DRACULA (1931)

Director: Tod Browning

Writers: Garrett Fort adapting the stage play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston based on Bram Stoker’s original novel

Producers: Tod Browning, Carl Laemmle, Jr.

Cast: Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloane, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade, Charles K. Gerrard, Joan Standing, Halliwell Hobbes, (and uncredited cast) Carla Laemmle, Geraldine Dvorak, Cornelia Thaw, Dorothy Tree, Michael Visaroff, Bunny Beatty, Moon Carroll, Tod Browning, Nicholas Bela, Daisy Belmore, Barbara Bozoky, John George, Wyndham Standing, Josefina Velez, Anna Bakacs, William A. Boardway, Anita Harder, Florence Wix

A solicitor named Renfield (Dwight Frye) travels to the remote castle of Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) in Transylvania. Renfield presents Dracula with the lease to Carfax Abbey, a property just outside of London, England. Dracula is a vampire who soon dominates the will of Renfield. The pair sail to England where the vampire takes up residence in his newly acquired property. Dracula soon begins feeding on the English citizens. 

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During the silent film era, Universal Pictures had made a name for themselves with macabre thrillers like The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Cat and the Canary (1927). Oddly, they seemed a bit skittish about producing a sound film based on Bram Stoker’s popular 1897 horror novel, Dracula, which had recently been the subject of successful stage plays in both England and the United States. Purely supernatural threats in American movies were considered either too distasteful or too far-fetched. Fortunately, Universal Pictures founder’s son, producer Carl Laemmle, Jr., was a horror fan and convinced his father that Dracula would work. It became Universal’s most profitable film in 1931 and established horror as a viable film genre in the new talkies era. 

Dracula was originally planned as a much more lavish project, but Universal Pictures was having a tough time turning a profit during the Great Depression. It was probably considered too big of a gamble to risk a massive investment on a supernatural thriller, so the original concept was reworked to be more derivative of the Dracula stage production. That resulted in a lot of drawing room drama that would be more economical from a set design and filming standpoint. 

Nevertheless, the opening scenes in Transylvania can’t be beat for Gothic spectacle. They are so iconic and satisfying, raising our anticipation to such heights, that we are bound to be let down by the more mundane settings once the story moves to England. This has long been the most common criticism of this film. 

However, the main fault is not so much with the change of scenery as with the minimal character and plot developments. There seems to have been quite a bit of editing done just to pick up the pace, yet a bit more time to flesh out some of the characters would be appreciated. We never really get a chance to know Lucy Weston (Frances Dade) before she becomes Dracula’s victim. Hence, her death and the loss her friend Mina Seward should feel is barely touched upon. Lucy’s resurrection is also given short shrift in this film’s need to economize or to keep things moving. Most perplexing is the treatment of Renfield. He becomes Dracula’s slave, yet he really serves no story purpose in England except to act crazy and tormented. Why does Dracula maintain contact with Renfield? Once Renfield has been confined to Dr. Seward’s (Herbert Bunston) sanitarium, all he seems capable of is annoying the staff and bungling Dracula’s plans. Renfield also keeps lapsing into despair pleading for Mina Seward’s safety when he never shares a single scene with her. Just how does this lunatic inmate of Dr. Seward’s sanitarium develop any compassion for his daughter? Another likely casualty of this reportedly chaotic production’s economy was the story’s climax. It seems rather abrupt and all too convenient for our heroes. 

Rumor has it that Universal hoped the silent film star who specialized in grotesque characters, Lon Chaney, would play Dracula. Since Chaney had also worked with director Tod Browning many times before, he should have been well suited to working with Dracula’s eventual director. Unfortunately, Chaney died prematurely of bronchial cancer before production began. 

Selecting Tod Browning to direct Dracula seemed like a good fit. Browning had a long and successful career in silent films with grotesque characters and bizarre plots. He had even directed the vampire-themed London After Midnight (1927) starring the Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney. 

