Dracula (1931)

Director:

Tod Browning
(more)

Writers:

Bram Stoker (by)
Hamilton Deane (from the play adapted by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Carl Laemmle Presents The VAMPIRE THRILLER! (original posters)

Plot:

The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Vampire | Count | Abbey | Undead

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Count Dracula
Helen Chandler	...	Mina
David Manners	...	John Harker
Dwight Frye	...	Renfield
Edward Van Sloan	...	Van Helsing
Herbert Bunston	...	Doctor Seward
Frances Dade	...	Lucy
Joan Standing	...	Maid
Charles K. Gerrard	...	Martin (as Charles Gerrard)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anna Bakacs	...	Innkeeper's Daughter (uncredited)
Nicholas Bela	...	Coach Passenger (uncredited)
Daisy Belmore	...	Coach Passenger (uncredited)
Barbara Bozoky	...	Innkeeper's Wife (uncredited)
Tod Browning	...	Harbormaster (voice) (uncredited)
Moon Carroll	...	Maid (uncredited)
Geraldine Dvorak	...	Dracula's Wife (uncredited)
John George	...	Small Scientist (uncredited)
Anita Harder	...	Flower Girl (uncredited)
Carla Laemmle	...	Coach Passenger (uncredited)
Donald Murphy	...	Coach Passenger (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	Surgeon (uncredited)
Cornelia Thaw	...	Dracula's Wife (uncredited)
Dorothy Tree	...	Dracula's Wife (uncredited)
Josephine Velez	...	Grace - English Nurse (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Innkeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
Tod Browning
Karl Freund		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Bram Stoker		(by)
Hamilton Deane		(from the play adapted by) &
John L. Balderston		(from the play adapted by)
Garrett Fort		(play script)
Louis Bromfield		contributing writer (uncredited)
Tod Browning		uncredited
Max Cohen		titles (uncredited)
Dudley Murphy		additional dialogue (uncredited)
Louis Stevens		contributing writer (uncredited)

Produced by
E.M. Asher	....	associate producer
Tod Browning	....	producer
Carl Laemmle Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass		(1999)

Cinematography by
Karl Freund

Film Editing by
Milton Carruth		(film editor)

Casting by
Phil M. Friedman		(uncredited)

Production Design by
John Hoffman		(uncredited)
Herman Rosse		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Ed Ware		(uncredited)
Vera West		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott R. Beal	....	first assistant director (uncredited)
Herman Schlom	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Hoffman	....	set designer (uncredited)
Charles A. Logue	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Herman Rosse	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
C. Roy Hunter	....	recording supervisor
Jack Bolger	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Jack Foley	....	foley artist (uncredited)
William Hedgcock	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Brian J. McNamara	....	digital restoration artist (remastered version)
Frank H. Booth	....	photographic effects (uncredited)
William Davidson	....	miniatures (uncredited)
John P. Fulton	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank H. Booth	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Joseph Brotherton	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Roman Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)
King D. Gray	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising film editor

Music Department
Heinz Roemheld	....	conductor (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Carl Laemmle	....	president: Universal Pictures Corporation
Max Cohen	....	title designer (uncredited)
Nan Grant	....	researcher (uncredited)
Charles Logue	....	scenario supervisor (uncredited)
Dudley Murphy	....	continuity (uncredited)
Aileen Webster	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (as Universal Pictures Corporation)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1931) (USA) (theatrical)
• Croeze en Bosman (1931) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Realart Pictures Inc. (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• MCA Videocassette (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Studios (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Nonesuch Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Runtime:

75 min (corrected release length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hungarian | Latin

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Approved | Sweden:7 | Finland:K-15 (2004) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Spain:T | Norway:16 (1931) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1931) | Brazil:12 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

There was no real musical soundtrack in the film because it was believed that, with sound being such a recent innovation in films, the audience would not accept hearing music in a scene if there was no explanation for it being there (e.g., the orchestra playing off camera when Dracula meets Mina at the theatre).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Joan Standing is wrongly credited as a maid, but she was actually playing the part of Briggs (a nurse). Moon Carroll played the uncredited part as a maid. She's the one who faints when Renfield is laughing very scary.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Young Girl Passenger:[reading from a Transylvanian tourist brochure] "Among the rugged peaks that crown down upon the Borgo Pass are found crumbling castles of a bygone age."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Projected Man (#10.1)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Swan Lake, Op.20

Classic Movie from Universal Studios

The real estate agent Remfield (Dwight Frye) travels to Transilvania for a business meeting with Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), who is interested in Carfax Abbey in London. Remfield is converted in a servant of Dracula and prepares his master's ship travel to his new a property. While navigating, Dracula sucks the blood and kills all the crew of the vessel. Once in London, Dracula sucks the blood of Lucy Weston (Frances Dade) and she becomes an undead. He feels also a kind of passion for Mina Seward (Helen Chandler), the daughter of Dr. Jack Seward (Herbert Bunston) and fiancée of Jonathan Harker (David Manners). Draculas sucks her blood, Mina has a weird behavior and health problem, and Dr. Seward calls a specialist, Prof. Abraham Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan), to diagnose the mysterious problem with Mina. Although being a scientist, Van Helsing believes in supernatural, and tries to save Mina from becoming a vampire. "Dracula" is a spectacular well-known classic vampire story, with a magnificent transposition of the Bram Stoker's novel to the cinema. Although being a 1931 black and white movie, the photography and the camera work are excellent. There are at least two magnificent scenes: the long traveling of the camera in the sanatorium, from the yard to Remfield's room and the long stairway in the end of the movie to Dracula's tomb. The performances are quite theatrical, as usual in that period, and the film does not show any explicit violent scene. I dare to say that probably it is Bela Lugosi's best performance. "Universal Studios" released in Brazil a wonderful box, with the shape of a coffin, called "Classic Monster Collection" with eight classic horror movies on DVD. Maybe "Dracula" is may favorite one. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Drácula"