You may remember Bela Lugosi in his  iconic title role in Dracula. Or you may remember him as the evil Russian commissar inNinotchka. Or in his roles as the villain in a series of B grade hor- ror films. If you’re a Tim Burton fan, you may think of him as theloopy character played by Martin Landau in Ed Wood.

 

The real-life Bela Lugosi was born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary, on October 20, 1882. As an actor, hetook the stage name “Lugosi” in honor of his birth- place.

 

As part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary entered World War I in 1914, and Lugosi, like other young men, volunteered forthe Hungarian army. Like other young men, he experienced the horror of war – at one point being an article praising the Soviet Union to the socialist magazine New Masses.

 

Before long, Lugosi’s political activities caught the attention of J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI and CIA both opened files on theactor. The House Un-Amer- ican Activities Committee (HUAC) appointed the so-called “Dracula council” to keep tabs on Lugosi.INS even looked into deporting him, despite the fact that he had held American citizenship since 1931.

 

Lugosi was not the only horror star to be targeted for their political activism. Fellow Hungarian refugee Peter Lorre, star of M, andVincent Price, who had appeared in the Invisible Man Returns, received scrutiny for participating in the anti-HUAC radiobroadcast “Hollywood Strikes Back.” The two spoke buried alive under the corpses of his fellow soldiers. And, like many other young men, he came out of the war as a firm supporter of socialism.

 

The war led to the collapse of most` of the old European empires. The Bol- sheviks established the world’s first socialist state onthe ruins of the Russian Empire. The Kaiser fled Germany, and the new German government, with the help of right-wing militias,barely put down a communist-led insurrection.

 

The Austro-Hungarian Empire broke up into its constituent parts. In Hungary, local communists attempted to replicate theRussian revolution, setting up the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919. Lugosi, by then already an activist in the Hungarian actor’sunion, supported the revolution.

 

The Hungarian Soviet was short- lived. Britain and France encouraged Romania to invade Hungary and occupy a large part ofits territory. Admiral Miklós Horthy, a leftover from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, set up a military dictatorship in the remainder of Hungary. Lugosi fled the country.

 

He ended up in New York where he acted in Hungarian stage plays before being cast in the English language play The Red Poppy. In 1927, he was cast in the role that made him famous: Count Dracula. Lugosi’s charismatic stage performance and his persistent lobbying of Universal Studios got him the role in the 1931 film version.

 

After his star-making film role in Dracula, Lugosi became a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Another founding member was Frankenstein star and frequent Lugosi costar Boris Karloff.

 

The two actors worked to sign up the casts of their films, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Raven, and The Invisible Ray. Theirefforts paid off when SAG signed its first contract with the Hollywood studios in 1937.

 

Lugosi’s solidarity extended beyond his fellow actors. During World War II, Bela Lugosi headed the Hungarian American Council for Democracy, an anti-fascist organization. In 1945 he signed a petition protesting the deportation proceedings against ILWU leader Harry Bridges. Lugosi also contributed out alongside Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and other stars.

 

Lorre was also investigated because of his long-standing friendship with Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Price was unable to find work for a year due to his outspokenness, and under pressure from the FBI had to sign a secret oath that he was not a communist.

 

Socialist Themes in Lugosi’s Horror Films

 

No one would say Lugosi made great films, but many of his movies contain memorable political and social themes.

 

The 1932 film White Zombie, in which Lugosi played voodoo master Murder Legendre, dramatizes the exploitation of Black Haitians. Legendre uses his zombie slaves to work his sugar mill and increase his wealth. He offers his zombie workers to a plantation owner saying “They are not worried about long hours.”

 

When one of the zombies falls into the mill and is crushed, work continues as usual. Nothing is allowed to delay the productionof profits. This scene is in- tended as a critique of the forced labor system that was actually introduced in Haiti during what was then a US military occupation.

 

Another 1932 horror film, Island of the Lost Souls, an adaptation of the Island of Doctor Moreau, contains similar anti-colonial themes. Lugosi has the small, but important role of the Sayer of the Law, the mouthpiece of Dr. Moreau’slaws for the Beast Men. At the climax of the film, the Beast Men attack Moreau, after the Doctor has ordered one ofthem to commit murder.

 

The purpose of the oppressor’s laws are revealed to be total control over the masses, and he is free to break his own laws whenconvenient. Moreau defends him- self with a whip, the tool of the slaver. This climax was so shocking that the film was banned in many countries.

 

Tellingly, in Australia it was forbidden from being shown to Aboriginal audiences, lest they get any ideas of how to deal withtheir colonial overlords.

 

The 1934 film The Black Cat was a highpoint in Lugosi’s filmography. The film was the first to team him with Boris Karloff and both actors give stunning performances.

 

The plot follows Werdegast (Lugosi) and Poelzig (Karloff), both veterans of the Eastern front during World War I. Poelzig betrayed Werdegast and the other soldiers to the enemy and left them for dead.

 

Lugosi as Werdegast gives a powerful anti-war monologue saying, “Did we not both die here in Marmorus 15 years ago? Are we any the less victims of the war than those whose bodies were torn asunder? Are we not both the living dead?”

 

Many of Lugosi's films are available on popular streaming services. They're worth a look.

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Mike Andrew is the Executive Director of PSARA and Editor of the Advocate