A spellbinding film that’s the grandaddy of cinematic horror
In honor of upcoming Halloween, I can’t think of a better film to watch than the one that begat all modern horror films, and that’s 1931’s “Dracula”. Even if you’ve never seen this seminal film, thanks to it, we’re all familiar with vampires, and chances are ten to one you’d describe "Count Dracula" very much as he appears in this film. And the film’s creaking doors, spiderwebs, Gothic castles, hands reaching out of caskets, fog, women in ethereally long white dresses, and more, invented the grammar and iconography we associate with horror films, making this one of the most influential movies in cinema history. It’s also wildly entertaining. The American Film Institute included it on its list of The 100 Most Thrilling American Films of All-Time (#85), and named its "Count Dracula" the 33rd Greatest Villain in Movies. Powerful stuff for any movie, let alone one from the early days of sound.
“Dracula” opens with a breathtaking shot of a horse drawn carriage rushing through a remote Transylvanian mountain pass to reach an Inn before sunset. It's Walpurgis night, the night of evil, and as one of the five passengers tells another, “On this night, madame, the doors, they are barred, and to the Virgin we pray”. They arrive before sundown, and as the luggage is being removed, one of the passengers says, "I say porter, don't take my luggage down, I'm going on to Borgo Pass tonight”. That passenger is “Renfield”, who explains there’s a carriage meeting him at Borgo Pass at midnight, the carriage of "Count Dracula”.
The horrified villagers urge him not to go, for they believe "Count Dracula" and his wives are vampires who take the form of wolves and bats, and "leave their coffins at night and feast on the blood of the living”. “Renfield” brushes it off as superstition, so a driver fearfully takes him to Borgo Pass where he transfers to "Count Dracula's" carriage, and the chilling sound of the metal wheels and the galloping of the horses scurrying in the dark of night make for a frightening trip.
“Renfield” is driven to a dilapidated, cavernous castle, and inside is bid a fond “welcome” from well-dressed nobleman “Count Dracula”. He's been summoned there to finalize the paperwork for “Dracula” to lease Carfax Abbey in England, and "Dracula" has planned for both of them to travel there the next evening. After drinking some wine, “Renfield” encounters a bat and faints, and “Dracula’s” three vampire wives begin to descend upon him. But the “Count” forces them back, keeping “Renfield” for himself. As he kneels over “Renfield”, everything fades to black. And so begins the fabulously macabre “Dracula”.
"Dracula" and “Renfield” take a boat to England, where "Dracula" moves into Carfax Abbey. "Renfield" is discovered on the boat and institutionalized in an asylum next to the abbey as a raving lunatic who feeds on the blood of insects and rodents. Little do they know he's a devoted servant to his Master, “Count Dracula”. One of “Renfield's” doctors is “Dr. Seward”, whose daughter “Mina” is engaged to a man named “John”. But “Mina” soon falls under “Dracula’s” spell, putting her marriage to “John” in jeopardy. “Renfield’s” other doctor is “Van Helsing”, who quickly realizes “Dracula” is a vampire and devises a plan to save “Mina” and kill “Dracula”. What arises are themes of good versus evil, fear of the unknown, the allure of darkness, and the battle between life and death.
"Dracula" was born in the mind of Irish author Bram Stoker, who published it as am 1897 novel. Two silent film versions were made: a lost 1921 Austrian silent film, "Dracula's Death” (”Drakula halála”), which used the character of “Dracula” but not the book’s plot; and F. W. Murnau’s 1922 German Expressionist silent masterpiece “Nosferatu”, which was removed from circulation and all copies burned due to a successful plagiarism lawsuit by Stoker’s widow (luckily, a few prints survived). In 1924, a slightly altered, watered-down stage version of “Dracula” was adapted (with permission) by Hamilton Deane, which hit English stages to great success. It was rewritten by John L. Balderston for Broadway in 1927, and again was a hit.
