close friend of Bela Lugosi's, and that this book was very partial in Lugosi's favor and that it might shy away from any of Lugosi's faults.
Fortunately that was not entirely the case. The author only met Lugosi a handful of times in his adolescence, although he does seem to practically worship Lugosi. The author did point out many of Lugosi's faults, mistakes and bad judgments but usually followed them immediately with some sort of excuse. But, at least, the faults were indeed provided.
I have not read any other biographies on Bela Lugosi (nor have I read anything else by Lennig), so I can't compare The Immortal Count to others, but this one definitely seems to cover Lugosi's entire life - at times even on a day-by-day basis. The research certainly appears to have been exhausting, as in providing movie budget costs and salaries paid down to the penny (which, actually, seemed a little unnecessary) and precise dates of even minor events.
The author also provides details of many of Lugosi's films - sometimes scene-by-scene. What I enjoyed about this part was the pointing out of various tidbits about the films, like scenes being re-arranged or cut out for censors (which were extremely harsh), and events behind the scenes. I did, however, find myself wanting to get through a lot of these parts rather hurriedly because, let's face it, not all of the films Lugosi was in are classics and some of these story descriptions were, I found, a little dull and longer than necessary.
What I found most interesting was reading about Lugosi once he'd become a "has-been." Even in his 70s, and with the only acting offerings coming from Ed Wood, he was still driven to somehow revive his career up until the day he died. A sad end to a life filled with unfortunate circumstances (both by his own fault and outside irritations). He did, at least, truly shine in a handful of his cinematic gems. There wasn't, isn't and will never be anyone who performs like Lugosi.
I also found the information concerning Lugosi's son and his last wife quite interesting. The reason for this is because several months ago I watched the Dracula Legacy Collection DVD, in which his son is interviewed. The fact that Universal would interview his son at all, in and of itself, is intriguing considering, according to this book, all of the legal battles that his son started with Universal over the use of his father's likeness as Dracula.
Also, something I remember the son saying in this interview is that he and his mother (Lugosi's second-to-last wife) made the decision to bury Lugosi in one of his Dracula capes - and he specifically stated that it was not his father's idea. However, in the book, his last wife, Hope Lugosi, told the mortician that it was Lugosi's wish to be laid out in the cape.
And I laughed aloud when the author talked about how Gene Simmons, from KISS, was going to portray Lugosi in a film adaptation of Lugosi's life. Fortunately, that never happened.
An excellent read for anyone interested in the subject. I do recommend it, just keep in mind that many facts are there even if they're a little shrouded by the author's admiration for Lugosi.
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