An excerpt of
Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake was used in both openings to the 1931 movie ‘Dracula’
with Bela Lugosi and in the 1933 film ‘The Mummy’ with Boris Karloff, which is
highly unusual…the connection there may have been that Karl Freund directed
both films although he was not credited with helping to direct ‘Dracula’
although he is listed as the cinematographer…later, Freund was the
cinematographer for the famed television series I Love Lucy beginning in 1951…
critics have credited Freund for the show's brilliant look, but even more
importantly, Freund designed what is called the "flat lighting"
system for shooting sitcoms that incredibly is still in use today…Swan Lake’
was a ballet written by Tchaikovsky in 1876…originally a failure, it has gained
great popularity over the years…