In 1928, Carl Laemmle, Jr. (known as Junior) had become head of Universal Studios as a 21st birthday gift from his father, studio founder Carl Laemmle. While no one in Hollywood, including Laemmle Sr., would touch adapting “Dracula” for the screen (feeling it was too gruesome for audiences), Junior loved the macabre and bought the play and book rights. Many writers lent a hand with the screenplay, with Garrett Ford ending up with screen credit. Virtuoso silent horror film director Tod Browning was hired to direct.
Synchronized sound hit movie theaters in 1927, and by 1931, studios stopped making silent films. “Dracula” is an early sound film, made while the technical aspects of sound were still being worked out. Because all movie theaters were not yet equipped to play sound movies, a silent version of “Dracula” (with inter titles) was also made, though I’ve never seen or heard of an existing print. In addition, a third version was simultaneously shot in Spanish, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
Tod Browning was the perfect choice to direct, since his silent film career proved him a visionary at telling unsettling tales of the spooky and grotesque, earning him the moniker "The Edgar Allan Poe of Cinema”. Whatever his films may lack in technical wizardry, they repay twofold with the haunting and eerie atmospheres and moods he conjures, with “Dracula” as a foremost example.
Browning presents "Dracula" as a theatrical, nightmarish fairytale, and establishes its uneasy, fantastical atmosphere from the get-go. His opening shot of the carriage traveling through an imposingly rocky terrain sets the stage for an otherworldly ambience, and shots of the passengers inside the carriage being bumped and thrown around induces a disquieting, unsafe chord. Nothing’s really happened yet and Browning’s visuals already trigger emotion.
The way Browning first shows "Count Dracula" is brilliant, again for its atmospheric and emotional effect. After a shot of “Dracula's" imposing castle sitting atop a hill, we're inside its eerie crypt with dirt floors, stone arches, and fog. Following various shots, including caskets starting to open, we hear the yelps of rodents and sounds of wooden caskets opening as the camera spots “Count Dracula” and moves towards him for our first look as he stands motionless in his black cape and stares directly at us, drawing us in as if we were falling under his spell. It’s an ingenious and effective way to establish “Dracula’s” unwavering strength, hypnotic powers, and mystery.
Browning used the limitations often found in early sound films to his advantage in “Dracula”, letting the theatricality, extended pauses, and lack of musical score generate a deliciously creepy and foreboding mood that permeates the entire film. His deliberate and methodical tempo and sparse but exceptional use of sound effects heighten the tension, suspense, and feeling of dread. He paints such a vivid world in “Dracula”, that one finds themselves completely transported to another place and time. It’s as if this world exists in some parallel universe and we’ve cautiously stopped by to observe it.
As an aside, Browning’s voice makes an appearance in “Dracula” as the "Harbormaster", who, when the ship arrives, announces: "Captain dead, tied to the wheel. Horrible tragedy, horrible tragedy".
Kentucky-born Tod Browning ran away from home at the age of sixteen to join a circus where he worked different jobs, including as a clown and a contortionist. His time in the circus alongside sideshow performers with unusual physicalities gave him an understanding of the pathos of the misfit, as well as people’s fascination with the strange and frightening – all of which heavily influenced his movies. Browning's films were perverse, offbeat, seedy, lurid, and exotic, and often centered around the underworld, disfigured humans, and other outsiders. He very successfully directed silent screen star Lon Chaney in ten films, from 1919's "The Wicked Darling" until 1929’s “Where East is East”, and the films they made greatly shaped horror films, such as their classics "The Unknown", "The Unholy Three”, "West of Zanzibar”, and the now lost "London After Midnight” (arguably the most sought after lost film of all time). Though many of Browning’s silent films are lost, his reputation as king of the macabre has lasted, validated by his films that can still be seen, most notably “Dracula” and another already on this blog, 1932's “Freaks”, where you can read more about the life and career of Todd Browning. Just click on the film title to open that post.
Junior and Browning intended Chaney to star in “Dracula”, but Chaney became ill in 1929 and tragically died in 1930 from throat cancer at the age of 47. There’s no definitive report, but it’s been said that Browning lost interest in “Dracula” during production due to his grief over Chaney’s death. True or not, the film's atmosphere, images, sounds, and mood are so powerful, they unintentionally laid the foundation for all subsequent horror films. As a result, "Dracula's" not very scary today, but is still incredibly haunting. As such, if anything seems cliché, just remember “Dracula” most likely invented it.