Yet many say that Browning had trouble adapting to directing sound films. He was often criticized for a static shooting style. I think that Browning relied on his strange plots and the actors’ performances to maintain our interest. In the case of his most famous film, Dracula, the visuals greatly benefitted from Karl Freund’s cinematography. In fact, some cast members said that Freund actually directed them more than Browning. 

While many bemoan the heavy reliance on the stage play script for this film adaptation, we must credit the play as the source for two of this film’s stars. Bela Lugosi played Dracula and Edward Van Sloan was Professor Van Helsing in the 1927 Broadway production. 

Universal approached other seasoned film actors before hiring Bela Lugosi to play Dracula. Apparently, despite Lugosi’s fine notices playing the famous vampire on the stage, he wasn’t considered enough of a name to sell the film. However, Lugosi persistently sought the part and eventually won the role. 

If ever there was a case of familiarity breeds contempt, it is exemplified by many film buffs for at least the last fifty years regarding this film and Bela Lugosi’s starring role. The Lugosi-Dracula character and film have been around for so many generations that it is considered as traditional as Santa Claus. Now people take the film and its star for granted. They can’t appreciate the merits of 1931’s Dracula, since its success established what has become cliché after countless imitations. 

That often leads to disdain for the work Lugosi does here and he gets dismissed as hammy or inept. Lugosi is certainly giving a stylized performance that is trying to embody an extraordinary being of the supernatural. I would also stress that, in a picture directed in Tod Browning’s mostly prosaic fashion, Lugosi’s undead intensity is very welcome. I do agree with the criticism that some of Lugosi’s lines during his first meeting with Renfield are spoken with excruciating slowness for no good reason. Certainly the highlight of the film, once the story moves to the mundane London setting, is Lugosi’s performance. 

Of course this led to Lugosi becoming a horror film icon starring in many more films for Universal Pictures and other studios. Despite the frustration Lugosi always felt being typecast for horror roles by his Dracula success, that part has given him lasting fame beyond most of his contemporaries.

Lugosi’s fellow Dracula stage play performer, Edward Van Sloan, plays the rather one-note role of scientist and the count’s chief nemesis, Professor Van Helsing. He imparts his arcane knowledge about vampires to the other characters (and the film audience) as he tries to expose and defeat Dracula. Like the rest of the cast, Van Sloane is playing an underwritten character, but he shares the best scene in the whole film with Lugosi. When Dracula employs his hypnotic power to try dominating the professor, we are seeing a situation play out that seems ideal for the stage. Yet Van Sloan employs very subtle body language and facial expressions to show the struggle of his will to resist his vampire foe. 

After the huge success of Dracula, Van Sloan would appear in the Universal horror classics Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), and the Dracula sequel, Dracula’s Daughter (1936). 

The character every bit as attention-getting as Dracula is everyone’s favorite fly-eating maniac, Renfield, the solicitor that the vampire count has enslaved and driven mad. One of the film’s best moments is Renfield being discovered in the hold of the doomed schooner that brought him and Dracula back to England. We hear that creepy Renfield laugh before we stare down into the hold to see his eyes blazing with madness. Dwight Frye is always fun to watch, even if most of his antics as the insane Renfield are inexplicable or unjustified. 

Frye made an indelible impression with his performance in Dracula. Like his co-star Lugosi, Frye was worried that he would be typecast, for he would continue to play demented and despicable underlings and simpletons in the horror films Frankenstein (1931), The Vampire Bat (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Dead Men Walk (1943). 

