From his early Budapestan stage career, Lugosi must of kept a taste for light comedy, as he understood himself to belong to a Viennese tradition of gentle _divertissement; even his acting style can be understood not only as nonchalance, but also as a silent contempt for the wholly unlike style he met in the USA, and he choose to simply neglect this very different Hollywoodian style, he was familiar and accustomed to a lighter style, more fanciful, and he felt at ease in this British vehicle inspired by the music hall style.
His career's decline didn't begin until after his last RKO movie. But with vehicles like this one, he hoped to reinvent himself.
'Vampire ', a British comedy, offered Lugosi a role he seemed to enjoy, and he gave in return a lively performance in the style of the '30 serials' masterminds. Though presumed to be a vampire, his character belongs to a Sci Fi plot; but he may be a vampire as well, since the disappearances of the women are real, and there are several mummies in one of his rooms, and he feeds Mrs. Riley liver and steaks to get her ready. The storyline serves as a pretext for gags; the musical number is very funny.
Lugosi plays a wicked scientist who owns a robot, but hopes to make many more others, once he secures himself a source of uranium; he declares that tin men are better than Frankenstein's monster. He kidnaps a girl, the heiress of a uranium mine, to get from her the map of the uranium mine, in order to use that element for making robots and weapons, and conquer the world; aside from generic mastermind performance, such as hailing the opening a new era in violence, Lugosi has one demanding scene, his 1st scene with Mrs. Riley, when he hires here, and his acting comes across as on a par with his guest's. The Sci Fi storyline, such as it is, comes straight from the '30 serials. If you have been amused, the movie accomplished its aim.
Like in the music hall, the storyline isn't supposed to be very meaningful, or carefully thought, but a pretext for countless gags. I liked the supporting cast (the spectacled man in the first scenes, Frieda, the maid, the copper, the drunk gentleman and his pretty wife).
The script gathers comedy, Sci Fi and nominal _vampirism; in the music hall's days, a role in drag wasn't unusual. The movie has the freshness of some British movies. Someone wrote that this is a movie you either enjoy, or you don't. I did.
Nowadays audiences can mistake this music hall fun for slapstick and one-liners; but it's music hall fun, British fun, lots of gags, and audiences should acknowledge that 'Vampire ' belongs mainly to Mrs. Riley; the same goes for another comedian of those times, Askey (whose gags were much more of the slapstick genre, Mrs. Riley plays here generic physical comedy). The 1st scene, Mrs. Riley as a shopkeeper, was what the actor knew best, and also what he performed best. Some people today seem to be ashamed to watch an actor play in drag. But it wasn't unusual in the music hall days, and in much of the stage's history.
His career's decline didn't begin until after his last RKO movie. But with vehicles like this one, he hoped to reinvent himself.
'Vampire ', a British comedy, offered Lugosi a role he seemed to enjoy, and he gave in return a lively performance in the style of the '30 serials' masterminds. Though presumed to be a vampire, his character belongs to a Sci Fi plot; but he may be a vampire as well, since the disappearances of the women are real, and there are several mummies in one of his rooms, and he feeds Mrs. Riley liver and steaks to get her ready. The storyline serves as a pretext for gags; the musical number is very funny.
Lugosi plays a wicked scientist who owns a robot, but hopes to make many more others, once he secures himself a source of uranium; he declares that tin men are better than Frankenstein's monster. He kidnaps a girl, the heiress of a uranium mine, to get from her the map of the uranium mine, in order to use that element for making robots and weapons, and conquer the world; aside from generic mastermind performance, such as hailing the opening a new era in violence, Lugosi has one demanding scene, his 1st scene with Mrs. Riley, when he hires here, and his acting comes across as on a par with his guest's. The Sci Fi storyline, such as it is, comes straight from the '30 serials. If you have been amused, the movie accomplished its aim.
Like in the music hall, the storyline isn't supposed to be very meaningful, or carefully thought, but a pretext for countless gags. I liked the supporting cast (the spectacled man in the first scenes, Frieda, the maid, the copper, the drunk gentleman and his pretty wife).
The script gathers comedy, Sci Fi and nominal _vampirism; in the music hall's days, a role in drag wasn't unusual. The movie has the freshness of some British movies. Someone wrote that this is a movie you either enjoy, or you don't. I did.
Nowadays audiences can mistake this music hall fun for slapstick and one-liners; but it's music hall fun, British fun, lots of gags, and audiences should acknowledge that 'Vampire ' belongs mainly to Mrs. Riley; the same goes for another comedian of those times, Askey (whose gags were much more of the slapstick genre, Mrs. Riley plays here generic physical comedy). The 1st scene, Mrs. Riley as a shopkeeper, was what the actor knew best, and also what he performed best. Some people today seem to be ashamed to watch an actor play in drag. But it wasn't unusual in the music hall days, and in much of the stage's history.