Quote: "The only thing needed is a CGI reworking to steal the crane shot up the castle steps in the beginning and make it Lugosi at the top of the steps and not Villarias."

Sorry, Atkalu, but I strongly disagree. What Clark made so brilliantly was to restore the original editing of the US version, as it was, much than probably, before Universal re-cut the movie. Restoring the original title card would be a good idea too.
But we haven't any proof that Browning made a crane shot up the castle steps in his version, and stealing it from the work of another director would be just revisionism. Just like the so-called "restored" version of THE VAMPIRE BAT, artificially obtained with shots of different pictures. "Dràcula" is NOT "Dracula" - they are two different movies. Even if it's logical to follow the editing of the Hispanic version to restore the Browning movie!
Furthermore, don't forget that some people think that Browning's mise-en-scène, and choice of camera's place, are better than Melford's. I don't share their opinion but it must be respected. Any restoration of Browning's movie must be made with Browning materials.
It could be interesting to make a "composite" version, using Melford elements to replace some Browning scenes cut by Universal (as the original cuts are probably lost), but just to get an idea of what Browning intended - but it could never be considered as a "restoration", of course.

Last Edited By: todmichel Feb 19 12 8:04 AM. Edited 1 times.