Classic 30s Movie: “Dracula”

May is Classic 30s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Sheila Seclearr.

Movie Title: Dracula

Year: 1931

Writers: Garrett Fort adapted the screenplay from Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderson’s Broadway play, all based on the novel by Bram Stoker

Lead Actors: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye and David Manners

Director: Tod Browning who made two other vampire movies, London After Midnight (1927) and Mark of the Vampire (1935)

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

Mine: Count Dracula’s bloodlust lures him across the ocean to the night streets of London, where no woman is safe, but young, aristocratic Mina is captured.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 30s Movie

The opening scenes of this film are the precursor to the modern, high-speed chase. This has a horse-drawn carriage careening down the winding mountain road, supposedly Transylvania’s Carpathians (though it’s never said to be Transylvania.) When one passenger calls out to the driver to slow down, another sets out to explain the evil night and why they must reach town by sundown. The foreboding mood is set. You’re sure the innocent passenger who, ignoring dramatic and urgent warnings, continues on to his midnight encounter at Castle Dracula is doomed, as indeed he is.

Mr. Renfield arrives at the castle to complete a real estate transaction with Count Dracula, played hypnotically by the elegant Bela Lugosi, who also played the part in the hit Broadway play a few years earlier. Lugosi, a Hungarian stage actor with a thick, genuinely creepy accent, is timeless and memorable: “I am…Drac-u-la… I bid you welcome.”

A gruesome ocean crossing follows and I’m not sure how often this had been portrayed in a movie before this. The storm-tossed waves poured over the decks of the ship and the rain came down in what looks, literally, like buckets. Thankfully, the scenes are short, and before you can get too hung up on the flashes of light for lightning, it’s over and the crew’s bodies are strewn all over. Renfield survives, as does his mysterious “luggage,” three coffins. But the news, spread across the screen for all to read, is that only a madman survived the “crew of corpses.”

The gothic set shifts, this time to a London sanitarium, still dark and foggy, where Renfield has been taken. The bat that flies around the night skies is surely Dracula, and his prey is the beautiful, young Mina. Dracula visits the London opera and the symphony, elegantly dressed in cape and top hat of course. Women continue to disappear in the night streets of London. The cinematic mood and threats of death slinks mysteriously through to the end scenes. The only music in the film is at the very end, when Mina and her fiancé ascend the stairs, thinking they are finally safe.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie

The fabulous Bela Legosi wills Van Helsing, Mina’s father, to come to him with a hex-like twist of his outstretched hand. Then Dracula hisses in crouched retreat when Van Helsing slips a crucifix out of his vest pocket.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie

From the crazed, bug-eyed Mr. Renfield, describing his devotion to Count Dracula: (whispers)

He came and stood below my window in the moonlight. And he promised me things… A red mist spread over the lawn, coming on like a flame of fire. And then he parted it and I could see that there were thousands of rats, with their eyes blazing red, like his, only smaller. Then he held up his hand and they all stopped… Thousands, millions of them. He said, “All red blood, all these will I give you, if you will obey me.”

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie

Though it seems at times like a stage play, the Gothic sets are dark and atmospheric, eerie with fog and cobwebs. The director uses tiny shards of light here and there to place hints and emphasis in the gloom. Even though, we’re jaded by modern special effects, imagine which of the creepy creatures were censored in some viewings back in the day. Hint: there’s a combo of spiders and coffins. And Dracula’s three zombie wives float around his Transylvanian castle, another scene cut for some early viewers. Watch for the single scene that shows any blood, so small, it’s ludicrous.

Thanks, Sheila!

To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of classic 40s movies, 5os movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 30s movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got at least 22 movies in the works and hopefully!

Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!

All Quiet on the Western Front — Michael Waters
Bride of Frankenstein — Marija Nielsen
Bringing Up Baby — Melinda Mahaffey
Captain Blood — John Arends
City Girl — Adam Westbrook
Dracula — Sheila Seaclearr
Duck Soup — David Joyner
Gone With The Wind — Mark Twain
Gunga Din — Steve Huerta
It Happened One Night — JoniB22
Make Way for Tomorrow — Susan W
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Amber Watt
Rebecca — Katha
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves — Will King
Sabotage — Jeff Xilon
Stagecoach — Thenewlight
The 39 Steps — Felicity Flesher
The Adventures of Robin Hood — Clay Mitchell
The Petrified Forest — supergloss
The Women — Liz Clarke
Topper — Wayne Kline

I am still looking for volunteers. If there’s a 30s movie you’d like to write about, please post your suggestion in comments or contact me via email.

Thanks to everyone who steps up for this ongoing project!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

For all of the 30s movies featured in the series, go here.

Click REPLY and see you in comments about today’s classic 30s movie!