Dracula (1931) ft. Sara Shea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI6SY2nu1To

Guest:

• Sara Shea

  • Host and Creator of Shea Cinema; @sheacinema on X, IG

  • Previously on 12 Angry Men (1957) Revisit, Barry Lyndon (1975), Shampoo (1975), 2025 Post Oscars Reaction Show, Patton (1970), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Cast:

• Tod Browning, Director

• Garrett Fort, Writer

• Karl Freund, Cinematographer

• Phillip Glass, Music

• Milton Carruth and Maurice Pivar, Editing

• Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula

• Helen Chandler as Mina Seward

• David Manners as John Harker

• Dwight Frye as Renfield

• Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing

• Herbert Bunston as Dr. Seward

• Frances Dade as Lucy Weston

Background:

• Based on two novels of the same name, Dracula was released on February 14, 1931.

• Critical reception was generally positive at the time, and reexaminations of the film since have continued to praise the film particularly for Browning's direction and Lugosi's lead performance.

• Owing to the costs of adding an original musical score to a film's soundtrack, no score had ever been composed specifically for the film. However, in 1998, composer Philip Glass was commissioned to compose a musical score for the film.

• Dracula kicked off the monster horror genre especially for Universal Studios which also released Frankenstein later the same year.

• Dracula has been remade, had many sequels, and had numerous spin-offs that have credited this original film as part of their influences.

• Dracula has been recognized by American Film Institute on the following lists:

  • 2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – #85

  • 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:

    • Count Dracula – #33 Villain

  • 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:

    • Count Dracula: "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." – #83

• In 2000, Dracula was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

• Dracula currently holds a 96% among critics on RT, a 71 score on Metacritic, and a 3.6/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: Dracula (1931) is a classic horror film about the mysterious Count Dracula, (Bela Lugosi), a vampire from Transylvania who travels to England in search of new victims. After a young man named Renfield (Dwight Frye) falls under Dracula’s control, the Count sets his sights on Mina Seward (Helen Chandler), slowly draining her life while charming everyone around her.

As Mina grows weaker, her fiancé John Harker (David Manners) teams up with the wise and determined Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan), who realizes Dracula’s true nature. The film builds tension as Van Helsing uses knowledge and courage to confront the vampire and stop his reign of terror.

Did You Know:

• The original release featured an epilogue with Edward Van Sloan talking to the audience about what they have just seen. This was removed for the 1936 re-release and is now assumed to be lost. The later Frankenstein (1931) similarly copied this model by featuring a prologue.

• After playing Renfield, Dwight Frye would find himself typecast. He found himself restricted to playing eccentric or jittery characters that had a manic edge to them or criminal lunatic types.

• Among the living creatures seen in Dracula's castle in Transylvania are opossums, armadillos, and an insect known as a Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopalmatus fuscus). This insect was common in Southern California, which may explain its cameo in the film. The inclusion of armadillos was due to the fact that armadillos had occasionally been seen digging in graveyards, which led to the mistaken belief that they would dig their way into coffins and eat the cadavers.

• When Bela Lugosi died in 1956, he was buried wearing one of his many black silk capes, but not the one that he wore in Dracula. That one was put on auction by his son, Bela Lugosi Jr., in 2011. The starting bid being set at $1,200,000; it failed to sell. Later, in November 2019, the family donated it to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where it was being restored as of February 2020. It will be put on display along with an exclusive collection of prestigious and priceless Golden Age of Hollywood star props and artifacts. It ought to be noted that there was a persisting, yet untrue, rumor that being buried in one of his vampire capes was Lugosi's dying wish when, in fact, it was decided by Bela Lugosi Jr. and his mother, Lugosi's ex-wife, Lillian Arch. The Lugosi family has long corroborated these facts to be accurate.

• The innkeeper played by Michael Visaroff, says to Renfield in front of the inn, "The driver - he is afraid - Walpurgis Night." (0:02:55). This is an anglicized form of the German 'Walpurgis-Nacht', which is the Eve of Saint Walpurgis, the evening of April 30, also known as May Eve (the eve of May Day). This night is one of several during the year in which supernatural beings of various kinds roam at large, according to the traditional superstitions of various regions.

• Cinematographer Karl Freund achieved the effect of Dracula's hypnotic stare by aiming two pencil-spot-lights into actor Bela Lugosi's eyes.

Best Performance: Tod Browning (Director)/Karl Freund (Cinematography)

Best Secondary Performance: Tod Browning (Director)/Bela Lugosi (Dracula)/Dwight Frye (Renfield)

Most Charismatic Award: Bela Lugosi (Dracula)/Dwight Frye (Renfield)/Helen Chandler (Mina)

Best Scene:

• Renfield's First Night

• Biting Lucy

• Mirror Reflection

• On the Terrace

• Final Confrontation

Favorite Scene: Renfield's First Night/Arrival of the Vestra/Mirror Reflection

Most Indelible Moment: Final Confrontation/Dracula Stare

In Memorium:

• James Mingo Lewis, 72, American percussionist and drummer (Santana, Al Di Meola, The Tubes)

• Woodie King Jr., 88, American theatre director, founder of the New Federal Theatre

• Yvonne Lime, 90, American actress (I Was a Teenage Werewolf, The Rainmaker, Father Knows Best)

• Floyd Vivino, 74, American actor (Good Morning, Vietnam; Crazy People, Mr. Wonderful), comedian, and television host

• Demond Wilson, 79, American actor (Sanford and Son, The New Odd Couple, Me and the Kid)

• Catherine O'Hara, 71, Canadian-American actress (Schitt's Creek, Beetlejuice, Home Alone), Emmy winner (1982, 2019)

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Count Dracula: I never drink... wine.

Count Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.

Count Dracula: For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you're a wise man, Van Helsing.

Van Helsing: The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him.

Count Dracula: [hearing wolves howling in the distance] Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.

Van Helsing: You'll die in torment if you die with innocent blood on your soul.

Renfield: God will not damn a poor lunatic's soul. He knows that the powers of evil are too great for those with weak minds.

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 9.5

Impact/Significance: 9.33

Novelty: 7.67

Classic-ness: 5.67

Rewatchability: 4.5

Audience Score: 8.65 (91% Google, 82% RT)

Total: 45.32

Remaining Questions:

• What's next for Mina and John?

• Why didn't Mina turn into a vampire fully?

• What happens to the others that Dracula turned?