Dracula (1979)

Director:

John Badham

Writers:

Bram Stoker (novel)
Hamilton Deane (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 July 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Throughout history he has filled the hearts of men with terror, and the hearts of women with desire.

Plot:

Romanticized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 classic. Set in 1913 England, the bloodsucking, but handsome, charming and seductive, Count Dracula seeks an immortal bride.

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Asylum | Vampire | Cockroach | Tragic Villain

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Frank Langella	...	Count Dracula
Laurence Olivier	...	Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
Donald Pleasence	...	Dr. Jack Seward
Kate Nelligan	...	Lucy Seward
Trevor Eve	...	Jonathan Harker
Jan Francis	...	Mina Van Helsing
Janine Duvitski	...	Annie
Tony Haygarth	...	Milo Renfield
Teddy Turner	...	Swales
Sylvester McCoy	...	Walter (as Sylveste McCoy)
Kristine Howarth	...	Mrs. Galloway
Joe Belcher	...	Tony Hindley
Ted Carroll	...	Scarborough Sailor
Frank Birch	...	Harbormaster
Gabor Vernon	...	Captain of Demeter
Frank Henson	...	Demeter Sailor
Peter Wallis	...	Priest

Directed by
John Badham

Writing credits
Bram Stoker		(novel)
Hamilton Deane		(play) &
John L. Balderston		(play)
W.D. Richter		(screenplay)

Produced by
Marvin Mirisch	....	executive producer
Walter Mirisch	....	producer
Tom Pevsner	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Williams

Cinematography by
Gilbert Taylor

Film Editing by
John Bloom

Casting by
Mary Selway

Production Design by
Peter Murton

Art Direction by
Brian Ackland-Snow

Costume Design by
Julie Harris

Makeup Department
Eric Allwright	....	makeup artist
Susie Hill	....	hair stylist
Colin Jamison	....	hair stylist
Peter Robb-King	....	makeup artist
Jane Royle	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Hugh Harlow	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gerry Gavigan	....	second unit director
Anthony Wave	....	assistant director

Art Department
Andy Andrews	....	property master
Terry Apsey	....	construction manager
Reg Richards	....	construction manager
Peter Young	....	set dresser
Andy Aitken	....	plasterer (uncredited)
Dennis Murray	....	plasterer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	sound editor
Robin Gregory	....	sound mixer
Gerry Humphreys	....	sound re-recordist
Terry Sharratt	....	boom operator
Jeremy Hume	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Roy Arbogast	....	special effects
Michael Dawson	....	special effects assistant
Tad Krzanowski	....	special effects (uncredited)
Michael White	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Maurice Binder	....	visual consultant
Brian Smithies	....	models
Albert Whitlock	....	special visual effects
Henry Schoessler	....	matte crew (uncredited)

Stunts
Eddie Powell	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Berner	....	assistant camera
Leslie Dear	....	additional photographer
Wick Finch	....	electrician
Roy Ford	....	camera operator
Ray Hall	....	grip
Harry Oakes	....	additional photographer
Bob Penn	....	still photographer
Laurie Shane	....	gaffer
Peter Taylor	....	assistant camera
Roy Larner	....	best boy (uncredited)
Marc Wolff	....	pilot: camera helicopter (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brenda Dabbs	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Chris Ridsdale	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (as Herbert Spencer)

Other crew
Gordon Arnell	....	publicist
Jim Brennan	....	location manager
Bee Broomfield	....	production secretary
Pamela Carlton	....	continuity
Len Cave	....	production accountant
Reg Dent	....	horse master
Jan Francis	....	dance arranger
John Holmes	....	animal coordinator
Philip Kohler	....	location manager
Judit Thompson	....	assistant: Mr. Badham
Joyce Turner	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures
• Mirisch Corporation, The

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1979) (France) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1981) (USA) (TV)
• MCA Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• CIC Video (19??) (France) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Winkler Film (2009) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Effects Associates

Other Companies

• Camera Effects  credits
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• London Symphony Orchestra, The (LSO)  music performed by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Dutch | Romanian | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | UK:X (theatrical rating) | Singapore:PG | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:14 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Carlyon Bay, St Austell, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Reportedly, the concept for this picture came when producer Walter Mirisch saw the Broadway theatrical production. Mirisch said: "I truly had no idea what to expect. But I found that [Frank] Langella had created a completely different character from the accepted sinister one - a character with charm, sex appeal, and most important of all, he endeared himself to the audiences. I decided right then to make the film!".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Just before dancing with Dracula, Lucy flips over the record on the player and sets it playing again. The record is moving around at a leisurely pace; however, the earliest disc recordings played at around 78 RPM - a much faster speed. Records playable at lower rates were much later inventions.

Quotes:

Count Dracula:Lucy, come! Come to me!
[Lucy runs into Dracula's arms, and he embraces her]
Count Dracula:Now, you must go on a bit longer as a creature of this earth. Only until we have left behind those who would destroy us.
Lucy Seward:And then?
Count Dracula:Then you will join me on a higher plane feeding on them. We will create more of our kind, Lucy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

A Gothic masterpiece. The quintessential vampire movie.

After so many years, Lugosi's performance of Dracula wilts into camp, and the overblown Coppola version, while visually stimulating, comes across as so much hyperbole. Oldman was brilliant, but a few of his lines were poorly delivered, almost laughably so.

But Langella was the master of all vampires. His performance reels with sexual presence and a charm and sophistication that renders all other Dracula movies null and void. And why not? He had countless performances on Broadway to perfect his character, and perfect it he did. He insisted on touches, such as never wearing fangs, or never appearing with blood on his face, that added class to the vampire legend and places this version a cut above the rest.

Kate Nelligan (Prince of Tides) was so young and beautiful then and it was easy to believe that she could inspire a love that could transcend death and time. Olivier was already a ghost, and many of the scenes that involved activity no more strenuous than walking actually had to be shot with a stand in. It is rumored that Sir Larry's performance was so frail that impressionist Rich Little actually had to be called in to dub some of Olivier's lines, as he had done for David Niven in his final Pink Panther film, because the originals were virtually unintelligible given the poor health of the actors.

The brooding and regal score by John Williams drives the movie quite nicely. The film was edited by John Bloom, who a couple of years later would edit The French Lieutenant's Woman with a similar feel, and shot by Gil Taylor who shot, among other greats, the original Star Wars. Stoker would have been proud of the final result, particularly so with Langella's masterful and groundbreaking performance that launched a career. Dracula is a Gothic masterpiece that has never been given its due.

In 2004 director Badham decided to release a version in which the color had been drained from the movie, in much the same way as its central character drained color, blood and life from his victims, perhaps an intentional comparison. The "making of" featurette is delightful, and producer Mirisch's hilarious tongue in cheek observation of the "holy water" effect has already been misquoted by earnest IMDb reviewers. The remake is nice, but it was gilding the lily. And although the film was indeed improved by this modification, it had already surpassed any of its would be peers and remains the quintessential vampire movie.