Monday, September 20, 2021

Svengoolie's Saturday Night Screening Of "Dracula" Was Disappointing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                  

                                                                           








                       

4 comments:

  1. they didn’t do it justice, that’s for sure

    ReplyDelete
  2. Victoria,
    It was a travesty and disturbed
    the haunting beauty of this film.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 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.

    In 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.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My Dear,
    The 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?

    ReplyDelete