Helen Chandler plays Dracula’s main course, Mina Seward. Like just about every one else in the film, she is written as more of a type than a well-rounded character; in her case, it is the damsel in distress. Chandler never gets any respect for her work here, but I think she does as well as could be expected with what little she is given to do. Even the damsel in distress can be interesting if we are given enough time to get to know her. For all of the complaints about Dracula being a slow film, there is no time spent getting to really know anyone. Chandler’s best moment is when we see her succumbing to Dracula’s influence. She is treated to an eerie, prolonged close-up with her unblinking gaze focused on the throat of her fiancé as she slowly leans in closer and closer… 

As Mina’s fiancé, John Harker, David Manners makes his hapless-and-helpless-horror-movie-hero debut. Harker is probably the most derided character in this film. Aside from trying to comfort the distraught Mina, he accomplishes nothing and only creates a bit of conflict arguing with Professor Van Helsing and sulking. I actually think such behavior would be pretty reasonable up to a point. Most of us would be unlikely to accept our loved one being upset by supernatural claptrap from a stranger. Ultimately, he is also just another movie type: the handsome love interest. I guess that means Harker and Mina were made for each other. 

David Manners would continue playing similar, if more likable, characters in two more Universal horror classics: The Mummy (1932) and The Black Cat (1934), the latter also starring Bela Lugosi. 

Regardless of a lot of modern-day griping, 1931’s Dracula is still deserving of classic status. The sound era’s first American, supernatural thriller still boasts some great moments and established an immortal horror icon with Bela Lugosi’s role. The success of this film led to Universal Pictures’ fear-factory reputation as they continued producing more horror features throughout the ’30s and ’40s that endure as popular culture folklore. The importance of 1931’s Dracula as the foundation of cinematic horror ever since can’t be underestimated.

ED WOOD (1994)

Director: Tim Burton

Writers: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, based on Rudolph Grey’s book Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.

Producers: Denise Di Novi, Tim Burton

Cast: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Bill Murray, George “The Animal” Steele, Lisa Marie, Mike Starr, Max Casella, Brent Hinckley, Juliet Landau, Ned Bellamy, Stanley DeSantis, Rance Howard, Korla Pandit, Vincent D’Onofrio, Maurice LaMarche (uncredited as voice of Orson Welles), Norman Alden, Clive Rosengren, G.D. Spradlin, Gregory Walcott, Conrad Brooks

In 1950s Hollywood, aspiring filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. (Johnny Depp), chances to meet faded film star Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). The two soon become friends. The eager-to-work Lugosi agrees to star in Wood’s very personal film project, and that helps to convince exploitation film producer George Weiss (Mike Starr) to finance Wood’s semi-autobiographical transvestite story Glen or Glenda (1953). Before long, Ed Wood has acquired a group of eccentric characters to work on his strange films.

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The ’80s excess of mainstream Hollywood films striving for blockbuster status with massive budgets and over-the-top action and effects resulted in a numbing wave of glossy mediocrity. The true film fan was ready for something original and sincere. Apparently, a number of young filmmakers were as well. There were some very interesting and unique films boosting the indie-film trend in the ’90s. Perhaps the time was right for a movie about a notorious cult film director. Although a guy who worked for Disney and had already made some very successful films was hardly a struggling indie-auteur, Tim Burton strove for his own style and directed an absolutely unique film with Ed Wood. This strange, funny, and heartfelt biopic is one of the finest films of the ’90s. 

Ed Wood is about the naïve optimism required to pursue one’s dreams. Even with few resources and a lack of objectivity to realize one’s own shortcomings, a person through sheer perseverance can create something that is a unique and sincere form of expression. That expression’s faults and merits are for others to judge.

For the Ed Wood fan or detractor, it is fun to see the obsessive attention to detail in the reenactments of various scenes from Ed Wood’s films and the behind-the-scenes shenanigans during those productions. The truth of some of these incidents is suspect. As many of those actually involved in Wood’s films have stated, the more coarse behavior of some of the people in Wood’s group as depicted in this film was exaggerated or invented for dramatic and comedic purposes. No one has ever confirmed that Bela Lugosi used the profanity that he is shown to resort to in Ed Wood. Lugosi’s hatred of his horror film rival Boris Karloff is also created to motivate some of his amusing outbursts in the film. Ed Wood’s supportive, one-time girlfriend Dolores Fuller has refuted her shrewish portrayal by Sarah Jessica Parker. These are some of the contrivances used to create both an absurd and tragic edge to the story that pays homage to the lasting, quirky mystique of the Ed Wood career. Tim Burton is not making a documentary but a tragicomedy in the never-never land of 1950s Hollywood.

