Hungary, Austria, France, 1921
50m, 1448 meters
35mm film, black and white, 1.33:1
silent
A Hungarian/Austrian/French horror film directed by Károly Lajthay. It is the first known screen appearance of Dracula and is believed to be a lost film. It is not based on Bram Stoker's novel.
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Károly Lajthay
Lapa Film
Script: Károly Lajthay, Michael Kertesz [real name: Michael Curtiz.[/mfn]
Directors of Photography: Eduard Hoesch, Lajos Gasser
Studios: Corvin Filmgyár
Cast
Paul Askonas (Drakula)
Carl Goetz (Funnyman)
Károly Hatvani
Anna Marie Hegener
Aladár Ihász (assistant)
Paula Kende
Dezsö Kertész (George)
Margit Lux (Mary Land)
Lene Myl
Oszkár Perczel
Lajos Réthey (fake-doctor)
Magda Sonja
Lajos Szalkai
Elemér Thury (doctor)
Béla Tímár
Alternative Titles
Drakula – working title
Production Notes
Production
The film was first announced in 1921 by the Hungarian trade publication Képes Mozivilág which suggested that the film would be based on the novel Dracula by “H.G. Wells” [sic]. In fact director Károly Lajthay had already been at work on the film, having rented space at the Corvin Filmgyár studios in late 1920. Exteriors were shot in Vienna and the nearby village of Melk during December 1920 and the production settled into the studio on 2 January 1921. Final location shooting was subsequently done at Wachau Valley near Vienna.
Releases
The film was apparently released in Vienna, Austria in 1921 but no hard documentary evidence exists to support this. The film was then supposedly re-edited in 1923 and the new version was given a release in Budapest, Hungary. A Hungarian ‘novelization' of the film's script was written by Lajos Pánczél and published in 1924.
References
Periodicals
- Horror Studies vol.1 no.1 (January 2010) pp.25-47 – illustrated article (Drakula halála (1921): The Cinema's First Dracula by Gary D. Rhodes)
