Count Gamula wrote:
Okay. I now have available to anyone interested in even more revisionist meddling, an mp4 of a reconstruction of the 1931 DRACULA that I’m calling the “extended shooting script edition”. Going a step further than Clark’s re-edit of the Browning version, this is a hybrid of the Browning version with clips from the Spanish version and still photos from deleted scenes.

While I don’t think it necessarily represents what DRACULA should have been like in it’s final form, I do think that seeing this edit would give most people a fuller understanding of what the original vision for the movie was and how it was eventually reshaped, during its production and post-production, into the final version of DRACULA we have all known for so many years.

I think some deleted footage definitely should have been include in the movie, while other scenes would not have served the movie well if they had remained as written. So here, for better or worse, is everything put back into DRACULA, from the original title card to Edward Van Sloan’s final curtain speech. You can email me for more information on how you can access the files. gammillk@gmail.com

Very well done, Kerry. With the inclusion of the Melford scenes and the stills, I think you've given us a peek at what Browning originally intended, and of how the movie may have been shown if not for Carl Laemmle, Sr's last minute order to re-apply the scissors before the film was released. And good job on the final curtain speech. I wonder if the complete audio for the speech still exists somewhere? Dubbing it over your visuals would work very well, IMO.

I still prefer splitting up the Dracula/Van Helsing confrontation and the upstairs Mina/Harker scenes, but I suspect that you're right that Browning himself probably intended that they run consecutively. There's no sign in the release version that he made room for the cutting point in mid-sentence as indicated in the script. The Dracula/Van Helsing scene plays fine in one long stretch, but I still think the upstairs seduction scene is too weak to sustain such a long run without breaking it up a bit more.

Technically, I noticed a bit of strobing when there was movement on screen. This may have been caused by having selected a frame rate that didn't match your original when you compiled your edit, or perhaps by a change in the type of video file between the original and the final edit. I've had this problem in the past, and a little fooling around with the options should clear it up for you. Also, if you don't already have one you might want to invest in a Blu-ray disk drive. Standalone drives aren't all that expensive, and the Blu-ray of DRACULA has much less hiss on the soundtrack, in addition to a much better picture. 

But overall, I'm very impressed by your editing choices and your blending of the different versions and the dynamic use of the still photos. Thanks for making this cut available.

Last Edited By: cjh5801 Mar 15 15 2:09 AM. Edited 1 times.