Roles to Die For

Дополнительные материалы к разделу 6 “What Helps You to Enjoy Yourselves?” Reading section ‘Roles to Die For’ учебника В.П. Кузовлева “English 10-11”

continued from No. 1

BELA LUGOSI: CROSSING THE LINE BETWEEN ROLE AND REALITY

Pre-Reading Activities:

1. Have you ever heard about Bela Lugosi?
2. Can you guess from the title what this text will be about?

According to his wishes, late actor and horror icon Bela Lugosi was buried in the cape that had made him famous. The cape, of course, was that of Count Dracula, the immortal vampire whom Lugosi had portrayed on stage and screen to great acclaim. The role indelibly – and some say, tragically – defined Lugosi and his career.
Born in Hungary in 1882, Bela Lugosi was a leading actor on the European stage by his late teens. In 1921, he left for New York, where his tall frame, powerful baritone voice, and suave demeanor made him a hit on Broadway and a shoe-in for the role of Dracula in the 1927 play.
For 36 weeks Lugosi wowed audiences with his sinister portrait of the cold yet sexually alluring vampire. Indeed, so powerful was his performance that some female audience members reportedly fainted whenever he appeared on stage. Female co-stars, too, were frightened by his offstage silence and intensity. No one fell under the spell of Dracula, however, more than Lugosi himself. Touring with the play for two years, he became so engrossed that he began to think of himself as Dracula.
While shooting the 1931 film version, Lugosi, dressed in the vampire’s black cape, would pace up and down on the set repeating, “I am Dracula.” The self-inspiration worked, because Lugosi’s faded gentry style and unusually cadenced line deliveries defined the Dracula role for every actor after him. Audiences apparently were convinced, too, because the film was a huge hit for Universal Studios and made Lugosi a star.
Dracula irretrievably typecast Lugosi as an evil character, however, and he carelessly picked subsequent roles. Films like The Devil Bat (1941) left audiences cold, and Lugosi quickly faded into obscurity. For comfort, he clung to his glory days as Dracula, wearing his vampire’s cape in public and finally choosing to be buried in it.

1. Find the synonyms of these words in the text:

1. _______________ a long loose piece of clothing without sleeves that fastens around your neck and hangs from your shoulders.
2. _______________ to praise someone or something publicly.
3. _______________ polite, confident, and relaxed, especially in an insincere way.
4. _______________ the way someone behaves or looks that gives you a general idea of their character.
5. _______________ to make people admire you very much.
6. _______________ attractive or desirable.
7. _______________ so interested in something that you do not notice anything else.
8. _______________ the way someone’s voice rises and falls, especially when reading out loud.
9. _______________ without any chance to be made right again.
10. _______________ to always give an actor the same type of character to play.
11. _______________ the state of not being known or remembered.

2. Insert the missing words from the exercise 1:

1. He had a low, __________ voice.
2. O’Brien retired from politics and died in _____________.
3. There was certainly a large element of irony in his ___________.
4. His last play was ____________ by the critics as a masterpiece.
5. He had a low voice, with a sweet ___________ at the end of the phrases.
6. He always gets __________ as the villain.
7. I tried to attract her attention but she was ___________ in conversation with Stephen.
8. He was a _________ and sophisticated gentleman.
9. Miss Wilmot understood that her fortune was ____________ lost.
10. Her performance ___________ the critics.

3. Link the words with their Russian equivalents:

1. engrossed 2. suave 3. obscurity 4. acclaim 5. typecast 6. alluring 7. cadence 8. demeanor 9. faded 10. cape 11. irretrievably 12. intensity 13. wow

a. яркость, глубина b. накидка (с капюшоном), пелерина c. неизвестность d. ошеломлять, поражать e. увядший f. модуляция, понижение голоса g. громко аплодировать, шумно приветствовать i. привлекательный, соблазнительный j. учтивый, обходительный, вежливый k. занимать актера в однотипных ролях l. поведение (манера) m. поглощенный чем-л., увлеченный чем-л. n. безвозвратно

4. Points for discussion:

1. According to your opinion, did the role of Dracula change the life of Bela Lugosi for good or for bad?
2. While performing a role, actors pretend to be other people and sometimes they “lose themselves”. So is it good to be so engrossed in roles or not? Or does it depend on the role?
3. What defines a good actor?
4. Have you ever heard about actors whose lives were greatly changed because of the roles they had played?

