Dracula's Daughter (1936)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Lambert Hillyer

Writers:

Bram Stoker (based on work by)
David O. Selznick (suggestion)

Release Date:

11 May 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Look out, she'll get you!

Plot:

Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska seeks the aid of a noted psychiatrist, in hopes of freeing herself of a mysterious evil influence.

Plot Keywords:

Corpse | Dracula | Murder | Scotland Yard | Curse

Cast

Otto Kruger	...	Jeffrey Garth
Gloria Holden	...	Countess Marya Zaleska - Dracula's Daughter
Marguerite Churchill	...	Janet
Edward Van Sloan	...	Prof. Von Helsing
Gilbert Emery	...	Sir Basil Humphrey
Irving Pichel	...	Sandor
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Hawkins (as Halliwell Hobbs)
Billy Bevan	...	Albert
Nan Grey	...	Lili
Hedda Hopper	...	Lady Esme Hammond
Claud Allister	...	Sir Aubrey (as Claude Allister)
Edgar Norton	...	Hobbs
E.E. Clive	...	Sergeant Wilkes

Also Known As:

Daughter of Dracula

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2004) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Spain:13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #2019) | Sweden:7 | Germany:12

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This was originally to be another project for director James Whale. The script he submitted was so "outrageous" (in various senses of the word) that he was taken off the project. A virtual list of writers submitted treatments and scripts.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Van Helsing addresses one of the police officers as "constable", in spite of his obvious sergeant stripes. Although this may be Van Helsing's error, it is curious that the officer (who is established as a pompous, self-important character) does not attempt to correct him.

Quotes:

Dr. Garth: You know, this is the first woman's flat I've been in that didn't have at least 20 mirrors in it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Andy Richter Controls the Universe: Charity Begins in Cellblock D (#2.12)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Nocturne No.5 F Sharp Major, Op.15-2

Better than Dracula?

To be honest I normally shy away from reviewing the classics. Rather stick to the lesser known shadowy obscure films to warn you about and/or poke fun at.But every so often there is a film that has a bad rap that is undeserved or the film is misunderstood and ol skip has to scream at the injustice. Dracula's Daughter is such a film.

There is no need to go into the plot in detail.Dracula's daughter appears in London. She steals and burns Dracula's corpse.Thus she feels she is free of the taint of vampirism with the death of her father.But she isn't and tries to enlist the aid of a psychiatrist to help cure her.

The film is atmospheric, foggy and great fun.Gloria Holden is superb as the Countess and Pichel is slimily evil as her human familiar.The drawback to the film is the extremely obnoxious leading man who is totally unsympathetic and unprofessional(but yet true to life).

This isn't hampered by the drawing room bound settings that slowed Dracula to a halt.Definitely a classic to enjoy!