Universal Monsters

1. Universal Monsters A K-8 Websites, Inc. Presentation

2. The story of Universal studios begins with Carl Laemmle (pronounced Lem-lee), who immigrated to America from his native Germany in 1884 at age 17. • He opened his first nickelodeon in Chicago in 1906 • The Nickelodeon (nickel = 5¢-coin, Greek: Odeion = roofed over theatre) was an early 20th century form of small, neighborhood movie theaters in the United States. • Nickelodeons in competitive markets had a piano or organ, playing whatever music the pianist or organist knew that seemed appropriate to a scene.

3. Eventually, he formed a movie company he named Universal Studios. He built a movie lot in 1923, where his pictures could be made that was aptly called Universal City.

4. Their first success was a lavish production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

5. In 1928, his son, Carl Jr. took over production of Universal and produced two huge successes: The musical “Broadway” (1929) and “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930)

6. However, it was the production of the classic Universal Monster movies where Universal struck gold. This presentation is about these classics and the actors who starred in them. Are you ready to learn about these monsters? Are you sure???? Be prepared……..

7. Universal Monsters

8. Bela Lugosi As Count Dracula

9. Bela Lugosi's, née Béla Ferenc Dezsõ Blaskó, was born in Lugos, Austria-Hungry, now Lugoj, Romania. • The youngest of four children, he volunteered and was commissioned as an infantry lieutenant in World War I, where he was wounded three times. • Bela Lugosi married Ilona Szmik in 1917 and divorced in 1920, the first of 5 marriages. • In December of 1921, Bela relocated to New York. He became a US citizen in 1931 and married Lullian Arch in 1933. Lullian was the mother of his only child, Bela Lugosi Jr., born in 1938.

10. In 1927, Bela Lugosi stepped into the role that would both immortalize him and wreck his career, the tantalizing character in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. • The untimely death of Lon Chaney led to Tod Browning choosing Bela to once again don the cape for the film version of Dracula in 1931. • Although he'd been stateside for almost a decade, he was still not fluent in English and had to learn his part phonetically. Apparently his thick accent was not a problem with women, as Bela purportedly received more fan mail than Clark Gable.

11. Bela Lugosi ended up a destitute drug-addict in Hollywood. On August 16, 1956, Bela died of a heart attack. In a funeral quietly paid for by Frank Sinatra, he was buried in his full Dracula costume, cape included. According to Vincent Price, when he and Peter Lorre went to view Bela Lugosi's body during the funeral, Lorre made a comment about Bela's attire. "Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?" Let’s view a clip from the classic “Dracula”.

12. Boris Karloff As Frankenstein’s monster

13. Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887. • He was an English actor, who migrated to Canada in the 1910s • However, he is best known for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in 1931 film Frankenstein. • His popularity following Frankenstein in the early 1930s was such that for a brief time he was billed simply as "Karloff" or, on some movie posters, as "Karloff the Uncanny".

14. Some facts you might not know: • Boris Karloff seemed huge on the screen but he was only 5’ 11” tall. • In contrast to the characters he played on screen, Karloff was known in real life as a very kind gentleman who gave generously, especially to children's charities. • Karloff was also a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild, and was especially outspoken regarding working conditions on sets (some extremely hazardous) that actors were expected to deal with in the mid-1930s. • He married six times.

15. What’s common knowledge, however, is his relationship with fellow actor, Bela Lugosi. It was no secret in Hollywood that both actors did not get along. It all began with Lugosi’s rejection of the Frankenstein role. That role elevated Karloff’s career. In addition, Lugosi resented the fact that Karloff was paid substantially more than Lugosi for his films. Karloff played Frankenstein's monster three times; the other films being Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939), which also featured Lugosi as the demented Ygor.

16. Boris Karloff lived out his final years at his cottage, 'Roundabout', in the Hampshire village of Bramshott. After a long battle with arthritis and emphysema, he contracted pneumonia, succumbing to it in the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, Sussex, on February 2, 1969, at the age of 81. He was cremated, following a requested low-key service, at Guildford Crematorium. Let’s view a clip of Karloff in action as “Frankenstein’s Monster”.

17. The man of a th0usand faces Lon Chaney

18. Lon Chaney was born on April 1, 1883 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. • He was the son of deaf mute parents, Frank and Emma Chaney and he learned from childhood to communicate through pantomime, sign language and facial expression. • His mother became bed ridden from rheumatism when Lon was very young, so he quit school about the age of ten to care for her and his younger siblings.

19. In 1905 while on tour in Oklahoma City, Lon met Cleva Creighton, a sixteen year old beauty who was auditioning for a part in the show. Against her mother's wishes, Cleva was picked up by the touring company because of her beautiful singing voice. The following year, due to an unexpected pregnancy, they returned to Oklahoma to prepare for the birth of their child. • With a baby on the way, the couple temporarily quit show business. They eventually returned to California and show business but their marriage was strained. Cleva was gaining popularity as a cabaret singer and Lon was working in various capacities on stage. • In April of 1913 after continued arguments, Cleva entered the Majestic Theater where Lon was stage manager and in a suicide attempt, swallowed a vial of poison. The poison damaged her vocal chords putting an end to both her career and marriage to Lon. This public scandal also damaged Lon's stage career.

20. His greatest contributions to Universal Monster lore were two films: • The Hunchback of Notre Dame • The Phantom of the Opera (silent version) • Due to his ability to portray an endless variety of characters throughout his career, he became known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces". • His last role in 1930 was his one and only talking film, a remake of 1925 "The Unholy Three". He played Echo a crook ventriloquist and used five different voices in the movie, thus proving he could make the transition from silent films to the talkies, but less than two month's after the film's release on August 26, 1930, he died from a throat hemorrhage.

21. His son, Lon Chaney Jr. went on to portray the Wolfman for Universal. In late 1941, he starred as Lawrence Talbot and created his so-called trademark character, "The Wolf Man" . So successful was this film, and reprisals of other classic monster characters, Universal tabbed him "The Screens Master Character Creator“. It was for this role as "The Wolf Man" which Lon Chaney Jr. is best known and remembered. He was the only actor ever to play Lawrence Talbot.

22. Let’s view a click of “The Wolf Man” in action.

23. Thank you for viewing this Presentation on Universal monsters If you need to keep a nightlight on tonight, we’d understand