I went and saw Faust at a local theatre and was struck by Mephisto's design
That's a vampire! That is the classic old school cinema vampire. Long black cloak, slinking around the room, and the classic hair style. I was sure I was seeing the addition of the Widow's Peak to the vampire repertorie, even if Mephisto is not one himself.
But upon looking into it I found the claim that the style comes from the famous Bela Lugosi, and his actual hairstyle.
But that article gives a year for the first appearance of Bela on stage as Dracula, 1927. Faust was released in 1926!
I have found one article making the same connection, so I'm not the first one to see this link
Janning’s cape and widow’s peak seem an obvious inspiration for Lugosi’s Dracula. This is also hinted at in his appearance over the village as a giant bat.
But Faust was not a commercial success, is it really believable that the Broadway version of Dracula was pulling so much inspiration from a German movie released just a year earlier?
I'd love to know if anyone can correct me on any of this, or has any information to resolve the mystery.
Also go watch Faust if you haven't, its a fantastic movie.
I see what you're saying, but the claim I've found in several articles is that it isn't that Bela was cast because he sounded like a vampire, but that vampires sound like that because of Bela. I need to try to find a better source, a book or something. And maybe reach out to the author with my question.
I'll check out the podcast :^)
Dracula was published in 1897 and put the vampire count's origin in Transylvania, Romania. Bela Lugosi was born and raised in what is now Lugoj, Romania, and would go on to play Dracula on Broadway in 1927, then the the Dracula movie began production in 1930.
Bela certainly made his mark on the character, but the accent was just typecasting not an artistic choice.