BORIS KARLOFF MEETS FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER

In 1931, director James Whale noticed the gaunt and slightly sinister features of William Pratt, an unknown character actor who was sitting across from him in the cafeteria of Universal Studios. The London-born Pratt had already been in Hollywood for 15 years under the screen name of Boris Karloff, and was a veteran extra of some 80 films, most of them silent and forgettable. But Whale saw a potential in the actor that no one had seen before. “Your face has startling possibilities,” Whale declared, and offered Karloff a role that would soon make him famous – Frankenstein’s monster.
The role wasn’t sought-after. For starters, the monster required over 65 pounds of makeup and padding, taking four hours to apply and as many more to remove. Moreover, the character required little more than a lumbering walk (forced by asphalt shoe soles) and a limited range of grunts.
Though Karloff had his doubts about the film, he was willing to make the most of it. Under Whale’s direction he played the monster as a sympathetic victim, by turns a terrifying, tortured, and bewildered creature longing for love. Universal continued to view Karloff as a minor contract player, however – he wasn’t even invited to the gala premiere of Frankenstein. But the film made a staggering $12 million (on a $300,000 investment), and producers suddenly noticed Karloff.
The “startling possibilities” of his face translated into an uncanny ability to appeal to the audience’s sympathies from under heavy layers of makeup. Many of Frankenstein’s most powerful moments were close-up shots of Karloff’s reactions. Universal came to regard him as the natural successor to silent-film star Lon Chaney (“The Man of a Thousand Faces”), and starring roles in subsequent horror films like The Mummy made Karloff a household name.

5. Find the synonyms of these words in the text:

1. _______________ very thin and pale, especially because of illness or continued worry.
2. _______________ making you feel that something evil, wrong, or illegal is happening or will happen.
3. _______________ wanted by a lot of people but rare or difficult to get.
4. _______________ soft material used to fill or cover something to make it softer or more comfortable.
5. _______________ flat bottom part of a shoe, not including the heel.
6. _______________ a short low sound made deep in your throat like the sound a pig makes.
7. _______________ totally confused.
8. _______________ very surprising, shocking, and almost unbelievable.
9. _______________ very strange and difficult to explain.
10. _______________ someone who takes a position previously held by someone else.

6. Insert the missing words from the exercise 5:

1. It was ___________ to see how closely they resembled each other.
2. Was it all a cover-up for more ______ activities?
3. Bryce became a much _________ defense lawyer.
4. The cost was a ____________ $10 million.
5. Chris just gave a __________ and went back to sleep.
6. I looked into her face and it was ____________ with exhaustion.
7. Benny looked around, a ____________ expression on his face.
8. His ________ as chairman takes over next week.

7. Link the words with their Russian equivalents:

1. bewildered 2. sought-after 3. sole 4. sinister 5. successor 6. uncanny 7. grunt 8. gaunt 9. staggering 10. padding

a. пользующийся спросом, модный b. ошеломленный, пораженный c. ворчанье, мычанье (о человеке) d. жуткий, зловещий, сверхъестественный e. удлиненный, вытянутый f. набивка g. подошва, подметка i. преемник, наследник j. в замешательстве k. зловещий, страшный, мрачный

8. Points for discussion:

1. According to your opinion what characters are more difficult to play: evil ones or good ones?
2. Do “monster features” change with time? (As, for example, beauty standard change)
3. What actors and actresses are mostly remembered by the general public: sex-symbols or sinister-looking ones? Why do you think it is so?

Guessing Game “Name a Star”

Make a star riddle using the following clues. Read your star clues to the class (or to your group. and they will try to guess the name of the star.

