USA, 1930
75m
35mm, black and white
mono, English
An American horror film directed by Tod Browning. Although it wasn't the first of Universal's horror films, it was the most successful and influential, initiating a wave of genre films from Universal and other studios that would continue throughout the 1930s and 40s. It's also notable for introducing Hungarian ex-pat Bela Lugosi to the world of screen horror. It was first released in the USA on 12 February 1931.
Plot Summary
When estate agent John Harker visits the Count Dracula at his castle in Transylvania, he sets in motion a tragic series of events that brings the undead Dracula to England and in conflict with vampire expert Professor Van Helsing.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Tod Browning
Copyright MCMXXXI [1931] by Universal Pictures Corporation
Carl Laemmle presents a Tod Browning production. It's a Universal picture
Produced by: Carl Laemmle Jr
Associate Producer: E.M. Asher
By Bram Stoker
From the Play Adapted by: Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston
Adaption: Louis Stevens *
Scenario Supervisor: Charles Logue *
Treatments: Frederick Stephani *, Louis Bromfield *
Additional Dialogue: Dudley Murphy *
Continuity: Louis Bromfield *, Dudley Murphy *
Cinematographer: Karl Freund
Supervising Film Editor: Maurice Pivar
Film Editor: Milton Carruth
Music: Franz Schubert [from Symphony no.8 – uncredited]; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky [from Swan Lake – uncredited]; Richard Wagner *; Philip Glass [new score for 1999 re-issue]
Conductor: Heinz Roemheld *
Recording Supervision: C. Roy Hunter
Western Electric Sound System
Costumes: Ed Ware *, Vera West *
Make Up: Jack P. Pierce *
Photographic Effects: Frank H. Booth *
Miniatures: William Davidson *
Art Director: Charles D. Hall
Set Designers: Herman Rosse, John Hoffman *
Set Decorator: Russell A. Gausman *
Title Art: Max Cohen *
Researcher: Nan Grant *
Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA
Casting: Phil M. Friedman *
Cast
Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula)
Helen Chandler (Mina Seward)
David Manners (John Harker)
Dwight Frye (Renfield)
Edward Van Sloan (Professor Van Helsing)
Herbert Bunston (Dr Seward)
Frances Dade (Lucy Weston)
Joan Standing (maid)
Charles Gerrard (Martin)
Moon Carroll [maid – uncredited]
Barbara Bozoky [innkeeper's wife – uncredited]
Daisy Belmore [English coach passenger – uncredited]
Nicholas Bela [Transylvanian passenger – uncredited]
Carla Laemmle [girl passenger – uncredited]
Tod Browning [voice of harbour master – uncredited]
Anita Deardorf Harder [flower girl – uncredited]
Cornelia Thaw, Geraldine Dvorak, Dorothy Tree [Dracula's wives – uncredited]
Alternative Titles
Drácula – Argentine, Brazilian, Mexican, Portuguese, Spanish, Uruguayan title
Dracula – vanha vampyyri – Finnish TV title
Drakoulas – Greek re-release title
Drakula – Hungarian, Turkish title
O Kapetan Vrykolakas – Greek title
Ksiaze Dracula – Polish title
Mysteriet ‘Dracula – Swedish title
Links
Sequels
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
House of Dracula (1945)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
Son of Dracula (1943)
Alternate language version
Drácula (1931)
Extracts included in
The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003)
The 100 Scariest Movie Moments (2004)
100 Years of Horror (1996)
20 to 1: Adults Only 20 to 1: Movie Monsters (2010)
The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (1981)
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010)
AFI's 100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains (2003)
AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes: America's Greatest Quips, Comebacks and Catchphrases (2005)
AFI's 100 Years… 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies (2001)
The American Nightmare (2000)
Beloved Count (2007)
The Blood Is the Life: The Making of Bram Stoker's Dracula (2007)
Bloodsucking Cinema (2007)
Bride of Monster Mania (2000)
Coming Soon (1982)
The Costumes Are the Sets: The Design of Eiko Ishioka (2007)
Creature Features: Dracula/She-Wolf of London (1970)
Creature Features: Dracula/The Mummy's Ghost (1971)
The Dead Will Walk (2004)
Dracula A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)
Dracula (1966)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995)
The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster (1999)
The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr. (1995)
Heartstoppers: Horror at the Movies (1992)
Histoire(s) du cinéma – 2A: Seul le cinéma (1997)
A History of Horror: Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood (2010)
Hollywood and the Stars: Monsters We've Known and Loved (1964)
Horror Business (2005)
The Horror of It All (1983)
I Saw What You Did (1988)
Innocent Blood (1992)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000)
Lugosi Hollywood's Dracula (1997)
The Many Faces of Christopher Lee (1996)
Masters of Horror: The V Word (2006)
Mondo Lugosi (1987)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of The Wolf Man (1999)
Monster Mania (1997)
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed (1999)
Night at the Golden Eagle (2001)
Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed! (2000)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000)
The Perfect Scary Movie (2005)
Precious Images (1986)
The Road to Dracula (1999)
SexTV: Blood Lust/Bodies of Evidence/Cake (2001)
