... but I think it is fairly truthful in the end, and gives quite a few details about Lugosi's and Karloff's early years that are hard to find elsewhere. The fact is, Lugosi was far more bitter about being overshadowed cinematically by Karloff over the span of his career than Karloff ever thought about Lugosi.
The key takeaway is that, on their way up, Lugosi always saw himself as a romantic lead where Karloff thought that he would always be a character actor. In the end, their fates were reversed with Karloff having a lot of "jolly good luck" and rather diverse roles while Lugosi made one very fatal error - the rejection of the role of the monster in Frankenstein - that meant a downhill trajectory for his film career from that point forward.
This short documentary omits one key piece of information about Lugosi and that fateful Frankenstein decision. The initial artwork and the script Lugosi was given to read had the monster as a mechanical killing machine, even with the artwork insinuating he had some kind of "killer ray glare". After Lugosi declined the part, then it was decided to make the monster a mostly mute but empathetic figure.
Also, if you go purely by the documentary you might think that Karloff had a much more pacific private life than Lugosi. In fact Lugosi had five wives where Karloff had six! Both, though, only had two marriages after they began working in talking film, both had one divorce and one child during their stardom period, and both died married to their final spouse.
If you want some more information on these stars individually I would recommend the 1998 documentary "Universal Horror". This documentary is probably worthwhile, but Gerald McRaney of CBS' old sitcom "Major Dad" as narrator??? What an odd selection.
The key takeaway is that, on their way up, Lugosi always saw himself as a romantic lead where Karloff thought that he would always be a character actor. In the end, their fates were reversed with Karloff having a lot of "jolly good luck" and rather diverse roles while Lugosi made one very fatal error - the rejection of the role of the monster in Frankenstein - that meant a downhill trajectory for his film career from that point forward.
This short documentary omits one key piece of information about Lugosi and that fateful Frankenstein decision. The initial artwork and the script Lugosi was given to read had the monster as a mechanical killing machine, even with the artwork insinuating he had some kind of "killer ray glare". After Lugosi declined the part, then it was decided to make the monster a mostly mute but empathetic figure.
Also, if you go purely by the documentary you might think that Karloff had a much more pacific private life than Lugosi. In fact Lugosi had five wives where Karloff had six! Both, though, only had two marriages after they began working in talking film, both had one divorce and one child during their stardom period, and both died married to their final spouse.
If you want some more information on these stars individually I would recommend the 1998 documentary "Universal Horror". This documentary is probably worthwhile, but Gerald McRaney of CBS' old sitcom "Major Dad" as narrator??? What an odd selection.
