Unlike last week’s movie, Bela Lugosi is not dead but undead in this classic horror film based on a 1924 play which in turn was based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel of the same name. Count Dracula is a Transylvanian transplant residing in England with a fondness for drinking blood and turning into a bat.
He has used his powers to trap a young man, Renfield, into becoming his personal slave. Dracula needs a human to help him do the things he cannot, including moving his coffin. Of course we all prefer sleeping in our own beds!
Once Dracula has settled into Carfax Abbey in London, he sets out to take in the nightlife. At a theater Dracula meets Dr. Seward, who just happens to be Renfield’s psychiatrist, as Renfield has gone a bit mad. Dr. Seward introduces the Count to Mina, his daughter. She is there with her fiancé John Harker and friend Lucy. The well-dressed Dracula has caught Lucy’s eye and you just want to say oh honey he is not the right man for you! He will suck you dry and leave you a shell of your former self. Which he does that night.
Meanwhile back at the sanitarium, Professor Van Helsing has studied Renfield’s blood and his odd dietary choice of bugs. Van Helsing has some knowledge of vampires and just happens to have some wolfsbane which Renfield does not like; the professor has his suspicions on what is really happening with this madman.
Dracula decides to have a nighttime visit with Mina and leaves her with a nasty hickey. When Dracula returns to the scene of the crime the next evening, Van Helsing notices that the Count has no reflection in a mirror. From this he realizes the truth, Count Dracula is a vampire.
Dracula leaves but Mina is drawn to him and she follows the Count to the courtyard where he bites her again. She is under his spell, he wants to possess her, body and soul.
Mina says of Dracula:
I heard dogs howling. And when the dream came, it seemed the whole room was filled with mist. It was so thick, I could just see the lamp by the bed, a tiny spark in the fog. And then I saw two red eyes glaring at me. And a white livid face came down out of the mist. It came closer and closer. I felt its breath on my face and then its lips... oh!
But Van Helsing possesses a strength of character and knowledge about how the pointy toothed creature could be defeated. Can he help save Mina from being condemned to eternal darkness and enslaved to a monstrous being? All that is needed to free her is to put a stake through Dracula’s heart and the curse will be broken.
Through this video I learned the proper pronunciation of Bela Lugosi from the man himself. BTW Peter Murphy and Bauhaus had it totally wrong.
Dracula stars Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, Frances Dade, and Herbert Bunston. Directed by Tod Browning.
Dracula is available for free on the Internet Archive; with subscription on Peacock; $3.99 in the usual places.
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The animated short is The Curse Of Dracular created by Jack Paterson based on a short story his dad had written as a 9-year-old.
Our next Movie Night selection is Lifeforce, available with subscription on MGM+; free with ads on Tubi and The Roku Channel; $3.99 in the usual places.
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BONUS TRIVIA:
When Bela Lugosi died in 1956, he was buried wearing one of his many black silk capes, but not the one that he wore in Dracula. That one was put on auction by his son, Bela Lugosi Jr., in 2011. The starting bid being set at $1,200,000; it failed to sell. Later, in November 2019, the family donated it to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where it was being restored as of February 2020. It will be put on display along with an exclusive collection of prestigious and priceless Golden Age of Hollywood star props and artifacts. It ought to be noted that there was a persisting, yet untrue, rumor that being buried in one of his vampire capes was Lugosi's dying wish when, in fact, it was decided by Bela Lugosi Jr. and his mother, Lugosi's ex-wife, Lillian Arch. The Lugosi family has long corroborated these facts to be accurate.
BONUS TRIVIA:
During an interview with film historian David J. Skal, actor David Manners recounted how the production was disorganized and that Tod Browning showed little interest in directing the film. None of the cast members took filming seriously, except for Bela Lugosi. Manners witnessed Lugosi strolling up and down the set with his cloak wrapped around him and saying, "I am Dracula." This was Bela's own method of psyching himself up and building his concentration to stay in character. Lugosi was a staunch professional who cared deeply about his acting. Years after his death, Lugosi was accused by various biographers of confusing real life with his role. Nothing could have been further from the truth, as reported by Carroll Borland, his son Bela Lugosi Jr. and other people who knew him.