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2 authenticated Bela Lugosi Dracula signed photos

I came across two William Morris agency signed photos of Bela Lugosi in character from what I believe is the 1940's revival of Dracula. They both measure 3 x 5". The first passed a couple of years ago at Iconic Auctions...don't know if it has sold since. The second is currently being offered by PressPass on their site. Both authenticated by Beckett who I believe authenticates for both of them. I'm curious what your thoughts might be on these. The second one looks a little more "natural" to me. I honestly don't know his signature well enough but would like to learn more. It is cool that they are both signed in red ink!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on February 4, 2021 at 6:48pm

I believe these are from the early 1950's stage production. The image is a William Morris Agency photograph Lugosi had reprinted himself in postcard size. Nice later examples, Lugosi actually preferred green ink. Here is my double weight signed portrait from 1928 - between the original Broadway version in 1927 and the 1931 Universal film. This matte portrait hung in a NYC Italian restaurant for decades. It came from Tom Kramer via Dr. Gary Brucato. It is paired with a 1930's Pentagram still and an 11" x 14" double exposure portrait owned by Lugosi and stolen by his agent in 1947. Lastly is a scan from my original master 35 mm reel of 1953's Glen or Glenda by Ed Wood Jr. This print was the producers, George Weiss, before it came to me.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on February 4, 2021 at 7:30pm

Very nice, Eric. Quite the collection!

Here's an interesting Lugosi. It's from a program of his 1943 stage show. I know a bit of the provenance on this one as it came from a fellow who was a boy when he saw Bela onstage and an autograph was collected. If you will look closely, everything but the "B" in Bela is pretty well spot on for that mid-40's style period of his hand. Apparently Bela was having some ink flow issues and made a bit of a mess with that first letter. It continues pretty well after that.

Does something like that hiccup with the first letter turn you off from a collecting standpoint? Personally, it really doesn't bother me. Ink flow issues flare up from time to time for anyone who writes with a pen and we've all scratched around trying to get a pen going. I could imagine an auction house possibly not accepting it though.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on February 5, 2021 at 2:18am

Yes, a better example is always desirable. Lugosi stopped using the accent over the "e" is 1944 IIRC. Or 1947 - I can't recall. Is this from HD? BTW, the mark on Lugosi's face in my SP is only in the scan, not on the photograph.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on February 5, 2021 at 7:37am

It is from HD. It's now been a number of years ago that I spoke to the owner of HD about it (he is now deceased). He told me the story of it's provenance and it sounded convincing so I didn't doubt it. I kept an image of it in my file and have used it for an exemplar reference a time or two.

Does it look good to you, Eric?

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on February 5, 2021 at 1:24pm

The question I used to write about - it is authentic, but is it of quality? This is authentic, but a better example w/o the pen problem is obviously a better acquisition. I remembered it from when I reviewed their Lugosi's because I have never seen another signature of his with such as problem. There is also a glue or other problem likely from behind on the upper right. I'd keep looking. I like the first two. First one has better contrast and strength.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on February 8, 2021 at 10:43am

Eric- Here's a close up and more detailed image of that Lugosi signed 1940's program that HD has. It looks like the pen got caught up on the "g" in his last name as well. The more that I look at it, the more that I'm thinking this might not even be real.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on February 8, 2021 at 3:09pm

Either way, it eliminates itself because of the issues you raised. The "g" appears to be a slightly sloppy example of his normal European kickback - as in the "e". The signature does have some odd traits, such as the last letters of "Lugosi". The signature fluctuates between comfortable and uncomfortable.