Dracula (1931)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tod Browning
(more)

Writers:

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

Release Date:

14 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Vampire | Count | Castle | Blood

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Count Dracula
Helen Chandler	...	Mina Harker
David Manners	...	John Harker
Dwight Frye	...	Renfield
Edward Van Sloan	...	Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
Herbert Bunston	...	Dr. Jack Seward
Frances Dade	...	Lucy Weston
Joan Standing	...	Briggs (a nurse)
Charles K. Gerrard	...	Martin (as Charles Gerrard)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anna Bakacs	...	Innkeeper's daughter (uncredited)
Nicholas Bela	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Daisy Belmore	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Barbara Bozoky	...	Innkeepers wife (uncredited)
Tod Browning	...	Voice of Harbormaster (uncredited)
Moon Carroll	...	Maid (uncredited)
Geraldine Dvorak	...	Dracula's wife (uncredited)
John George	...	Small Scientist (uncredited)
Anita Harder	...	Flower Girl (uncredited)
Carla Laemmle	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Donald Murphy	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	Surgeon (uncredited)
Cornelia Thaw	...	Dracula's wife (uncredited)
Dorothy Tree	...	Dracula's wife (uncredited)
Josephine Velez	...	Grace (English nurse) (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Innkeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
Tod Browning
Karl Freund		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Bram Stoker		(novel)
Hamilton Deane		(play) &
John L. Balderston		(play)
Garrett Fort		(play script)
Dudley Murphy		(additional dialogue) uncredited
Louis Bromfield		uncredited
Tod Browning		uncredited
Max Cohen		titles (uncredited)
Louis Stevens		uncredited

Produced by
E.M. Asher	....	associate producer
Tod Browning	....	producer
Carl Laemmle Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass		(1999)

Cinematography by
Karl Freund

Film Editing by
Milton Carruth
Maurice Pivar

Production Design by
John Hoffman		(uncredited)
Herman Rosse		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Ed Ware		(uncredited)
Vera West		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott R. Beal	....	first assistant director (uncredited)
Herman Schlom	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Hoffman	....	set designer (uncredited)
Charles A. Logue	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Herman Rosse	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
C. Roy Hunter	....	recording supervisor
Jack Bolger	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Jack Foley	....	foley artist (uncredited)
William Hedgcock	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Frank H. Booth	....	photographic effects
William Davidson	....	miniatures (uncredited)
John P. Fulton	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank H. Booth	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Joseph Brotherton	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Roman Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)
King D. Gray	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)

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

Music Department
Heinz Roemheld	....	conductor (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Max Cohen	....	title designer (uncredited)
Nan Grant	....	researcher (uncredited)
Charles Logue	....	scenario supervisor (uncredited)
Dudley Murphy	....	continuity (uncredited)
Aileen Webster	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1931) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Universal Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Realart Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Studios (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Nonesuch Records  soundtrack

Runtime:

75 min (corrected release length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hungarian | Latin

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (2004) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Spain:T | Norway:16 (1931) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Approved | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

When this film was re-released after the Production Code was strictly enforced in 1934, several deletions were ordered made to the soundtrack. The deletions include Renfield's scream as he is being killed and Dracula's moan as the stake is driven through his heart. These deletions have been restored.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the street doors of the London concert hall open to admit Dracula, the orchestra can be heard playing Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony". But in the next shot, an instant later, they are playing the conclusion of the prelude to "Die Meistersinger".

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."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Free Rainer (2007)

Soundtrack:

Swan Lake

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!