Johnny Depp captures the cockeyed idealism and enthusiasm of this story’s misfit hero perfectly. His Ed Wood is both determined and inept. He is so driven or insecure that he can’t take the time to realize his production’s shortcomings and figure out how to salvage them. He just forges blindly ahead with faith that somehow things will turn out great.

The touching, tragic, and funny character of Bela Lugosi is brilliantly portrayed by Martin Landau. Again, many of the particulars about some of Lugosi’s antics are fabricated for this film, but the sentiment behind them and the concerns his character has seem genuine.

The film is loaded with other great performers portraying the members in Ed Wood’s filmmaking fringe. Sarah Jessica Parker as Ed’s increasingly frustrated girlfriend Dolores Fuller, professional wrestler George “The Animal” Steele as professional wrestler Tor “Super Swedish Angel” Johnson, Bill Murray as drag queen John “Bunny” Breckinridge, Jeffrey Jones as television psychic Criswell, Lisa Marie as TV horror film hostess Maila “Vampira” Nurmi, and Patricia Arquette as Ed’s tolerant new girlfriend Kathy O’Hara are just some of the characters that make the world of Ed Wood so fascinating.

Tim Burton’s penchant for viewing stories through a prism of playfully weird visuals is indulged as soon as the film begins. His opening scene immediately breaks the fourth wall in much the same way as two of Ed Wood’s films did. Jeffrey Jones’ Criswell character addresses the audience with a variation on the introductory monologues Criswell gave in Wood’s films Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) and Night of the Ghouls (1959). This is performed in a setting like the old Willows house of Wood’s Bride of the Monster (1955). After this Criswell intro, we are treated to the film’s credits sequence exhibiting iconic images from Wood’s films as they would have been portrayed if the hapless director had access to a large budget and ’90s film technology. This sequence immediately establishes a sense of reverence for the weird visions in Ed Wood’s film canon.

Of special note is the terrific score by Howard Shore. His music perfectly compliments the era of the ’50s and captures the kitsch and sentiment of Ed Wood’s films.

The fate of Tim Burton’s finest film is as frustrating and surprising as that of its cult filmmaker hero. The Ed Wood film was a box office failure, yet it won two Oscars (Martin Landau for Best Supporting Actor and Rick Baker for Best Makeup) and has gone on to become a cult film itself. That is both ironic and fitting for a film based on the life of “the world’s worst director.”

THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943)

Director: Lew Landers

Writers: Griffin Jay, Kurt Neumann, Randall Faye

Producer: Sam White

Cast: Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Matt Willis, Miles Mander, Nina Foch, Gilbert Emery, Roland Varno, Leslie Denison, William Austin, Ottola Nesmith, (and uncredited cast) Jeanne Bates, Sydney Chatton, Harold De Becker, Billy Bevan, Sherlee Collier, Donald Dewar, Frank Dawson, Jean Fenwick, Stanley Logan, Nelson Leigh, Olaf Hytten, Audrey Manners, George McKay, Marianne Mosner, Clara Reid 

In 1918 London, England, the vampire Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi) is at large. Professor Walter Saunders’ (Gilbert Emery) young granddaughter Nikki (Sherlee Collier) has become one of Tesla’s victims. Saunders and his medical colleague Lady Jane Ainsley (Frieda Inescort) track down Tesla to find him at rest in a crypt, drive a spike through his heart, and bury him in an unmarked grave. Twenty-three years later during World War II, a German air raid bombs the graveyard where Tesla was buried. Tesla’s coffin is unearthed by an explosion and discovered by two civil defense workers (Billy Bevan and Harold De Becker). They remove the spike from Tesla’s chest and rebury him. Tesla soon returns to life and seeks revenge. 

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During Universal Pictures’ B-movie horror heyday of the ’40s, Columbia Pictures decided to compete with their own take on contemporary horror. While The Return of the Vampire has some of the tropes and stylistic trappings that Universal had established, it is most interesting for its peculiar deviations from them.

