Mark of the Vampire
Short description
Mark of the Vampire is a horror mystery set in Europe, where a nobleman named Sir Karell Borotyn is found dead in his home, his body drained of blood and bearing marks on his neck. Baron Otto, a friend of the dead man, and the doctor who examines the body conclude that a vampire is responsible, and suspicion falls on a mysterious count and his daughter. The local police inspector dismisses the idea, so the occult scholar Professor Zelen is called in to help. A year later, the dead man's daughter Irena appears to be the next target, and the investigation turns to preventing further attacks.
The film was directed by Tod Browning for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, arriving after Dracula, Iron Man and Freaks in the run of films he directed. Bernard Schubert, John L. Balderston and Guy Endore wrote the screenplay, and Browning produced it with E.J. Mannix. Lionel Barrymore plays Professor Zelin, Elizabeth Allan plays Irena Borotyn, Bela Lugosi plays Count Mora, Lionel Atwill plays Inspector Neumann, Jean Hersholt plays Baron Otto and Henry Wadsworth plays Fedor Vincente. Running just an hour, the film has drawn moderate scores from viewers, sitting at 6.3 out of 10 on IMDb from about 6,100 votes and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from far fewer votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the film's screening in Paris, advertisements were distributed stating that a reward would be given to anyone "who dares to watch this movie in a completely empty theater at midnight."
- The film was banned in Poland, while in Hungary, censors cut out all screams, footage of bats, and other frightening and repulsive scenes.
- Throughout the film, Count Mora, played by Bela Lugosi, is shown with a bullet scar on his temple, yet no explanation for this is provided. The original screenplay indicated that Count Mora had an incestuous relationship with his own daughter, Luna, and subsequently committed suicide. Shortly after filming began, however, MGM removed all mentions of this crime from the script (and after a preview screening, another 20 minutes were cut from the film). Director Tod Browning was unable to object due to the box office failure of his previous film, Freaks.
- Huge bats from South America were imported for the filming. The New York Times reported at the time that the film company had been strictly ordered to either return the bloodsuckers to South America or destroy them after filming. Ultimately, what happened to them remains unknown.
- All the actors played their roles as if it were a typical horror movie, having no idea what the finale would be until almost the final days of filming. Director Tod Browning intentionally kept them in the dark about how the film would end. When, toward the end of production, he announced that the plot revealed the vampires were merely actors playing vampires, both the crew and the cast reacted with complete lack of enthusiasm. Bela Lugosi was particularly displeased, begging Browning to let him play a real vampire.
- Filming the scene in which Carroll Borland's (1914-1994) character flies like a bat proved to be difficult. It took three weeks to capture a successful take—all for a scene where Borland plays an actress who is supposedly flying.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
