Bela Lugosi “Interviewed” by Dorothy West

I came across an interesting piece last night of a segment called Intimate Interviews with Dorothy West. The “interview” is from 1932, about a year after Dracula was released, and was clearly scripted. That’s what I think makes this so enjoyable to watch. It is informative with a
legitimate question and answer format, but while Dorothy West is displaying what seems to be exaggerated Broadway acting, Lugosi seems genuine. His demeanor is natural, calm and collected and if not for West trying to act her heart out, scripted or not this would have seemed like a legitimate spur of the moment interview. The setting of Lugusi at home “out of character” got me thinking about how much of an impact Lugosi really did have on the Dracula image. While watching this, all I could think was, “What a bad ass! It’s like he really is Dracula”. But is he really? Or is Dracula, as we now think of him, Bela Lugosi?