Of course, casting Bela Lugosi in the title role just screams Universal style horror. The first supernatural horror film of the sound era was Universal’s Dracula (1931) starring Lugosi. He had starred in many more horror film roles for Universal over the years including the recent Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). Columbia must have wanted some of that moneymaking monster mash action, so they got Lugosi to play a Dracula-styled vampire along with a werewolf slave to do a lot of his dirty work. That may sound pretty derivative, yet for all the aping of the Universal style, there are interesting variations that probably were meant to keep Universal’s lawyers from claiming any sort of plagiarism.

While most of the ’40s Universal Pictures horror films occurred in modern times, they often seemed to be striving for a timeless feeling that was isolated from the concerns of World War II. Columbia’s The Return of the Vampire takes place in London, England, and its characters are dealing with the dangers and intrigue of the war. 

An odd variant on the vampire killing technique is the use of a metal spike, which is supposed to have been preferred by the Romani people, rather than a traditional wooden stake being driven through the monster’s heart. 

Most Bela Lugosi fans are happy that the actor most identified with the Dracula character gets another full-blooded vampire part to play here. The character of Armand Tesla is certainly a vampire in the image of the Dracula role Lugosi portrayed in the classic Universal film. This Columbia Pictures movie is one of Lugosi’s classier productions of the ’40s. Lugosi gets top billing and is certainly the major selling point of the film. This production does well by Lugosi giving him plenty of screen time, dialogue, and that most impressive vampire accessory of fog that he even brandishes indoors. In many scenes Lugosi’s face seems to be radiant with evil glee. His hypnotic whispers from afar are also a very nice touch. 

The object of Tesla’s lust is the late Professor Saunders’ granddaughter Nikki. This was the first film role for 19-year-old Nina Foch who is playing a character that would have to be about a decade older. Foch gives a nice performance in a very limited role. She would return to horror the following year as the title character of Columbia’s Cry of the Werewolf (1944). 

Matt Willis plays Armand Tesla’s underling Andreas. Tesla’s evil vampire influence turns him into a werewolf. In his werewolf form, Andreas is similar to the furry, fanged, bipedal creatures Universal pioneered in Werewolf of London (1935) and, most famously, in The Wolf Man (1941). However, Andreas is quite talkative and intelligent in his monstrous state and capable of carrying out Tesla’s orders. Willis’ performance ranges from dread of Tesla’s potential to corrupt him again to evil enthusiasm when under Tesla’s control. Willis’ ability to speak so clearly with a mouthful of fangs is quite impressive. In more variations from the standards established by Universal’s Wolf Man character, silver is not required to wound this werewolf and full moons are not needed for his transformations. 

The Return of the Vampire has another quite unique innovation from the Dracula formula. Initially, it seems that this film’s stand-in for Dr. Van Helsing will be Professor Saunders. However, once the time shifts to the ’40s, the female doctor Lady Jane Ainsley replaces Saunders as the main protagonist. It is her burden throughout most of the film to convince the skeptical Sir Fredrick Fleet (Miles Mander) of Scotland Yard that there is a vampire at large in London. Frieda Inescort brings a mature beauty, determination, and intelligence to her role in a film that does not have much time to develop any character depth. 

Despite the film’s familiar horror situations, it is distinguished by its theme of recurring evils often conflicting with each other. It was Armand Tesla’s scholarly obsession with the occult that led to his becoming a vampire. Ironically, Tesla’s published text on the occult arm his foes with the knowledge they need to combat him. Not only does the evil vampire Armand Tesla return to life, but also the recurring evil of war is responsible for his unearthing and then repeats to provide something of a deus ex machina element in the climax. Tesla’s return again exerts the evil influence over the reformed Andreas to turn him back into the vampire’s werewolf minion. Tesla’s return also allows him to prey again on the now adult and beautiful Nikki Saunders. Ultimately, these recurring evil forces swirl inward upon each other. 