SexTV: Dark Desires: Sexuality in the Horror Film (2003)
SexTV: Monstrous Desires: Sexuality and Horror/A Moment with… David Cronenberg (2005)
Sibling Rivalry (1990)
Universal Horror (1998)
Van Helsing: The Man and the Monsters (2004)
Vem var Dracula? (1975)
See also
Animaniacs: Draculee, Draculaa/Phranken-Runt (1993)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Class Reunion (1982)
Dance of the Vampires (1967)
Dracula Dead and Loving It (1995)
Dracula Exotica (1980)
Dracula Sucks (1979)
Films That Suck (1999)
Fracchia contro Dracula (1985)
The Ghost Busters: The Vampire's Apprentice (1975)
The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (1979)
The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (1942)
Here Come the Munsters (1995)
Love at First Bite (1979)
Lust for Dracula (2004)
Monster Mash (2000)
The Monster Squad (1987)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Saturday the 14th (1981)
Scooby Doo, Where Are You!: A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts (1969)
Silver Scream (2003)
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
References
Periodicals
American Cinematographer vol.68 no.4 (April 1987) pp.36-48 – illustrated article
American Cinematographer vol.69 n5 May 1988 pp.34-42 – illustrated article
The Dark Side April 1993 p.44 – review
Documentary Box no.22 (2004) pp.20-29 – illustrated interview with Philip Glass (Variations on the Musical Image: an Interview with Philip Glass by James Tobias)
Empire no.125 November 1999 pp.138; 148 – illustrated video review (by Kim Newman); illustrated soundtrack review (Soundtracks by Ian Freer)
Empire no.163 January 2003 pp.168-169 – illustrated review (by Kim Newman)
Empire no.210 (December 2006) p.182 – DVD review (DVD New: Dracula: 75th Anniversary Special Edition by David Hughes)
Famous Monsters of Filmland vol.5 no.1 (April 1963) pp.52-67 – illustrated article
Fangoria no.191 April 2000 pp.68-69 – illustrated DVD review (DVD dungeon by Michael Gingold and Matthew Kiernan)
Film Score Monthly vol.4 no.10 (December 1999) pp.21 – soundtrack review (Score of scores 1999 by Raymond Tuttle)
Film Score Monthly vol.5 no.1 (January 2000) pp.45-46 – DVD review (The laserphile: DVD race 2000 by Andy Dursin)
The Film Spectator vol.11 no.8 (28 March 1931) p.13 – review
Films in Review vol.36 no.12 (December 1985) pp.598 – illustrated article
Gothique no.9 (October 1969) pp.4-8 – illustrated article (Back to Nosferatu! by John Ramsey Campbell)
Kine Weekly 26 February 1931 p.360 – review
The Listener vol.110 no.2816 (7 July 1983) pp.37 – review
Midi-Minuit Fantastique n.4/5 (January 1963) pp.3- – text of original story
Monster! no.25 (January 2016) pp.107-110; 112 – illustrated book review (The Monster! ook nook: Tod Browning's Dracula by Gary D. Rhodes by Matthew E. Banks); note
Photon no.23 (1973) pp.36-45 – illustrated article (Tod Browning – a Filmography by Bill Nelson)
Photon no.27 1976 pp.40-41 – illustrated article (Dracula/Dracula by Lane Roth)
The Picturegoer vol.1 no.10 (August 1931) pp.30 – review
Picture-Play Magazine vol.34 no.3 (May 1931) p.71 – review
Starburst no.217 (September 1996) pp.55 – illustrated video review (Videofile)
Books
Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (2nd edition) by Phil Hardy (ed) p.49 – illustrated credits, review
Classic Horror Films and the Literature That Inspired Them by Ron Backer pp.71-76 – illustrated credits, review
Count Dracula Goes to the Movies: Stoker's Novel Adapted (3rd Edition) by Lyndon W. Joslin pp.20-31 – illutrated credits, synopsis, production notes, review
A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series by Ken Hanke pp.23-27; 30 – credits, review
Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010 by John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart pp.61-62 – illustrated credits, review
The Encyclopedia of Novels Into Films second edition by John C. Tibbetts and James M. Welsh pp.105-109 – illustrated credits, review (by J.C.T. [John C. Tibbetts])
Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography, 1931-1939 by Bryan Sennp.9-19 – illustrated credits, review
Hoffman's Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.112 – credits, review
Hollywood Gothic: The tangled web of Dracula from novel to stage to screen David J. Skal – article
Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.108 – credits
The Horror Factory: The Horror Films of Universal 1931-1955 by Bruce Dettman and Michael Bedford pp.9-14; 174 – article, review; credits
The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide by Stephen Jones pp.16-17 – illustrated credits, review
The Monster Movies of Universal Studios by James L. Neibaur pp.1-9 – illustrated credits, article
Of Gods and Monsters: A Critical Guide to Universal Studios' Science Fiction, Horror and Mystery Films, 1929-1939 (2nd edition) by John T. Soister pp.81-101 – illustrated credits, article, review
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.112 – credits
Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Film Sequels, Series, and Remakes by Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester p.129-130 – illustrated credits, review
Universal Horrors: The Studio's ClassicFilms 1931-1946 (2nd edition) by Tom Weaver, Michael Brunas and John Brunas pp.21-33 – illustrated credits, article, review
Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror by Michael Mallory pp.43-49 – illustrated article, review
