First warm weather of the year, first big(ger) piece of the year. FANTASIA's one of my favorites, and "Night on Bald Mountain" is, as The Beatles once said, "the toppermost of the poppermost." This one already has a dream home in mind, but if that doesn't work out, I won't weep at having him hanging out in (or above) The Shed.
And here’s a fantastic shot of Bela Lugosi providing Chernabog reference for Disney animators:
(Directed by Edward G. Ulmer from a script by Peter Ruric "suggested by"* the story by Edgar Allan Poe; starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, and Jaqueline Wells. Released 07 May 1934; watched 2023w41 via Criterion Channel)
"Suggested by" = not at all similar but the name is a nice touch.
While mostly forgettable until the last third, wanted to mention Lugosi's performance here: a rare turn as one of the good guys (ok, a vengeance-driven, cat-killing (via throwing knife, I believe), Karloff-flaying good guy but hey) that makes his Dracula typecasting all the more tragic. Sure, the accent could be limiting (something of a Schwarzenegger-before-Schwarzenegger situation), but he brought genuine presence and nuance to the role – unlike the good guy-good guy, David Manners, who, as in all of his appearances, made total lack of charisma a calling card.
Maybe this one was done a disservice by how closely I watched it to THE OLD DARK HOUSE, which - minus the Satanist cult angle that popped up in the rather excellent last third - delivered a similar narrative with far more panache and better performances all around.
THE BLACK CAT advert in Universal Weekly, March 1934.
Bela in a 1928 stage version of DRACULA | via
Basil Gogos
Bela and Glenn, ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) | via
