Dracula (1931)

Director:

Tod Browning
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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 | Fiancée

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 the 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:

Bela Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan are the only two actors from the original 1927 Broadway production to repeat their roles in the film.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Dr. Seward threatens to have Renfield confined in a "strait-jacket". Although this is probably a translation convention for the American audience rather than an unintentional slip, as a British doctor (and as in Stoker's novel, and the 1977 BBC adaptation) the term he should use is "strait-waistcoat".

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 "Seinfeld: The Trip: Part 1 (#4.1)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Swan Lake

I am Dracula....I Bid You Welcome

"Dracula" is a true cinematic classic that still hold up well today more than 70 years after its initial release. Bram Stoker's novel had been filmed before, most notably the 1922 German masterpiece "Nosferatu" with Max Schrenk playing the vampire as a monstrous rat like creature with no redeeming qualities.

Bela Lugosi rose to instant fame with his portrayal of Dracula, a part he had been playing on stage for several years. Lugosi's interpretation is that of a suave and sophisticated nobleman with a hypnotic stare and a cultured Hungarian accent. This made the character more appealing to the ladies while at the same time terrifying to the audience when we see the monster revealed beneath.

The story has the tragic Renfield (Dwight Frye) arriving in Transylvania to complete a transaction with the Count which will allow him to lease a English castle. Before they leave for England by ship, Dracula turns Renfield into a quasi-vampire who obeys his master's every command. Upon arriving in England it is discovered that all of the ship's crew have been murdered and only a raving lunatic of a Renfield remain alive.

Renfield is committed to a sanitarium run by Dr. Seward (Herbert Bunston). Dracula seeks him out and discovers Seward's comely daughter Mina (Helen Chandler) and her friend Lucy. Dracula quickly "kills" Lucy and sets his sights upon Mina whose fiance Jonathon Harker (David Manners) is baffled by her sudden change in health and personality. Seward consults with a colleague Dr. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) who quickly identifies the source of the problem as a vampire. They soon expose Dracula for what he is and......

The atmospheric sets of this movie set the tone for the story. Dracula's castle is dark, damp and web filled and his cellar is positively scary. So too is his English manor with the classic winding stair case leading to the cellar. The opening theme I found to be equally foreboding and frightening. I wonder how many of those early film goers realized that it was adapted from the classic ballet "Swan Lake".

Bela Lugosi should have become a major star after this film, but did not. His first mistake was the turning down the role of the monster in "Frankenstein" (1931). He did enjoy moderate success in the first half of the 30s playing various mad scientists and criminal masterminds. But he also accepted roles in several "poverty row" quickies which did little to advance his career. He had a brief return to glory in 1939 when he played "Ygor" in "The Son of Frankenstein" and again in 1948 again as Dracula in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein". With his well documented personal demons, Lugosi wound up his career in cheap "B' movies ultimately becoming the "star" in some of Ed Wood's "classics". Oddly enough, though he was forever identified with the Dracula character, he only played him on screen twice, in 1931 and 1948 as noted. He did play "Dracula like" characters in MGM's "Mark of the Vampire" (1935) and in Columbia's "Return of the Vampire" (1943).

Dwight Frye almost steals "Dracula" from Lugosi with his portrayal of Renfield. He takes him from a young ambitious businessman to a half crazed lunatic and back again. After this and his role of Fritz the hunchback in "Frankenstein", this great character actor never again achieved such heights. A real tragedy. Oddly enough, Stoker's book portrays Renfield as a minor character and it is Jonathon Harker who makes the unfortunate trip to Transylvania.

Also filmed in a Spanish language version.