Not only did “Dracula” form the symbols, images, and Gothic style of horror films, it also brought to light the creature of the vampire, with Lugosi's “Count Dracula” creating the blueprint. Vampires were not commonly known at the time, and this film began our fascination with them and they've since become part of pop culture. “Dracula” is also called the first synchronized sound supernatural film. That’s because prior to "Dracula", everything in horror films was explained, but in "Dracula" there's no explanation for vampires. As a result, this film opened the door for supernatural beings to exist in movies.
The blockbuster success of “Dracula” prompted Junior to immediately make another Gothic horror film that same year, “Frankenstein”, which was another enormous success. The overwhelming phenomenon of these two films made Gothic horror a viable and profitable genre, and ushered in an unequaled cluster of classic horror films over the next decade or so in what is regarded as the Golden Age of Horror. Universal alone followed “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” with classics like "The Mummy", "The Invisible Man”, "The Old Dark House”, “The Black Cat”, "Bride of Frankenstein", and "The Werewolf in London” – all by 1935, solidifying Universal as the number one studio for horror films, which it remained for the next two decades.
Along with Browning, a team of very talented people worked on "Dracula", and that certainly includes art director, Charles D. Hall. Reportedly so enthralled by "Dracula", he locked himself inside the studio and worked through the night concocting the film's Gothic set designs. Under contract to Universal since 1923, he previously designed sets for silent horror classics like "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera” among many others, but the Gothic atmosphere he created for "Dracula" of brooding sets, eerie crypts, a grand staircase, cobwebbed-covered interiors, candelabras, and simple yet ornate furnishings set the template for supernatural cinematic horror films. Though he’s most famous for creating the vocabulary of horror, Hall designed sets for many types of movies, several already on this blog, including "All Quiet on the Western Front", "The Gold Rush", "City Lights", and "My Man Godfrey". You can read much more about the life and career of Charles D. Hall in my post on "Frankenstein".
As with Browning and Hall, the work of cinematographer Karl Freund helped set the standard for horror films. His lighting in “Dracula” adds a plethora of ominous overtones, with figures often enveloped in darkness, lighting “Dracula’s” eyes to make them glow, and lots of shadows (including many that look like prison bars). Because of Browning’s rumored detachment during the shoot, he reportedly left some of the directing to Freund, though it’s hard to say exactly which scenes.
Innovative German Bohemian born-Karl Freund was a key figure in cinema, pioneering what became called the “unchained camera technique” (making cameras mobile by taking them off their tripods in the early days of cinema –certainly among the most important inventions in movies). Before coming to Hollywood, he worked in German cinema, and shot two crowning achievements of German Expressionism, "Metropolis" and "The Last Laugh”. He was expert at creating expressionistic light and shadows and generating an off-kilter feeling, all of which he employs in “Dracula”. Freund shot well over one hundred films in his lifetime and directed twenty. Along with “Dracula” and “Metropolis”, other important films he shot already on this blog include “Camille”, and “The Good Earth” (which won him an Oscar), and you can read more about the life and career of Karl Freund in my post on the latter.
The list of trailblazers continues, for there’s a fourth person who left an indelible mark on cinema from his immeasurable contribution to “Dracula”, and that’s Bela Lugosi, who stars as the thirsty vampire “Count Dracula”. Lugosi’s intense presence, hypnotizing eyes, creature-like hands, slow melodious speech, and exotic accent formed one of cinema’s most intriguing villains and became the standard for future movie vampires. Though he may stare a lot, there’s so much going on behind Lugosi’s eyes, that “Dracula” has a mysterious depth. And Lugosi's passion and conviction make us believe the “Count” is real. It’s a performance that became the definite embodiment of “Count Dracula”, made Lugosi a star, and turned him into a cultural icon.
