Pull up a comfy chair, drape yourself generously with wolf bane, and let’s visit Dracula.
Movies hadn’t been talking all that long when Universal Pictures made their now classic version of Dracula. For the role of Count Dracula, Bela Lugosi - tall, dark haired, with a pronounced accent and “hypnotic” eyes - was chosen. He had played the role in the Broadway production and U.S. tour of a stage play based on Bram Stoker’s novel. Lugosi, whose birth name was Blasko (with an accent on the o that I can’t seem to get on there properly), was born in what was then Hungary, is now Romania, and, allegedly (if I can trust my sources), was once Transylvania.
As the credits begin, haunting music is playing (a piece from “Swan Lake”), and we see a bat with glowing eyes, and in front of it, a spider web. After the credits, the first shot is a spectacular image of rugged mountain peaks, and a horse-drawn coach moving over a path. The visual effect of the mountains in the background was achieved by an interesting process which involved putting the scenery for the upper portion of the picture - painted on glass - in front of the camera, and shooting it at the same time as the live action going on at the bottom of the screen, so as to create an optical illusion. This process was also used for a few other scenes in the film.
Inside the coach, passenger Renfield (played by Dwight Frye) bids the driver to go slower, but a fellow passenger asserts that they must reach the inn before sundown, as it is “the night of evil”. Upon reaching the inn, Renfield instructs the porter not to take his luggage down, as he is going on to Borgo Pass. This news is met with surprise and consternation, especially when he mentions that Count Dracula’s carriage is to meet him there at midnight. Despite the locals warnings against vampires, Renfield insists that it’s a matter of business, and he has to go. Before he re-enters the coach, a woman (presumably the innkeeper’s wife) gives him a crucifix for protection.
After a shot of the Dracula castle, we see what appears to be the Castle cellar, with ominous stone pillars and coffins here and there. One of the coffins opens and a hand emerges. Cut to a shot of an opossum (an opossum? In Transylvania? Hmm). From another coffin comes a female hand. Then, from a tiny coffin, rather bizarrely, comes an insect of some sort. To be fair, I think the intention was for it to appear as if the coffin were full-sized and the bug giant, but the illusion, in my opinion anyway, didn’t work. After another shot of the female vampire, and another opossum shot, comes the compelling first shot of Dracula, wrapped in his cape, his eyes staring.
Dracula’s carriage, with the Count himself as driver, picks up Renfield, and he is driven to Castle Dracula. Partway there, Renfield looks out of the window and sees a bat flying over the horses. When the carriage stops, the driver is gone. The castle door opens, apparently by itself, and Renfield enters. The “glass shot” effect is used again here, resulting in a magnificent picture of the high walls and foreboding interior of the crumbling castle. Dracula descends the staircase with a candle. And we next have a shot of armadillos. Yes, I said armadillos. I wonder who decided that an opossum or two, some armadillos, and a “giant” bug were the proper denizens for a vampire’s castle in Transylvania? (Note: Please don’t take my little fun-making at this film’s expense too much to heart). Renfield turns and sees the figure on the stairs, who proclaims, “I am Dracula.”
Renfield has come with the lease to a Carfax Abbey in England, ready for Dracula’s signature. When Renfield pricks his finger on a paperclip, the sight of blood attracts Dracula, who slowly moves closer, until the sight of the crucifix causes him to turn away and cover his eyes. Renfield proceeds to suck the scratch (Eww, I cringe when I see people do that. Self-vampirism, lol). Dracula leaves Renfield, but returns later to bite him.
The two journey to England on a chartered ship, Renfield now a blood-craving madman under Dracula’s power. The ship arrives in England, the crew all dead. Renfield is taken to a sanitarium, and Dracula’s boxes of Transylvanian soil, one of which contains the Count, are presumably shipped to Carfax Abbey. Dracula proceeds to enact his terrors on the unsuspecting people of England, but he finds a formidable opponent in Professor Van Helsing (played by Edward Van Sloan), a man with no little knowledge of vampires.
Despite some stagey acting, lack of sophisticated special effects, and interesting choice of castle dwelling creatures :), “Dracula” is still a fascinating piece of cinema. There are so many great visuals, including a giant spider web, the mirror scene, the use of fog, and the magnificently huge (and dangerous looking) staircase at the abbey. Bela Lugosi’s performance was iconic, and his accent is still regarded and mimicked as a “vampire accent”. After “Dracula” he was seriously typecast in horror and vampire roles, although he played Count Dracula on film only once more - in “Bud Abbot Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein”. Dwight Frye as Renfield does, in my opinion, a wonderful and at times chilling job in his mad scenes, while remaining sympathetic.
Dracula is, to me, one of the least sympathetic of the Universal monsters, and yet, even in him we get a glimpse, at one point, of, if not remorse, weariness with his vampiric existence. He postulates with a slight hint of wistfulness, “To die, to be really dead, that must be glorious.”, afterwards going on to observe that there are far worse things awaiting man than death.
Well, that’s all for now. Next up - also 1931 - “Frankenstein”.
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