Enriching Vocabulary

Read the definitions of the following words:

alternative artsy entertaining hilarious intense light mainstream superficial suspenseful thought-provoking

something which is done in a different way, not done in the normal way (in the U.S., alternative films are usually artistic films or foreign language films.) extremely artistic, overly artistic, too artistic (often suggests that someone tried too hard to make something artistic) something which entertains; amusing and interesting something which is very funny; something which makes you laugh containing strong emotions or feelings; extreme (an intense film is one which emotionally drains you or makes you tired. Intense is not necessarily negative, it just means that a movie is not light or relaxing.) relaxing, amusing, not too intense (this is the opposite of “intense.”) something which is usual, or normally done (mainstream films are those which are usually high budget, popular, and made for entertainment. “Mainstream” is the opposite of “alternative.”) not deep or profound; lacking real content; only on the surface something which makes you keep guessing or makes you question how something will end something which makes you think

Entertaining Films

alternative, artsy, entertaining, hilarious, intense, light, mainstream, superficial, suspenseful, thought- provoking

1. If we go to a movie, I would like to see a ___________ comedy. I don’t want to have to think – I just want to be entertained.
2. Most movie theaters are primarily interested in making money, so they prefer to show _________ movies which have a greater earning potential.
3. There is an _______ cinema downtown which specializes in artistic films and foreign language films.
4. That movie was _________. I have never laughed so hard in my life.
5. That documentary was just a __________ look at the life of Oscar Wilde; it would have been better if they had gone into more depth and fully discussed his early years.
6. Although the story was simple and the acting was average, I thought the movie was still very __________.
7. That murder-mystery was fantastic. It was incredibly – ______ – I had no idea how it would end.
8. That new Swedish film was so _________ that we were up all night discussing it.
9. I thought the movie was really strange. Why was half of it in black and white? Why did she keep dreaming in French? I think the whole thing was just a little too __________ for me.
10. I don’t want to see anything that is too _________. Can’t we just see a movie which is light and entertaining?

Do the crossword.

Across:

3. The owner of the first Russian film studio.
4. A US film director, writer and producer. Among his films are such blockbusters as: Jaws, Jurassic Park, Shindler’s List, War of the Worlds.
7. Male star of the film Frankenstein.
9. An American actor and comedian who is known mostly for his roles in such films as The Nutty Professor, Beverly Hills Cop.
10. Indian-born English actress, who became world-famous after her performance as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.
14. A creator of the world famous animated mouse.
15. A Russian film director and screenwriter. He is famous for his films Sibiriade and Uncle Vanya.
16. A Russian film actor, director, screenwriter, who starred in a film I am Walking along Moscow. He won an Oscar for his film Burnt by the Sun.
17. A Canadian-born US actress, the first star of silent films, known as “America’s Sweetheart”.

Down:

1. One of the most popular Russian actresses of pre-revolutionary cinema.
2. A Russian actor best known for his roles in pre-revolutionary films.
5. An American film actor, the leading male star of Gone with the Wind.
6. A Soviet film director and screenwriter. His best known works are Solaris and Stalker.
8. The male star of the film Dracula.
11. A Russian actor and director well-known for his films for children.
12. An English film actor and director. A comic star of silent films.
13. A Soviet film director best known for his fairy-tales.

Key:

1. 1. cape; 2. acclaim; 3. suave; 4. demeanor; 5. wow; 6. alluring; 7. engrossed; 8. cadence; 9. irretrievably; 10. typecast; 11. obscurity
2. 1. alluring; 2. obscurity; 3. demeanor; 4. acclaimed; 5. cadence; 6. typecast; 7. engrossed; 8. suave; 9. irretrievably; 10. wowed
3. 1. m; 2. j; 3. c; 4. g; 5. k; 6. i; 7. f; 8. l; 9. e; 10. b; 11. n; 12. a; 13. d
5. 1. gaunt; 2. sinister; 3. sought-after; 4. padding; 5. sole; 6. grunt; 7. bewildered; 8. staggering; 9. uncanny; 10. successor
6. 1. uncanny; 2. sinister; 3. sought-after; 4. staggering; 5. grunt; 6. gaunt; 7. bewildered; 8. successor
7. 1. j; 2. a; 3. g; 4. k; 5. i; 6. d; 7. c; 8. e; 9. b; 10. f

Vocabulary: 1. light; 2. mainstream; 3. alternative; 4. hilarious; 5. superficial; 6. entertaining; 7. suspenseful; 8. thought-provoking; 9. artsy; 10. intense

Crossword:

Across: 3. Khanzhonkov; 4. Spielberg; 7. Karloff; 9. Murphy; 10. Leigh; 14. Disney; 15. Konchalovski; 16. Mikhalkov; 17. Pickford

Down: 1. Kholodnaya; 2. Polonski; 5. Gable; 6. Tarkovski; 8. Lugosi; 11. Bykov; 12. Chaplin; 13. Rou