Released on valentines day, february 14, 1931, dracula told the story of the strangest passion the world has ever known. Dracula, american horror film, released in 1931, that is considered one of the early classics of the genre. Dracula 1931 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. With lots of interviews with film historians, relatives of cast members and contemporary fans, its a nice and insightful piece at the movie s history and impact with some cool lost footage. Given all the hullabaloo behindthescenes, its not really a surprise that the quality of the movie itself is so uneven. The ominous portrayal of count dracula by bela lugosi, combined with horror specialist director tod browning, help to create the films eerie mood.
Dracula is a 1931 american precode supernatural horror film directed and coproduced by. Before mina leaves, dracula asks if he can check on her later. Dracula is a 1931 american spanishlanguage precode horror film directed by george melford. Dracula is a 1931 universal horror film directed by tod browning and written by carl leammle jr. It is based on the 1924 stage play dracula by hamilton deane and john l. Dracula is a 1931 american precode supernatural horror film directed and co produced by. 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. It was filmed at night on the same sets that were being used during the day for the 1931.
After a naive real estate agent succumbs to the will of count dracula, the two head to london where the vampire hopes to stroll among. Some actors become so indelibly associated with their most famous roles it becomes difficult for audiences to accept them in any other part. Colorized dracula 1931 universal studios publicity by drrealartmd on deviantart. The dashing, mysterious count dracula bela lugosi, after hypnotizing a british soldier, renfield dwight frye, into his mindless slave, travels to london and takes up residence in an old castle. Classic horror movies horror filmsgreatest villainsvintage horrorfilm movie. The extra material on the bluray is also worth watching. With lots of interviews with film historians, relatives of cast members and contemporary fans, its a nice and insightful piece at the movies history and impact with some cool lost footage. Unfollow dracula 1931 movie to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. It was filmed by universal simultaniously with the lugosi version, using the same sets but with a spanishspeaking cast. It still has the old feeling to it and it has something refreshing. I found the full screen bluray copy of this movie and stated was 1.
Find out where dracula 1931 is streaming, if dracula 1931 is on netflix, and get news and updates, on decider. In fact, the more vintage the program, the more expensive they tend to be, especially if the item is in top condition. It was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Dawn approaches, and when van helsing finds dracula in his coffin, he drives a stake through his heart, killing him for.
Dracula is a 1931 american precode supernatural horror film directed and coproduced by tod browning from a screenplay written by garrett fort. His gesturing, his deliberation in speech, his facial movements all created a vampire never to be forgotten. Somewhere between its iconic elements and its lowgrade, bmovie aesthetic it became a legend and a precursor for the horror genre as a whole. It is, after all, the movie that launched the classic universal horror cycle of the 1930s and 1940s. A lot of commentaries have blank spots but you guys were there the whole time. Dracula universal studios classic monster collection. Look up dracula or count dracula in wiktionary, the free dictionary dracula is an 1897 novel by bram stoker count dracula is the title character in the novel dracula may also refer to. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel dracula by bram stoker. Browning created a movie and a setting hitherto imagined and conjured on a screen. Dracula is also a very choppy production, poorly paced, full of inconsistencies and flatout moments of neglect, overwhelmingly stagebound in its adaptation of bram stokers classic literature. Is the 1931 dracula still a terrifying film, or has it become a period piece. If youve watched leslie nielsen in dracula dead and loving it youll see the various scenes that inspired the mel brooks comedy.
American horror films didnt become established until the talkie era with dracula and frankenstein, both released in 1931. It is also a tremendous influence on the look and atmosphere of horror movies in general and vampire movies in particular. The most chilling, genuinely frightening film ever made, vows the reference series cinebooks. One of the problems modern viewers will have with tod brownings 1931 dracula ok, at least this modern viewer, unfair as it may be, is that countless versions of the vampire tale have been. Based on bram stokers 1897 novel which was in time adapted for the stage, first in stokers native britain, and then, beginning in 1927 on broadway where bela lugosi was first cast in the title role. It gave dracula a look and a voice, and created a legend. A universal horror film from 1931, which made bela lugosi famous as the classical movie vampire. Dracula 1931 is one of the earliest classic american horror films from carl laemmles universal pictures an acclaimed masterpiece directed by tod browning, known also for two other vampire films. Bela lugosi stars as dracula in the 1931 original screen version of bram stokers c. Dracula is so full of quotable lines, especially from bela lugosi, practically the entire movie is a collection of famous quotes. The horror of pure evil is dramatically portrayed without fangs or dripping blood, proving to me that a persons imagination is more horrifying than explicit gore. In current prints, for the first time since the films original release, dr. I bought the dracula 1931 ultimate movie guide, from you guys at magna horrorcon, sunday 12th july 2015 beyond awesome. Dracula was a big hit at the box office, and its success emboldened universal to pursue the horror.