Among the many changes from the novel to the play was the transformation of the character of “Count Dracula”. Stoker’s novel describes him as a thin old man with a long white mustache, pointed ears, sharp teeth, hairy palms, and putrid breath. But in both the British and Broadway plays, “Count Dracula” turned into a refined aristocratic gentleman of society dressed in a tuxedo and a cape. Lugosi originated the role on Broadway and toured with the show throughout the US. He was evidently so convincing, nurses were said to have stood by with smelling salts for patrons who fainted each night.
Another unique quality Lugosi brought to the role was sex. Part of what’s behind his eyes is desire – for blood, for love, for control, and for sex. He gives an extraordinarily lusty glance at “Lucy” in the opera box after telling "Mina", "There are far worse things awaiting man, than death”. And his entire opening scene in the castle with “Renfield” is riddled with homoeroticism, from his authoritatively warm greeting, “I am ‘Dracula'”, to his titillated expression watching “Renfield” drink a glass of wine. It’s not surprising, since Stoker was believed to be gay, and in his own play version, he had “Dracula” tell his wives to leave “Renfield” alone, exclaiming “This man belongs to me!”, before sweeping him up in his arms and carrying him offstage. Lugosi’s “Count Dracula” could charm you, seduce you, and kill you. He’s the ultimate villain. Lugosi's sexual overtones and seductive powers were felt by audiences. Women loved him, and he instantly became a movie idol.
Fittingly born in Hungary near the western border of the Transylvanian Alps (now Romania), Bela Lugosi loved acting from the time he was a child. He began appearing on Hungarian stages at the age of twenty, and about a decade later, was part of the National Theater of Hungary. After being wounded while serving in World War I, he began working in Hungarian silent films (starting with 1917's "Leoni Leo", and including the 1918 silent "99-es számú bérkocsi", directed by soon-to-be Hollywood director Michael Curtiz). In the midst of political turmoil, Lugosi fled Hungary for Vienna and then Germany in 1919, where he worked in just over a dozen silent films, inducing as a butler in F.W. Murnau's 1920 film "Der Januskopf”. In 1920, Lugosi headed to America in pursuit of better roles. Not knowing English, in New York City he formed a stock theater company of Hungarian immigrant actors who toured the East coast in Hungarian-language plays. His Broadway debut was in the 1922 English-language play "The Red Poppy", which he learned phonetically. More stage roles followed, and in 1923, he made his American film debut (shot in New York) in 1923's "The Silent Command". Lugosi continued working on stage and in a handful more East Coast films.
In 1927, Lugosi landed the lead in the Broadway production of "Dracula", which was hit and ran for 161 performances. He then toured with the show for two years. While on tour in Los Angeles, he decided to stay and call it home. The stage version of "Dracula" prompted a contract with Fox Film, where he was cast in a few films starting with 1929's "The Veiled Woman". In between films, he appeared in another short stage run of "Dracula", and having gotten wind that a film version was to be made, he began fighting for the role. He was the last person considered, for after the death of Chaney, there was a long list of stars being considered, including Paul Muni, Conrad Veidt, John Carradine, and Chester Morris. Thankfully, Lugosi was finally given the part. Partially because he didn't disguise himself or hide his accent in the film, he found it impossible to shake off the role and became typecast as a horror-film villain. Offered the role of "The Monster" in "Frankenstein", he turned it down, and Boris Karloff, who took the role, also found himself typecast in horror films, and Lugosi and Karloff became the reigning kings of horror during the 1930s and 1940s, both having a seminal influence on the genre and on cinema itself. They appeared together in eight films (including "The Black Cat", "The Raven", "The Body Snatcher", and "Son of Frankenstein") and were said to have had an off-screen rivalry, which their surviving families denied.
Virtually unable to break free from the horror genre, Lugosi primarily appeared in B movies, and due to his wound from WWI, by the late 1940s, was taking opiates for back pain. As his dependency on them worsened, so did his career. His last A movie was 1948's "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein", in which he played “Dracula” for the second time on-screen. As film offers dwindled, Lugosi worked on stage and made personal appearances. By the early 1950s, he was out of money and living in obscurity. After a couple TV appearances, he was hired to star in 1953's ultra-low budget "Glen or Glenda" (now a cult film) directed by a fan of Lugosi’s, Ed Wood. He worked again with Wood in 1955's "Bride of the Monster", and Lugosi's final film (another cult-classic), 1957's so bad, it's good "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (in Tim Burton's 1994 film "Ed Wood", actor Martin Landau won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing Lugosi). Lugosi appeared in approximately 110 films, and his others include "White Zombie", "Island of Lost Souls", "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Mark of the Vampire", "The Wolf Man", "The Dark Eyes of London", "The Phantom Creeps”, "Mother Riley Meets The Vampire”, and one of his few non-horror films, “Ninotchka”. He was married five times. Bela Lugosi died in 1956 at the age of 73, and was buried in one of his personal "Dracula" capes.
Another archetypal performance in "Dracula" comes from Dwight Frye as "Renfield", "Dracula's" ill-fated real estate agent. “Renfield” starts out young and innocent, and with one bite on the neck becomes a deranged madman and "Dracula's" devoted servant. Frye compellingly offers a palpable mix of desperation, vulnerability, and insanity. We feel his kindness and fragility when led by “Dracula” around the castle, the depth of his devotion as he caresses “Dracula’s” coffin on the ship, and his unhinged madness in perhaps the most chilling shot in the film, when he's at the bottom of the stairs of the ship with the eyes of a wild man and a delirious laugh that will give anyone nightmares. He can also be very moving, as when he sorrowfully tells “Van Helsing”, "[God] knows that the powers of evil are too great for those of us with weak minds”. Frye’s expressive gestures, eerie voice, and unsettling hysteria make an intense impact, and his “Renfield” became the prototype for mad servants in horror films.
Kansas-born Dwight Frye had a very successful stage career before he embarked on a movie career in 1926 with "Exit Smiling". "Dracula" was his sixth feature film, and his performance was so boldly original, it locked him into playing wild-eyed, mentally unbalanced characters. Two films later he played another mentally odd fellow, “Fritz”, “Frankenstein’s” assistant in "Frankenstein", which forever cemented him in this type of role. In 1933, as quoted in the book “Universal Studios Monsters”, Dwight said: “If God is good, I will be able to play comedy, in which I was featured on Broadway for eight seasons and in which no producer of motion pictures will give me a chance! And please, God, may it be before I go screwy playing idiots, half-wits, and lunatics on the talking screen!”. Sadly, he never got his wish, but he did leave us with iconic performances. You can read more about the life and career of Dwight Frye in my post on “Frankenstein”. Be sure to check it out.
The last actor I’ll mention is Edward Van Sloan, who plays "Van Helsing”, a scientist, doctor, and professor who, when piecing together what’s going on, realizes “Dracula” is a vampire. He’s fearless and commands respect, and even “Dracula” tells him, "For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you're a wise man”. Sloan has a gallant presence, district gravitas, intellectualism, and air of authority, making him a perfect match for “Dracula", and his performance set the standard for future portrayals of "Van Helsing" in many subsequent movies.
Minnesota-born Edward Van Sloan began in theater before making his film debut in 1916’s "Slander". His Broadway debut was in 1918's "The Unknown Purple", and half a dozen Broadway shows later, he was playing "Van Helsing" in "Dracula" opposite Lugosi on Broadway. The film version was Sloan's second movie. He played a similar role in his next film, as "Doctor Waldman" in 1931's "Frankenstein", which began a steady film career as a character actor in 89 films over the next nineteen years (often playing European type doctors, professors, and the like). His other horror films include "The Mummy", "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head", "The Black Room", "The Phantom Creeps", and "Dracula's Daughter" (in which he reprised his role of "Van Helsing"), and non-horror films such as "Baby Face", "Manhattan Melodrama", "The Scarlet Empress", "The Story of Louis Pasteur", "The Song of Bernadette", "A Foreign Affair", and his final, 1950's "The Underworld Story", after which he retired. He was married once until his wife's death. Edward Van Sloan died in 1964 at the age of 81.
