Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Director:

Lambert Hillyer

Writers:

Garrett Fort (screenplay)
Bram Stoker (story)
(more)

Release Date:

11 May 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

She gives you that weird feeling!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Countess | Psychiatrist | Hungarian | Dracula | Corpse

Cast

Otto Kruger	...	Jeffrey Garth
Gloria Holden	...	Contessa Marya Zeleska
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	...	Sgt. Wilkes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Agnes Anderson	...	Elena - Bride in Transylvania (uncredited)
John Blood	...	Bobby (uncredited)
David Dunbar	...	Motor Bobby (uncredited)
Douglas Gordon	...	Attendant (uncredited)
Owen Gorin	...	Groom's Friend (uncredited)
Gordon Hart	...	Mr. Graham - Host (uncredited)
Elsa Janssen	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Guy Kingsford	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Bookstore Proprietor (uncredited)
Edna Lyall	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Eily Malyon	...	Miss Peabody - Nurse (uncredited)
Paul Mitchell	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Clive Morgan	...	Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Vesey O'Davoren	...	Butler (uncredited)
John Power	...	Police Official (uncredited)
Hedwiga Reicher	...	Innkeeper's Wife (uncredited)
Christian Rub	...	Coachman (uncredited)
William Schramm	...	Groom in Transylvania (uncredited)
George Sorel	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
Pietro Sosso	...	Priest (uncredited)
Bert Sprotte	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Vernon Steele	...	Squires (uncredited)
Joseph R. Tozer	...	Dr. Graham (uncredited)
Silvia Vaughan	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Brincken	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Fred Walton	...	Dr. Beemish - Chief of Staff (uncredited)
Paul Weigel	...	Transylvania Innkeeper (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Butler (uncredited)
Douglas Wood	...	Dr. Townsend (uncredited)

Directed by
Lambert Hillyer

Writing credits
Garrett Fort		(screenplay)
Bram Stoker		(story)
David O. Selznick		(suggestion) (as Oliver Jeffries)
John L. Balderston		story (uncredited)
Charles Belden		contributing writer (uncredited)
Finley Peter Dunne		contributing writer (uncredited)
Kurt Neumann		treatment (uncredited)
R.C. Sherriff		contributing writer (uncredited)

Produced by
E.M. Asher	....	producer
Harry Zehner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
George Robinson

Film Editing by
Milton Carruth

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino

Costume Design by
Brymer		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Grace Boyd	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Otto Lederer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Victor Noerdlinger	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Sergei Petschnikoff	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gilbert Kurland	....	sound supervisor
Joe Lapis	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special cinematographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Vera West	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Clifford Vaughan	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Edward Ward	....	conductor (uncredited)
Edward Ward	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Other crew
Kathleen Deek	....	stand-in: Gloria Holden (uncredited)
Myrtle Gibsone	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Fred Keck	....	stand-in: Otto Kruger (uncredited)
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter (uncredited)
Katherine Stanley	....	stand-in: Marguerite Churchill (uncredited)
Peggy Vaughan	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (as Universal Productions Inc.)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal International Pictures (UI) (1937) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures Inc. (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2007) (Canada) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #2019) | Sweden:7 | Germany:12 | Finland:K-7 (2004) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Spain:13 | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1937) | Brazil:10

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

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 in geography: In both Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936), Whitby is constantly alluded to as being right next to London. In fact, they are 200 miles apart. Apparently screenwriter Garrett Fort misread the passages that Bram Stoker wrote in the novel's chapters set in Whitby.

Quotes:

Hawkins:[comes out of Dracula's castle] Some man is in there with a stake through his heart.
Albert:Scary.
Hawkins:[looks at Van Helsing] You know anything about this?
Prof. Von Helsing:Yes, I did it.
Hawkins:Who is he in there?
Prof. Von Helsing:His name's Count Dracula.
Hawkins:How long has he been dead?
Prof. Von Helsing:About 500 years.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Snix (1993)

Soundtrack:

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

Daddy's Little Ghoul

"Dracula's Daughter" (Universal, 1936), directed by Lambert Hillyer, based on Bram Stoker's story, "Dracula's Guest," is a long overdue sequel to the 1931 classic, "Dracula," starring Bela Lugosi, the film that started the Universal horror cycle of the 1930s. With Dracula being one of the most famous of vampire movies, it's sequel, which ended the first cycle of horror, captures all the moods and atmospheric elements of a fine horror film, is sadly very underrated and seldom revived these days possibly because of its lack of "star names" heading the cast. Tastefully underscored, by which the original lacked, also helps make this movie worth viewing.

"Dracula's Daughter" begins where its predecessor ended. In spite of the five year span between films, minus all the principle players from the earlier film, only Edward Van Sloan reprises his role as Professor Van Helsing, the role he originated from the 1927 stage production that featured Bela Lugosi. The leading romantic characters of Mina Seward and John Harker are gone and not seen nor mentioned again. The story opens in a gloomy mansion in England where police officials arrive to find a dead body of a Mr. Renfield and the body of Count Dracula in a coffin with a stake pressed through his heart as committed by Professor Van Helsing. Confessing to the deed of Dracula's demise, he is then placed under arrest and taken to Scotland Yard. Later, a mysterious woman named Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), Dracula's daughter, along with her evil looking assistant named Sandor (Irving Pichel), take the body of her vampire father and burns it to ashes during a Black Mass. Although she feels she is free from her father's curse, Zakeska continues to seek out her victims as did her late father. One of her proposed victims is a young blonde streetwalker named Lily (Nan Grey), who is "hired" to become her model, but learns that this mysterious woman wants more than her time to pose.

Otto Kruger heads the cast as Doctor Jeffrey Garth, a psychoanalyst who is called on by Zaleska for help, but instead she becomes very much interested in this mortal. Marguerite Churchill co-stars as Janet Blake, Garth's assistant and fiancée who is later kidnapped by Zaleska and taken to Dracula's castle in Transylvania where the young girl is held hostage in order to get Garth. Unlike "Dracula," this sequel includes some moments of intentional humor, supplied by Hedda Hopper as Lady Esme Hammond, a society woman, who recites one particular line, "My guests are just dying to meet you"; Billy Bevan, a comedian of silent comedy, as a frightened policeman; Claude Allister as Sir Aubrey Vail. Look for E.E. Clive (the noted burgomaster from "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) in a smaller role.

The sole interest to this minor horror gem is Gloria Golden, a newcomer making her second screen appearance. In spite of her fine performance, she never became a household name as Bela Lugosi. In fact, Holden even looks like she could have been Lugosi's overgrown daughter, especially with her dark mannerisms and ghostly features. Since there wasn't much of a market for female movie monsters, Holden's career in this genre was thus short lived. She appeared in other movies, but this is possibly the one film that showcases her best, leaving some lasting appeal to her character. Her moments of horror such as her gloomy moments during the Black Mass and her hypnotizing her proposed victims are notable mentions. While "Dracula's Daughter" is nearly forgotten, it is worth digging up again.

DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, available on either video cassette or DVD, formerly aired on cable TV's Sci-Fi Channel (late 1980s), American Movie Classics channel (prior to 2001) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: November 30, 2012). Horror movie fans should some great chills and thrills with this one. (**1/2)