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1931 Dracula Bela Lugosi Signed Sketch Personal Gift to Friends w Original 1944 Return of the Vampire Still Death Scene

Hi All,

Here is a 1931 sketch of Bela Lugosi as Dracula by an artist whose name escapes me at the moment. He was well known for doing these sketches. I have his name with the autographed print. Bela commissioned this portrait soon after the film and had these printed on heavy card stock. He would then sign them as gifts for close friends. This example is in Excellent condition, with a bold blue early 1930's Lugosi signature in fountain pen.

The creepy thing about this drawing is that if you look, Lugosi can be seen looking both to his upper right and upper left - when you"see" this, his eyes appear to swivel! I do not believe this has been written about before, despite being a well known piece.

Beneath this is an original still from 1944's Return on the Vampire, which many consider to be the unofficial sequel to the original, and the still depicts Lugosi's final death scene as the vampire. It is a stunning image.

I hope you enjoy them!

Click for large images.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on September 5, 2023 at 4:08am

I purchased a Frankenstein photo many years ago. The dealer said that it was an original photograph acquired at an estate sale. How can I determine if it is truly an original photograph? There are no stampings on the reverse.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on September 5, 2023 at 5:37am

Cycleback Course Identifying Photographs

I would start here.The photo of your photo doesn't tell me anything. Can you send an uncorrected high res large scan?

Eric

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on September 5, 2023 at 6:56am

I do not have a scanner. Thanks for the link, Eric. I also noticed that the image is not found in Google Images. I am hopeful that it is a rare photograph.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 8, 2024 at 4:43am

I finally located the information about this sketch that I was looking for:

"...commissioned by Lugosi from famed movie star portraitist Henry B. Goode (1882-1966), boldly signed in blue fountain pen in the 1930s. The image was a favorite of the star's, given to dear friends, and would later be featured in Modern Monsters Magazine #2, issued in June of 1966..."

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 8, 2024 at 5:05am

"...The drawings and oils seen here were generated by my grandfather, Henry Goode (pronounced "Goody"), who began painting boats sailing the blue Danube in Budapest at the age of 4-1/2. His art education continued on in Budapest, Paris and New York. Though he immigrated to the United States when but a teen and settled in New York, eventually he played cello in the New York Philharmonic orchestra with Victor Herbert; he also became prominent in the field of dress design.

It wasn't until he came to California in 1922 that landscape paintings and pen and inks of the classic silent screen and early stars of the 1930s and 1940s became his primary focus..."

Goode's studio, a 1949 self portrait and drawings of Ricardo Cortez and Garbo: