Dracula 1931 (Something I MUST SAY!) in Universal Horrors Forum

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Dracula 1931 (Something I MUST SAY!)

Author	Comment
Wich2		#261	[-]
Jul 22 10 10:04 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Lucy sets sail for Transylvania" - - where she is kidnapped by Count Dracardo!
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Don Glut		#262	[-]
Jul 22 10 11:14 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Was that in the movie THE LONG, LONG COFFIN or FOREVER DRACULA? Maybe DRACULA IS FRED AND LOATHING IT?
YgorMonster		#263	[-]
Jul 22 10 2:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Ethel Bat?
Don Glut		#264	[-]
Jul 22 10 3:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And let's not forget Ricky's theme song, "Babbalugosi."
Wich2		#265	[-]
Jul 22 10 5:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yoo guise got sum 'splainin' to do!
DonM435		#266	[-]
Jul 22 10 8:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Ahh, Ricky, there are rats all over the lawn! Thousands of them! Millions of them!"
Bob Furmanek		#267	[-]
Jul 22 10 9:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for the replies and I really appreciate your input. Here are a few scans: Last Edited By: Bob Furmanek Jul 23 10 12:28 AM. Edited 1 times.
dracsback		#268	[-]
Jul 24 10 8:34 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gentlemen ! Gentlemen! I've been watching this thread grow but haven't read all of it until now. What is this thread about? I re-watched DRACULA last night with the Glass score - I seem to remember that I llked it added....but observations are ths: Lugosi is really great and owns the screen when he's there. Frye was even more enjoyable and his performance really adds to the creep factor. Nix the Glass score - I agree with what was said earler - the "silence" makes it creep a bit more. The movie establishes mood and setting pretty well with a low budget. With a little more money this could've been great rather than just good. The movie is paced slow and does seem like a stage play. Having said all of that - those scans of that 1928 Dracula novel are awesome. Thanks Bob! "I saw what I saw when I saw it!"
Southern Beau		#269	[-]
Jul 24 10 10:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	DRACULA...there's something I must add... Thank you.
markwilliams		#270	[-]
Jul 26 10 1:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Like it! Please visit my online gallery www.universalhammer.com
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ArmandV101		#271	[-]
Jul 27 10 5:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ted Newsom wrote: Pichel? Oh, why not. And while we're at it, William Beaudine. Or Jethro Beaudine. Armand's Rancho del Cielo
The Raven		#272	[-]
Jul 27 10 7:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Southern Beau wrote: DRACULA...there's something I must add... Thank you. I LOVE THIS IMAGE! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
markwilliams		#273	[-]
Aug 3 10 2:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rewatched Dracula 1931 after a long time. I'd actually forgotten how good it is. I'd also forgotten how big a part Renfield plays in this version which I found quite interesting. He really gives everyone the runaround.One thing I could never have forgotten though was how brilliant Belas performance is. Chilling but suave at the same time. Please visit my online gallery www.universalhammer.com
Ted Newsom		#274	[-]
Aug 3 10 2:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Given how good Lew Ayres was in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, the DR. KILDARE series, and mean'n'crazy in DONOVAN'S BRAIN, it would have been interesting to see what he could have done with Renfield, if Universal had picked him (as he wanted.)
Wich2		#275	[-]
Aug 4 10 9:29 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	No insult to Dwight, but I think Ayres would've done a great job (as would have Veidt, with the same caveat re: Bela.)
telegonus		#276	[-]
Aug 4 10 11:04 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ayres was a competent actor, but holy moly, even if he'd done a bang-up job as Renfeld, as he may well have done, it would have been the end of him as a leading man! All Quiet On the Western Front gave him something to build on, and he had a few successes in the early talkie period before his star began to wane, after which he had to wait a few years till Dr. Kildare came along and saved him, resurrected his leading man career for a few years; and a leading man he remained, even after the war. I doubt any of this would have happened if Ayres had played Renfield, especially if Ayres was aiming for a starring career. On the other hand, to put this in an alternate universe perspective, I just can't picture Dwight Frye making a credible, reassuring Dr. Jim Kildare, but maybe that's just me.
opticalguy	A Bit Unfair	#277	[-]
Sep 16 10 12:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I know that there is a considerable backlash against the classic Universal horror films due to Forry Ackerman overpraising them in the old Famous Monsters of Filmland. Also I'm that Tod Browning … not the best director … just one of the strangest … gets the full brunt of this but hey folks … lighten up. Now I'm one of those few (it comes of being a Virginian* I think) that likes older films because they feel more authentic to me so I am prejudiced in its favor. The 1931 Dracula really creeped me out when I first saw it on TV. Hell, even the Famous Monsters of Filmland filmbook (it was part of the issue with The Werewolf of London cover, if memory serves) creeped me out. It seemed to emit a mist of ancient dread and when I saw it in 1968 on the big screen and in the proper aspect ratio (it was part of a double bill with the James Whale Frankenstein) it really worked quite well. I agree with David J. Skal (on the DVD commentary) as to where the film drops dead too. It should be considered in context. Let's remember that mystery comedies ruled the roost and that goes not just for in live theater but in movies and they always had their "Scooby-Doo" ending. So when in Dracula we begin with the necessary exposition being trotted-out as Tom Weaver pointed out on 7/13/2010 " I like the part, two minutes into the movie, where they explain what vampires are, so even dummies will understand" that's one of the conventions of that sort of play/movie. As Sid Terror said on 7/13/2010 "The set-up has a bunch of superstitious village idiots telling Renfield (the sensible modern one we identify with) about vampires and him scoffing at them. Cut to Dracula rising from the coffin in the castle. Is that real, or just an example of the superstitious villagers story? The audience is still unsure at that point." I added the emphasis. The supernatural stuff always turns out to be pure hooey as well … except in this film. In the remake of London After Midnight (Mark of the Vampire) we see a bat-winged Luna flying even though it is highly unlikely to be seen by Barrymore and company (they do see it) and although it is explained by a wire rig (it's a traveling matte shot when we see it) that raises more questions than are answered. The shots of Dracula wandering about the crypt while one of his concubines/wives/vampire babes gets out of a coffin would've played to audiences of the time as more atmospheric but bogus business. Those "in the know" would just have watched it and enjoyed it just as we do now. They do play with the audiences … many were shocked that the main character really was a vampire and not a clever fraud by the little exit speech delivered by Edward Van Sloan: ". . . Just one word of warning, ladies and gentlemen . . . there are such things as VAMPIRES!" This was on the very nice print I saw in 1968 and on many of the 16mm prints. It's a pity all of the prints were destroyed when they shut down regional exchanges and the duplicating interpositives (the fine-grains) were destroyed when 16mm rental houses closed.. The arrival at the castle and Renfield's initial meeting with the Count work pretty well.I just watched this flick on a rainy Sunday and Lugosi's performance has a nice edge to it in that he seems amused by Renfield's obliviousness and is subtly mocking him. Renfield really should've noticed that he was in a situation that was no where near normal. The odd pauses are similar to Lionel Barrymore's delivery in the film Mark of the Vampire … except that it works for Lugosi. Lugosi believes in what he's doing and it does come across. He is Dracula. As CarlDenham said on7/3/2010: Tod Browning seems to get a lot of flack from fans these days, and in my opinion, it doesn't seem very warranted. What most people don't seem to take into account is that Browning was never a very cinematic director to begin with. In some of those silent pictures with Lon Chaney, you'd be hard-pressed to find a moving camera shot anywhere! Yet, they're all great films regardless. Browning's "style" as a filmmaker was very bare-bones and workman-like. Nothing fancy. The main thing that powered his films was the extremely macabre stories that he came up with. They were like nothing anyone had seen or heard of at the time. He was like Tim Burton today; there is nothing special about how Burton directs his films. He just comes up with these really bizarre concepts, and puts them on film. In the case of Dracula, the source-material was, surprise, surprise, a friggin' stage-play! Universal wanted him to shoot a stage-play, so he shot a stage-play, with sound no less. In addition, most of the cast had performed their roles countless times on the stage, so when it came time to make the movie, it was more-or-less routine stuff for them by then. Tod Browning was a really odd fellow. Check out The Unknown which TCM runs fairly often … that is some of the oddest celluloid ever to unspool through a projector I have ever seen. Not because of directorial flourishes but due to the really strange elements and atmosphere of the film. Sigmund Freud would be reluctant to comment on the psychology on display there. I'm not sure that the 1931 Dracula would have been that much better had a more cinematic … and significantly less weird … director at the helm. Notice the playing in the Spanish version which most of us agree is a more cinematic and better-directed film. Carlos Villarías plays the scene where he watches Renfield eat with both fascination and revulsion. It's interesting directorially but it doesn't work … largely due to Villarías' inadequacies as an actor. Tod Browning's version more clearly features the bread wine, and candles "religious" motif better and the line "I never drink … wine" is clearly part of Dracula mocking his clueless victim. Yes … the film is plenty compromised but lighten up a bit folks. There is plenty there that still works. ___________________________________________________________ *The old joke goes: " How many Virginians does it take to change a light bulb?" "Three" "One to change the bulb and the other two to go on at length about how grand the old one was." opticalguy1954@yahoo.com (Spencer Gill) Last Edited By: opticalguy Sep 16 10 12:13 PM. Edited 1 times.
SparkieGojira		#278	[-]
Sep 16 10 1:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm intrigued by the idea of Lew Ayres as Renfield. Ayres is pitch perfect as Paul in ALL QUIET, and that can't be an easy role. I've only seen bits of the 70's remake, and characters like Luke Skywalker or the Walton's John Boy tend to slightly annoy me, but never have I found Ayres' Paul to be anything less than a totally sympathetic everyman. It's an outstanding performance. I've never seen another thing he has done though. -Clark
SparkieGojira		#279	[-]
Sep 16 10 1:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Is this a good place to mention again... Stoker describes the Count as having perfect English but with weird intonation.... "Weee well, be leeeavening... tomorrow eeeeeevening." I think the idea that Lugosi was still learning lines phonetically in 1930 is an insult to a fellow who had more culture in his elongated pinky than anyone of us can hope to attain. -Clark
Wich2		#280	[-]
Sep 16 10 1:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"a fellow who had more culture in his elongated pinky than anyone of us can hope to attain" Clark, I think that's a tad... oddly worshipful? As far as "cultcha" - yes, Bela had worked in the Theater; but his background and education beyond that was pretty middle class. Do you just say that because he was European? Now, as to pronunciation, I think I recall hearing of a comment from the man himself that giving so many years to a role that required him to talk Old Country actually HURT his English finesse. -Craig
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Dracula 1931 (Something I MUST SAY!)