It seems that many horror films may have succeeded in the ’40s because they could vent audience fears and anxieties with make-believe menaces to distract from real world concerns about the war. Contrarily, The Return of the Vampire is set in wartime London beset by German air raid bombings. The heroine Lady Jane is even involved in activities to help fellow doctors escape Nazi oppression. Rather than distract its audience from contemporary concerns about the war, The Return of the Vampire’s action occurring in the midst of war may have given them reassurance. If the recurring evil of the supernatural could be overcome, perhaps the recurring evil of world war could be defeated as well.

NIGHT MONSTER (1942)

Director: Ford Beebe

Writer: Clarence Upson Young

Producer: Ford Beebe

Cast: Ralph Morgan, Don Porter, Irene Hervey, Leif Erickson, Fay Helm, Doris Lloyd, Nils Asther, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Janet Shaw, Frank Reicher, Francis Pierlot, Robert Homans, Cyril Delavanti

People are found strangled to death around the swamp of Pollard Slough. At the nearby Ingston Towers estate, patriarch Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan) has summoned the three doctors that were unable to cure the ailment that has turned him into an invalid. Kurt’s distraught sister Margaret (Fay Helm) has summoned a doctor of her own, psychiatrist Dr. Lynn Harper (Irene Hervey). Margaret is troubled by the terrible evil she senses in the Ingston household and wants Dr. Harper to determine her sanity. Margaret’s fears seem justified as more killings continue within Ingston Towers.

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It seems odd to me that the '40s horror movie factory of Universal Pictures would produce a film that turned out like Night Monster. Since horror had been Universal’s bread and butter for over a decade at this point, getting two of the genre’s stars in the same film must have been by design, right? After all, Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill headed up the cast of Universal’s Son of Frankenstein (1939) that restored the popularity of horror at the box office. However, when their services are secured for co-starring in another fright flick, despite their star billing, both Lugosi and Atwill play rather minor characters. That’s a mystery even more puzzling than the identity of the murdering fiend in this movie.

Perhaps the advantage of directing B-movies in Hollywood’s golden age was that one could get away with more eccentricities. Because the smaller budgeted and shorter scheduled productions were not as financially risky, they were probably not as closely supervised. So long as they met genre requirements and stayed on time and on budget, the B-film directors were probably given more freedom. In the case of Night Monster, maybe Ford Beebe, as both director and producer, was allowed to seemingly squander the established horror names in his cast. Since the story operates as both a mystery and a horror thriller, Beebe may have thought that Lugosi and Atwill would act best as potential suspects in the story and disrupt genre expectations.

Ford Beebe specialized in directing westerns and action serials. He certainly manages to keep things moving in Night Monster, yet he also generates a lot of atmosphere and builds up to his horror climaxes very effectively. Apparently, the old pro really knew what he was doing and could apply his know-how to any genre. No less a talent than Alfred Hitchcock is supposed to have admired Beebe’s work on Night Monster.

While Irene Hervey, as the beautiful Dr. Harper, and Don Porter, as mystery writer Dick Baldwin, present us with an obvious romance in the offing, they are both quite low-keyed. She is always a levelheaded professional while he is relaxed, humorous, and even self-deprecating.

The rest of the characters are an important reason the film maintains interest. Most of the characters have conflicts and quirks that make them distinctive. My favorite performer is Leif Erickson as the lecherous lout Laurie, the Ingstons' chauffeur. Anything in a skirt is fair game for this big brute, which, of course, makes him an obvious suspect. He would be just as memorable and unpleasant a decade later in the surreal sci-fi creeper Invaders from Mars (1953).

Night Monster is a fun little chiller that is most remarkable due to its unique menace. I can’t recall any other fright flick that uses a phenomenon quite like the one found here. The film also manages a lot of atmosphere with its traditional old-dark-house-thriller styled setting. Add to this a cast of strange characters, mysticism, a foggy swamp, and an escalating body count, and you wind up with Universal Pictures’ most unjustly overlooked movie from their '40s horror heyday.