Dracula (1931)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tod Browning
(more)

Writers:

Bram Stoker (novel)
Hamilton Deane (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

The story of the strangest passion the world has ever known!

Plot:

The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Vampire | Count | Undead | Castle

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Count Dracula
Helen Chandler	...	Mina Harker
David Manners	...	John Harker
Dwight Frye	...	Renfield
Edward Van Sloan	...	Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
Herbert Bunston	...	Dr. Jack Seward
Frances Dade	...	Lucy Weston
Joan Standing	...	Briggs (a nurse)
Charles K. Gerrard	...	Martin (as Charles Gerrard)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anna Bakacs	...	Innkeeper's daughter (uncredited)
Nicholas Bela	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Daisy Belmore	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Barbara Bozoky	...	Innkeepers wife (uncredited)
Tod Browning	...	Voice of Harbormaster (uncredited)
Moon Carroll	...	Maid (uncredited)
Geraldine Dvorak	...	Dracula's wife (uncredited)
John George	...	Small Scientist (uncredited)
Anita Harder	...	Flower Girl (uncredited)
Carla Laemmle	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Donald Murphy	...	Coach passenger (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	Surgeon (uncredited)
Cornelia Thaw	...	Dracula's wife (uncredited)
Dorothy Tree	...	Dracula's wife (uncredited)
Josephine Velez	...	Grace (English nurse) (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Innkeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
Tod Browning
Karl Freund		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Bram Stoker		(novel)
Hamilton Deane		(play) &
John L. Balderston		(play)
Garrett Fort		(play script)
Dudley Murphy		(additional dialogue) uncredited
Louis Bromfield		uncredited
Tod Browning		uncredited
Max Cohen		titles (uncredited)
Louis Stevens		uncredited

Produced by
E.M. Asher	....	associate producer
Tod Browning	....	producer
Carl Laemmle Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass		(1999)

Cinematography by
Karl Freund

Film Editing by
Milton Carruth
Maurice Pivar

Production Design by
John Hoffman		(uncredited)
Herman Rosse		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Ed Ware		(uncredited)
Vera West		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott R. Beal	....	first assistant director (uncredited)
Herman Schlom	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Hoffman	....	set designer (uncredited)
Charles A. Logue	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Herman Rosse	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
C. Roy Hunter	....	recording supervisor
Jack Bolger	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Jack Foley	....	foley artist (uncredited)
William Hedgcock	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Frank H. Booth	....	photographic effects
William Davidson	....	miniatures (uncredited)
John P. Fulton	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank H. Booth	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Joseph Brotherton	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Roman Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)
King D. Gray	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Heinz Roemheld	....	conductor (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Max Cohen	....	title designer (uncredited)
Nan Grant	....	researcher (uncredited)
Charles Logue	....	scenario supervisor (uncredited)
Dudley Murphy	....	continuity (uncredited)
Aileen Webster	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1931) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Universal Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Realart Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Studios (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Nonesuch Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Drácula (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Drácula (Brazil) [pt]
Drakoulas (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Drakula (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Drakula (Hungary) [hu]
Ksiaze Dracula (Poland) [pl]
O kapetan Vrykolakas (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

75 min (corrected release length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hungarian | Latin

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (2004) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Spain:T | Norway:16 (1931) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Approved | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The studio did not want the scene where Dracula attacks Renfield to be filmed due to the perceived gay subtext of the situation. A memo was sent to the director stating "Dracula is only to attack women".

Goofs:

Factual errors: Joan Standing is wrongly credited as a maid, but she was actually playing the part of Briggs (a nurse). Moon Carroll played the uncredited part as a maid. She's the one who faints when Renfield is laughing very scary.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Young Girl Passenger: [reading from a Transylvanian tourist brochure] "Among the rugged peaks that crown down upon the Borgo Pass are found crumbling castles of a bygone age."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les charlots contre Dracula (1980)

Scary for it's time, not now. But still it's a classic.

I loved watching all the older scary movies, because I just think it's important part of history in movies, you see what the time was and the mood. What frightened people and why that was, despite Dracula being somewhat of a yawn to today's generation, this was completely new to the people of 1931, they had never seen anything like it.

This was the first actual taken from Bram Stroker's novel Dracula movie, despite Nosferatu that was silent, could not be brought into the accuracy of the original novel. Also this was the first vampire film with sound. Bela made a great Dracula, I always thought it was kind of funny that he had a fear of blood. He made Dracula into the type cast of today with the whole "Blah's" and "I never drink wine", etc.

1931's Dracula brought nightmares and fear into it's viewers. I hope my generation could understand that, because I think it's important to understand how much these movies frightened our grandparents or great grandparents and why. They don't make movies like this any more, there was no gore needed, just people's imaginations. Whatever happened to that? I would recommend Dracula any time, it's a classic and I hope it stays that way into future generations.

10/10