Thursday, September 22, 2022

Darlings, I Am Telling You, Jane Adams As The Hunchback Nurse Stole The Show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                                    "House Of Dracula" did not turn out to be nearly the hoot I expected, but was enlivened by Jane Adams as the Hunchback Nurse, Nina.  Did you know she was offered a full scholarship to Juilliard, here in NYC, but turned it down for the Pasadena Playhouse, instead?  She was, after all, a California native.



                                         With her raven-haired beauty, I am sure she set her sights high.  But acting careers are a funny thing.  One never knows when one is doing one's signature role, and in Jane's case it turned out to be Nina in this film.


                                             All the Universal monsters were on hand, including the villagers.  It was amazing to me how little screen time John Carradine as Dracula, and Glenn Strange, as the Frankenstein monster, were given.  Lon Chaney, Jr., as The Wolf Man, grabbed most of it.  Best of all, next to Adams, was Skelton Knaggs, as villager Steinmuhl.  Dwight Frye had died the previous year, and it was clear, had he not, this would have been his role.  The viewer could see it was just tailor made for Dwight.  Knaggs did a noticeably excellent job; unfortunately, like Adams, he was never seen again.  At least as prominently as in this film.



                                                 Now, the funny thing about Jane Adams is that on the Google site for the cast listing, they have the wrong actress.  Pictured is the present-day Jane Adams; no connection to this one.  She is the one who never works with anyone a second time, as she is too difficult to handle.  Jane might do a great job as Nina in a redo but pity the poor director who would have to get that performance out of her.



                                                    Nineteen-forties Jane plays it like Shakespeare.  Which adds some badly needed humor to this film.



                                                       She deserved more from this film than being dumped through a trap door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



                                                          See "House Of Dracula" for Jane alone, dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




3 comments:

  1. Victoria,
    By the way, until I wrote the post, all along
    I had thought Martha O'Driscoll played Nina.
    Only when researching did I discover it to be
    Jane Adams!

    ReplyDelete