Son of Dracula (1943)

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writers:

Eric Taylor (screenplay)
Curt Siodmak (story)

Release Date:

5 November 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Can You Take It? More Startling . . . More Blood-Curdling Than Anything You've Ever Seen!

Plot:

Count Alucard (read his name backwards) finds his way from Budapest to the swamps of the Deep South; his four nemeses are a medical doctor, a university professor, a jilted fiancé and the woman he loves.

Plot Keywords:

Count | Swamp | Professor | Occult | Doctor

Cast

Robert Paige	...	Frank Stanley
Louise Allbritton	...	Katherine Caldwell
Evelyn Ankers	...	Claire Caldwell
Frank Craven	...	Dr. Harry Brewster
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Prof. Lazlo
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Judge Simmons
Adeline De Walt Reynolds	...	Madame Zimba (as Adeline DeWalt Reynolds)
Pat Moriarity	...	Sheriff Dawes (as Patrick Moriarity)
Etta McDaniel	...	Sarah
George Irving	...	Col. Caldwell
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Count Dracula aka Count Alucard (as Lon Chaney)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Bates	...	Tommy Land (uncredited)
Joan Blair	...	Mrs. Land (uncredited)
Jess Lee Brooks	...	Stephen, the Valet (uncredited)
Jimmy the Crow	...	Madame Zimba's Crow (uncredited)
Cyril Delevanti	...	Dr. Peters, the Coroner (uncredited)
Robert Dudley	...	Jonathan Kirby, Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Ben Erway	...	Charlie - Train Conductor (uncredited)
Robert F. Hill	...	Deputy Shooting at Frank (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Andy, Servant Who Greets Dracula (uncredited)
George Meeker	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Charles R. Moore	...	Matthew, Plantation Worker (uncredited)
Jack Rockwell	...	Jack, Deputy (uncredited)
Walter Sande	...	Mac, Deputy (uncredited)
Emmett Smith	...	Servant (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Siodmak

Writing credits
Eric Taylor		(screenplay)
Curt Siodmak		(story) (as Curtis Siodmak)

Produced by
Ford Beebe	....	producer
Donald H. Brown	....	associate producer
Jack J. Gross	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Hans J. Salter		(as H.J. Salter)

Cinematography by
George Robinson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Saul A. Goodkind		(as Saul Goodkind)

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman
Martin Obzina

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(as R.A. Gausman)
Edward R. Robinson		(as E.R. Robinson)

Costume Design by
Vera West		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Emmy Eckhardt	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Melville Shyer	....	assistant director
Ford Beebe	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Wally Kirkpatrick	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
Charles Carroll	....	sound technician
Edwin Wetzel	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Walter Bluemel	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Max Nippell	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Roland Smith	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ann Fielder	....	wardrober: women (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Carl Himm	....	assistant cutter (uncredited)

Music Department
Werner R. Heymann	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Charles Previn	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Mary Chaffee	....	script clerk (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (as Universal Pictures Company Inc.)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures Inc. (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2007) (Canada) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 (original rating) | Sweden:7 (re-rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #9194) | Germany:12 | Finland:K-11 (2004) | Spain:13 | Brazil:10

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Lon Chaney Jr.'s only vampire characterization, filmed January 7-early February, 1943, and released November 5.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: This film is a sequel to the Bram Stoker novel Dracula rather than the film Dracula (1931). Professor Lazlo's exposition of Dracula's backstory describes events of the novel which were not shown in the earlier film.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Harry [townsman bit]:How are ya, doctor?
Prof. Harry Brewster:Hi, Harry.
Frank Stanley:Hey, Charlie!
Charlie, station agent:Hello Dr. Brewster, Mr. Stanley.
Frank Stanley:How are ya. Say, uh, those all the passengers you have?
Charlie, station agent:Just the four.
Prof. Harry Brewster:You didn't put anyone off at the wrong station, did you? We're here to meet a friend of the Caldwells, a Count Alucard.
Charlie, station agent:There was no Count on this train. All customers. Say - there was a lot of stuff in the baggage car that might belong to your Count.
Prof. Harry Brewster:Thanks, we'll take a look at it.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

"Put it out!"

I thought "Son of Dracula" was the pits when I was a kid. I simply found it slow and tedious and lacking in the kind of mesmeric atmosphere that makes the best vampire entertainment really tick. But, reviewing the film recently, I found myself enjoying it thoroughly. Go figure...

It's still no masterpiece, of course. Shoehorning Count Alucard/Dracula into a Louisiana swamp-and-plantation setting has always struck me as a weird and arbitrary move. (Though Dracula does get some interesting dialog about how he's attracted to America because it's a youthful and vigorous land.) And the human protagonists are too drippy for my tastes. The supposed hero is Frank Stanley, but his character is too thinly developed to be truly sympathetic. In fact, in an early scene he expresses a sort of jerky glee when the local voodoo woman drops dead of a heart attack, so I suppose you could say he's aggressively unsympathetic!

As usual, the vampires stand head and shoulders above the boring humans. Some people are critical of Chaney's performance, but I think he's pretty good. He's definitely a different sort of vampire from Lugosi - he's less ethereal, and more aggressively powerful. You could say he foreshadows Christopher Lee's forceful portrayal of Dracula in the 1950s-70s films from England's Hammer Studios. Louise Allbritton is even more effective in her role as the female vampire, and, in an interesting twist, she's allowed to have a set of motivations and ambitions that are totally different from Dracula's. In fact, in many ways she's the main character.

In the end, then, I think this movie stacks up pretty well to other films in the Universal series. It's not as eerie as "Dracula" or "Dracula's Daughter," probably because it's a more modern and technologically advanced film. (The primitiveness of the early entries in the series actually makes them scarier!) But it's certainly easier to watch than its predecessors, thanks to its more glossy look, full music score and occasional nifty special effects. You gotta love that mist stuff...

On a side note, I do think that Cheney is playing Dracula's son, and not the original Dracula himself. I'm surprised to see so much controversy about that point on this site. The film is called "Son of Dracula," after all, and J. Edward Bromberg identifies Alucard as a "descendant" of Dracula. Sure, Alucard admits to being a "Dracula" at one point, but not necessarily THE Dracula. As father and son, they would have the same surname - right? Oh, never mind, this is giving me a headache!

One more odd matter of continuity. Bromberg's character says at one point that Dracula was destroyed "in the 19th century." But, since the Universal films had a contemporary setting, wasn't he destroyed in the 20th century in this particular universe? Just thought I'd mention that.