Dracula
Short description
A British real estate agent named Renfield travels to Transylvania to complete a property deal with the mysterious Count Dracula, who intends to acquire an old London abbey. The locals warn him against visiting the count's castle, but he ignores them and continues on his journey. Dracula turns out to be a vampire, and he bends Renfield to his will before the two sail for England. There, Dracula moves among respectable society and fixes his attention on a young woman, drawing the concern of her family and friends, who eventually turn to the specialist Van Helsing for help. The film is based on Bram Stoker's novel and was one of the early sound productions from Universal Pictures.
Tod Browning directed, working from a screenplay he wrote with Louis Bromfield and Garrett Fort, and he also produced alongside Carl Laemmle Jr. The large credited company includes Bela Lugosi as the count, Helen Chandler as Mina, David Manners as John Harker, Dwight Frye as Renfield, Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing and Herbert Bunston as Doctor Seward, among twenty-seven credited performers. The film runs seventy-four minutes.
It was the fourth of the seven features Browning directed, arriving between The Unknown and Iron Man, and it remains one of the best known titles of his career. Karl Freund, who also directed the 1932 film The Mummy and 1935's Mad Love, is credited as director as well. Reception holds up well after decades: on IMDb it has a rating of 7.3 from around 65,000 votes, on TMDB 7.2 from over 1,400 votes, while critics' reviews average 8 out of 10.
What's left behind the scenes
- Rumor has it that Bela Lugosi played the role without knowing English, memorizing lines by ear. However, this story is only partially true: Lugosi was indeed reluctant to learn English for a long time and memorized theatrical roles by ear. By the time work began on the film, he was already quite capable of communicating in English.
- In 1998, Philip Glass wrote a new musical score for the film.
- The studio planned to have Paul Leni direct the film, but he died in September 1929.
- The film was released in the United States on Valentine's Day and was marketed as «the story of the most incredible love known to the world».
- The idea to make a film based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was proposed by Lon Chaney, who himself wanted to star in the title role, but he died of throat cancer before filming began. After his death, the role of Dracula was offered to various actors (including Conrad Veidt), but ultimately went to Bela Lugosi, who played Dracula in a theatrical production.
- The action takes place in Europe, but a Virginia opossum appears in the frame at the 6th minute, and armadillos – native to America – at the 10th minute.
- The actor who played Harker, David Manners, claimed he had not seen the film and had no desire to watch it.
- After test screenings, the studio demanded that the film be shortened and made more dynamic. As a result, some important scenes were cut—including the scene in the crypt where Van Helsing and Harker kill Lucy, who has become a vampire. This scene remained in the Spanish-language version of the film.
- The film launched the classic series of horror films from Universal Studios.
- Since equipment for playing sound films had not yet fully replaced “silent” film projectors, major films at that time were often shot in both sound and silent versions. Copies of “Dracula” are known that have been edited with and without sound.
- A Spanish-language version of the film was shot simultaneously, at night.
- In 1998, new musical accompaniment was written for the film by Philip Glass.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