As mentioned above, a third version of “Dracula” was also shot – a Spanish-language version, “Drácula”. Silent films could play in every country because inter titles could be easily switched into any language, but with the arrival of sound, showing films internationally became more challenging. Dubbing wasn’t yet a thing, so in the early years of sound, some studios simultaneously shot alternate language versions of their major films, including “Dracula”. After Browning's cast and crew left for the day, the Spanish version cast and crew arrived and filmed until the next morning, using the same sets and same script. The Spanish version was directed by George Melford (who didn’t speak Spanish), shot by cinematographer George Robinson, with a cast that starred Carlos Villarías as “Conde Drácula”, Lupita Tovar as "Eva Seward” (the “Mina” character), and Pablo Alvarez Rubio as “Renfield” (I was lucky to meet Tovar years ago, and she was very nice). The Spanish version runs 104 minutes as opposed to 75 for the English one.
While the two are very similar, they are also very different. The Spanish version, which didn’t have to adhere to the Motion Picture Production Code (see my "Red Dust" post for more about the Code), dressed its actresses in lower-cut, more revealing clothes, used real rats instead of opossums, shows bite marks on necks, and is a bit more explicit regarding information about blood sucking. The Spanish crew would look at what the English crew shot that day and try to outdo them, which they sometimes did. There are cool shots of smoke coming out of “Dracula’s” coffin before he arises, of him leaning over his victims to envelope them with his cape, a bat flying over "Lucía" ("Lucy") in bed, and castle doors opening and closing on their own. There are also extra lines of dialogue and extra shots, and an excellent performance by Tovar as the heroine (she’s definitely more intriguing than Helen Chandler in the English version).
But to me there’s one glaring omission in the Spanish version, and that’s the sustained dark dread that permeates the English one. It's partly because of Browning’s immense skill at creating atmosphere and emotion from his shots, and is also because of the lack of Lugosi and Frye in the cast. Villarías as “Dracula” doesn’t carry the threatening, superhuman strength that Lugosi emits, nor does he have Lugosi’s suave allure. There's hardly sexual tension anywhere (even all the homoeroticism was removed, in the Spanish version the wives bite “Renfield’s” neck, not “Dracula”). In addition, Rubio’s “Renfield” is missing the fragility and sensitivity of Frye’s, making that character neither unsettling or moving. Unlike me, there are those who like the Spanish version better, and it’s a fascinating exercise in film study to watch them back to back. It gives one a clear perspective of how much a great performance versus technical savvy can add or detract from a film.
In 1998 composer Philip Glass was commissioned to write a musical score for "Dracula", and this past Friday (October 25), Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla premiered his new score for the Spanish version at the LA Opera. Universal made two sequels to "Dracula", 1936's "Dracula's Daughter", and 1943's "Son of Dracula”. It's thought that there are over 200 films featuring "Count Dracula", including 1944's "House of Frankenstein", 1945's "House of Dracula”, 1948's "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”, 1979's "Dracula", 1979's "Nosferatu The Vampyre", 1992's "Bram Stoker’s Dracula", and a slew of British horror films starring Christopher Lee as the "Count". Currently on VIX there is a fun TV series "Y llegaron de noche" starring Eugenio Derbez, loosely based on the making of the Spanish version.
Another testament of “Dracula’s” astounding popularity is that an original 1931 "Dracula" movie poster sold in 2017 at Heritage Auctions for $525,800, making it the second most expensive movie poster in history to date (the first being an original 1927 poster for "Metropolis").
This week’s classic is an iconic piece of cinema that shaped horror films, became part of pop culture, began our love affair with vampires, and remains fantastic entertainment. Though we may no longer feel the fright original audiences felt, it still holds a wonderfully bewitching power. Have a happy Halloween, and enjoy “Dracula”!
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That scene of Dwight Frye in the hold of the ship is truly creepy and scary. Although I do like Bela Lugosi as Dracula, my favorite performance is by Frank Langella. Those sexy eyes!