All week long, I had been looking forward to seeing this film; my last recollection of viewing it was on the big screen at the Film Forum, several years ago. However, Svengoolie, and maybe the station, pulled some fast ones on me.
The first was his announcing that the film would be shown with a musical accompaniment, which most of his viewers loved. Well, I did not. "Dracula's" lack of music gives the film its tension and terror; adding it removes viewers further from unreality. The second mistake, maybe by the station, was the omission of a brief, but important, scene. Midway through the film, there is a brief shot of a tree from a distance, followed by a wolf's howl and a child crying. From behind the tree, emerges Frances Dade as Lucy Westenra, proving she is the "Bloofer Lady," later referenced, who lures children with the promise of chocolates, only to extract their blood. Let me tell you, if Lucy were to lure me, she would have to promise me her glamorous Twenties flapper look she has in this film, even though it was released in 1931, and set in Victorian England!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What survived are the stunning cinematography, set decoration and art direction. So, to cover the film, I have decided to speak on iconic images in "Dracula."
The Titles--"Dracula" opens with the well known Tchaikovsky "Swan Lake" theme. We all know it, darlings. I first saw the film at the age of nine, and knew nothing musically, then . Hence, to this day, whenever I hear the piece, the first thing I think of is "Dracula."
The Armadillos--The ride to the castle is a visual gem in itself, deserving to be examined and explored, frame by frame, like the Shower Scene in Hitchcock's "Psycho." But the armadillos are the film's first scene stealers. Name a vampire, or any horror, film, that features them. You can't, right? My guess is since the film was shot in Southern California, a couple of them wandered onto the set, and Tod Browning, in his wisdom, decided to use them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Three Vampire Women--Sometimes described as Dracula's brides; mentioned in the film here, as "his wives," in human or bat form, their visual look and movements are stunning, having an almost poetic, choreographed form to them. I am convinced Michael Bennett saw this film when young, and images like these foreshadowed his staging of "At The Ballet," in "A Chorus Line."
Renfield--If any performance can be said to steal the film, it is Dwight Frye's spot-on portrayal of this tragic character. In the novel, Jonathan Harker goes to Castle Dracula, on business, but returns, unscathed. In the film, Renfield is dispatched, only to be made an acolyte of Dracula. As unsurpassable as Lugosi is, acting mainly with his face, lighting, and little dialogue, not to mention that signature cape, Frye, a distinguished stage actor, matches him scene for scene. The tragedy of Renfield is twofold--he still has a conscience, when he plaintively pleads to Dracula, before dying, not to be allowed to die with all the lives he has on his soul. I had not realized the film was so moralizing. Second, so good was Frye as Renfield, that he was typecast, playing variations on this role for the rest of his Universal career, not getting the more serious roles he wanted. Lastly, I had no idea the censors took issue with Dracula bending over Renfield, preparing to drain him of blood. It was said to have had a homosexual connotation to it. Girls, in my 46 years as a card carrying homosexual, I never once thought of this. Which may explain the omission of my favorite, the "Bloofer Lady" scene; it might be, even today, just too intense for viewers.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun--Mina (Helen Chandler, on the left.) spends the night with Lucy in London. Just hanging out, brushing their hair, fantasizing about Count Dracula. Darlings, how many of us would want a sleepover like this? That hair, those gowns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How Did This Get Past The Censors?--Seldom has been depicted on film such a rabid shot of female, carnal lust. But here it is, with Helen Chandler, as Mina, contemplating sinking her teeth into fiance Jonathan Harker, played by David Manners. And a good look at him will make Mina's manner understanding. Many would want to sink their teeth into delicious David!
"Dracula," at 90, is still a remarkable film, but Svengoolie ruined it. See this one at a screen revival, or on DVD, minus music, and see what a true screen masterpiece it is.
Go suck, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they didn’t do it justice, that’s for sure
ReplyDeleteVictoria,
ReplyDeleteIt was a travesty and disturbed
the haunting beauty of this film.
I've been conflicted about these Svengoolie presentations: they keep interest in these films alive, but at the cost of smug mockery that may not be entirely deserved.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, however, I have to be fair and jump to Svengoolie's defense. The score was not added by the show producers but by Universal itself back in 1998 when they commissioned Phillip Glass (of all possible composers- really?) to create a new score that they could use to promote a remastered VHS release. This version carried over to the subsequent DVD, which has ever after been used as the video source for broadcasts (and some theatrical showings like Ckelsea Cinema in NYC).
The DVD offers the option to run the film with or without the added Phillip Glass music score: my guess is most exhibitors don't realize the score is a modern conceit and just leave it active instead of disabling it. Pity.
My Dear,
ReplyDeleteThe only Philip Glass score I liked was "The Hours."
I knew about the addition of his score to "Dracula" back
in the day, but, as Svengolie did not mention Glass, I
was not aware the music was his.
It took away from much of the film's atmosphere, especially
at the beginning.
And was the "Bloofer Lady" scene, considered too intense
for "Svengoolie" viewwers?