Dracula remains a masterpiece not only of the genre, but for all time. The brides of dracula from the 1931 version of dracula. Dracula 1931 colorized clip universal horror classics. Dracula 1931 by michael arruda welcome to another edition of memorable movie quotes. Dracula goes up the steps, and waits for renfield, who without difficulty, cuts open a huge spiders web using his walking stick. Van helsing and john follow renfield there, but when dracula discovers their presence, he kills renfield. Overview of dracula, 1931, directed by tod browning, with bela lugosi, helen chandler, david manners, at turner classic movies. Dracula 1931 bela lugosi and the dark, still chilling. Soon dracula begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires. Vlad the impaler 14311476, wallachian voivodeprince who may have served as the basis for count dracula. It was the first in the cycle of universal studios classic monsters. Bela lugosi and helen chandler in dracula 1931 bela lugosi in dracula 1931 helen chandler in. Frankenstein can clearly be heard exclaiming, now i know what it feels like to be god.
Although there have been numerous screen versions of bram stokers classic tale, none is more enduring than the 1931 original. Souvenir movie programs have always been highly collectible items. Today we look at some memorable lines from the classic horror movie, dracula 1931. The road to dracula sd,35 min a short makingof doc hosted by rebecca isabelle carla laemmle, niece of universal pictures founder carl laemmle. This was not an issue with my dvd copy which was displayed in full widescreen. Dracula 1931 cast and crew the dashing, mysterious count dracula bela lugosi, after hypnotizing a british soldier, renfield dwight frye, into his mindless slave, travels to london and takes. A lesserknown film released in 1932 is the white zombie starring count dracula himself, bela lugosi. One section covers the techniques used to produce this fully restored copy of the 1931 movie. It was based on the 1924 stageplay by hamilton deane and the novel dracula by bram stoker. After a naive real estate agent succumbs to the will of count dracula, the two head to london where the vampire hopes to stroll among respectable. Despite lugosi, however, is the real genius of the filmtod browning.
A must see film, he was defiantly the best dracula, a role he was born to play. This line, present in the stoker novel, was immortalized by bela lugosi. Although bela lugosi made nearly 70 more films in the 28 years after he first sucked blood in dracula 1931, among them ernst lubitschs ninotchka 1939, few filmgoers today remember him in a single one of them except, perhaps, his last, the bizarre. Indeed, one can evenly split dracula between its fluid, energetic first reel and the drab, drawing room melodrama that makes up the rest of the film. Dracula 1931 directed by enrique tovar avalos, george. Bela lugosis performance as the vampire count dracula is widely acknowledged as the definitive portrayal of the character, who first appeared in bram stokers novel of the same name. Dracula was a big hit at the box office, and its success emboldened universal. He turns into a wolf and then is seen running across the yard, into the night. Perhaps that was true in 1931, but today i think the movie is interesting mostly for technical reasonsfor the stylized performances, the photography, the sets. When we think of dracula, we usually always think of lugosi, his image, and especially his voice. It was customary at that time for studios to produce spanish language versions of their films at night to make use of the sets. His portrayal of dracula is the one that most people think of when they hear the characters name or even just the word vampire, whether or not theyve actually seen the movie. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing dracula 1931 near you.
Embed for hosted blogs and item dracula is interesting and odd, running nearly a halfhour longer than the english version with lugosi. Dracula 1931 is the spanish language version of the exact same film. What made dracula an influential hollywood horror film. It is an adaptation of the 1897 novel by bram stoker and the 1924 stage play.
I mean it too, its the same script, the same story, and even the same set. Bela lugosi when he died, he was buried in his full dracula costume including his cape. Dracula, of course, did not come to the screen from out of nowhere. The audience response is crucial to understanding the movies significance. It was filmed at night on the same sets that were being used during the day for the 1931 englishlanguage film of the same title. Balderston, which in turn is based on the novel dracula by bram stoker. Colorized still of bela lugosi as dracula and edward van sloan as van helsing.
I just wanted to say that you can watch this dracula movie on netflix on instant watch for free,so just sync up this audio track like rifftrax,and it will all be free. Purchase dracula 1931 on digital and stream instantly or download offline. This what the original frankenstein would look like in color. The ancient vampire count dracula arrives in england and begins to prey upon the virtuous young mina. The hungarian accent that lugosi spoke with is how we hear dracula speak, and if you ever hear an impression of dracula.
The dracula 1931 ultimate guide evokes the brochure you might have bought at the cinema in 1931. This lowbudget film has grown in stature through the years and today is considered a classic. Towering ominously among the shadows of the carpathian mountains, castle dracula strikes fear in the hearts of the transylvanian villagers below. Hand color tinted photo of bela lugosi from the 1931 movie, dracula. A rather hastily rushed colorized clip took 2 weeks with faults and all.
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