Dracula (1931)

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

Directors:

Tod Browning, Karl Freund (uncredited)

Writers:

Bram Stoker (by), Hamilton Deane (from the play adapted by)

Stars:

Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

After a harrowing ride through the Carpathian mountains in eastern Europe, Renfield enters castle Dracula to finalize the transferral of Carfax Abbey in London to Count Dracula, who is in actuality a vampire. Renfield is drugged by the eerily hypnotic count, and turned into one of his thralls, protecting him during his sea voyage to London. After sucking the blood and turning the young Lucy Weston into a vampire, Dracula turns his attention to her friend Mina Seward, daughter of Dr. Seward who then calls in a specialist, Dr. Van Helsing, to diagnose the sudden deterioration of Mina's health. Van Helsing, realizing that Dracula is indeed a vampire, tries to prepare Mina's fiance, John Harker, and Dr. Seward for what is to come and the measures that will have to be taken to prevent Mina from becoming one of the undead.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | abbey | castle | alternate version | throat ripped out | 

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Taglines:

The story of the strangest Passion the world has ever known!

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian Latin

Release Date:

14 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drácula

Filming Locations:

Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$355,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After viewing the initial cut, Universal president Carl Laemmle Sr. reportedly said that the film gave him the "heebie-jeebies" and ordered that it be re-edited. Tod Browning was bitterly disappointed by the studio's 11th hour re-edit, and claimed that his best work ended up on the editing room floor. The re-cut apparently introduced a number of continuity errors into the film, which disappear when fans have re-edited the film to match the continuity of the shooting script. See "Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning" by David J. Skal and discussion at monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/40203/DRACULA-Restored.

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Goofs

Dr. Seward's sanitarium is said to be both "near London" and "in Whitby." Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast in northern England, is nowhere near London.

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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."

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Crazy Credits

The title card was revised at the last moment to include playwrights Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. But the old title card, with the movie's title in a different typeface, is still visible briefly at the tail end of a lap dissolve to the second credits card.

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Alternate Versions

Universal released a newly restored version of the film in 1999 that included a musical score by Philip Glass. The original "Swan Lake" music during the opening credits was removed.

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Connections

Referenced in Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010)

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Soundtracks

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, WWV 96
(1868) (uncredited)
Music by by Richard Wagner
End of the Overture played at a concert

User Reviews

Bela Lugosi in the role he was born to play!

While Tod Browning's Dracula is not the definitive take on the most famous vampire of all time, it is possibly the most memorable one. This is not due to Browning's technical achievements or directorial wizardry, by ANY means. It is due to Bela Lugosi's career-defining portrayal of the title character. Born in what is now Lugoj, Romania, Lugosi brings to the part the flavor of his homeland, making him more believable as Dracula. This other-worldly aesthetic helped to make his performance what many consider the ultimate incarnation of Stoker's Dracula. Having played the Count in Hamilton Deane's Broadway version of Dracula, which started in 1927, Bela Lugosi was more than prepared for the role when it was time to commit it to film. Still struggling with the English language, however, he had to learn his lines phonetically. European accent in tact, he was able to deliver such memorable lines as, "I bid you welcome," "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make," and, of course, "I am Dracula." His performance alone is reason enough to watch this monster movie classic. If only the rest of the film was as spectacular as Lugosi. Dwight Frye's Renfield, while perhaps a little too over-the-top, is still another highlight to the film, and even Edward Van Sloan's Van Helsing is enough to challenge the might of Count Dracula. The rest of the film is rather flat to me. Now, I know it was made in 1931, and that, at the time, it horrified audiences, but I still stand by my opinion that the overall movie pales in comparison to Bela Lugosi's performance. Everyone else just seemed to be going through the motions, and it seems especially evident while Helen Chandler and David Manners are on screen. They just aren't convincing. I'm not saying that their performances ruin the film. It is still a classic, and certainly worth a viewing, but if you are in the mood for a vampire movie that is worthy of Bram Stoker's name, look no further than F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu. It is much more convincing and even scarier than Tod Browning's Dracula, despite being nine years older and silent. All in all, though, one cannot overlook the stellar performance of Bela Lugosi in the role he was born to play!