January 17, 1867 september 24, 1939 was a germanborn filmmaker and the founder and, until 1934, owner of universal pictures. After immigrating to america in 1884, he spent the next decade at a series of deadend jobs, mostly in chicago, then worked for another 12 years at a drygoods store in oshkosh, wisconsin. Its been a long time coming, but finally we get to have the classic monster movie canon films from universal studios all in one place. Macrae then filmed a spectacular scene for the torrent 1915. Dracula is a 1931 american precode supernatural horror film directed and coproduced by.
For dracula, carl laemmle opted for a second version in spanish. The road to dracula sd,35 min a short makingof doc hosted by rebecca isabelle carla laemmle, niece of universal pictures founder carl laemmle. With bela lugosi, helen chandler, david manners, dwight frye. Bela lugosi, david manners, edward van sloan, helen chandler, dwight frye, frances dade, tod browning, carl laemmle, jr. This film was the first horror film made by universal in 1931 and was the film. The seminal adaptation of bram stokers novel, this universal classic starring bela lugosi as count dracula is a must see. Dracula goes up the steps, and waits for renfield, who without difficulty, cuts open a huge spiders web using his walking stick. Our story begins with the illfated renfield, a lawyer traveling to oversee count draculas lease of carfax abbey. In which i explain how the spanishlanguage version of dracula led to american pie. My aunt carla spoke the first lines in dracula, meaning she spoke the first lines in any horror film ever. Both films were adaptations of the same story, but nosferatu was made without the permission of the bram stoker estate, resulting in a court case that saw almost every. Laemmle, the father of universal pictures, was reputedly the most goodnatured and least neurotic of the studio bosses. Dracula universal studios classic monster collection.
Starring bela lugosi in the role that made him a star, its still a popular choice at halloween, and its still. Dracula 1931 directed by enrique tovar avalos, george. Starring bela lugosi, helen chandler, david manners, dwight frye, edward van sloan produced by carl laemmle, jr. Produced by universal, the screenplay is based on the 1924 stage play dracula by hamilton deane and john l. The film, with victorian undertones, was produced by carl laemmle jr. Dracula 1931 quotes 34 total quotes count dracula others prof. This week turner classic movies presented an intheater event, a double feature of dracula 1931 and the spanish language alternate version with a spanishspeaking cast, filmed using the same sets. Dracula 1931 bela lugosi in dracula 1931 bela lugosi and helen chandler in dracula 1931 bela.
Oct 31, 2015 browning, lugosi, and producer carl laemmle jr. Jun 26, 2017 my aunt carla spoke the first lines in dracula, meaning she spoke the first lines in any horror film ever. Universal studios home entertainment brings the universal classic monsters. Sure, it did come out on dvd in 2014 with pretty much the same extras, but the bluray community has had to deal with out dated transfers, the scraps of the essentials collection and high priced imports for nearly 8 years.
The skalproduced program is hosted by carla laemmle, niece of producer and universal founder carl laemmle and actress she appears in one of draculas opening scenes and it makes for an interesting discussion of the films history, though its a fairly undistinguished piece. Carl theodor dreyers vampyr 1932 did not survive in full with the original. See more ideas about dracula, movie posters and horror movie posters. Inspired by the opening of tutankhamuns tomb in 1922 and the curse of the pharaohs, producer carl laemmle jr. Carl laemmle presents dracula classic monster collection. It was customary at that time for studios to produce spanish language versions of their films at night to make use of the sets. In the early days of sound, it was common for hollywood studios to produce hollywood foreignlanguage versions of their films usually in french, spanish and german using the same sets, costumes and etc. The film, with victorian undertones, was produced by carl laemmle. Dracula is a 1931 american precode supernatural horror film directed and coproduced by tod browning from a screenplay written by garrett fort. The mummy 1932 film universal monsters wiki fandom. We know the story and all the beats, and are concerned mostly with the style and production.
Standing in the vampires way, is a group of concerned men and the enigmatic dr. Carla laemmles opening words in dracula 1931 youtube. Dracula 1931 is one of the earliest classic american horror films from carl laemmle s universal pictures an acclaimed masterpiece directed by tod browning, known also for two other vampire films. Producer carl laemmle jr changed history of horror cinema when. The eccentric laemmle was jokingly called uncle carl for his rampant nepotism. The package is a familiar one which opens much like a book with each shiny page showing poster artwork, a. Any one of the mythical nominees for best picture of the awards year running from august 1, 1931 to july 31, 1932 would be a good one. The classic and definitive monsterhorror film of all time, director james whales frankenstein 1931 is the screen version of mary shelleys gothic 1818 nightmarish novel of the same name frankenstein. The screening i attended was almost empty, which was a shame, though there were benefits. Towering ominously among the shadows of the carpathian. Dracula is a 1931 american precode supernatural horror film directed and co produced by. Lucy is enchanted by draculas romantic manner, and later, dracula attacks and kills her. Enthusiastic young hollywood producer carl laemmle, jr. The essential collection to bluray in an attractive and elegantly sturdy eightdisc box set.
Directed by lambert hillyer from a screenplay by garrett fort, the film stars otto kruger, gloria holden, marguerite churchill and, as the only cast member to return from the original, edward van sloan. Is the 1931 dracula still a terrifying film, or has it become a period piece. Excerpts from the photoplay dracula 1931 addeddate 20080824 20. Director tod browning invests most of his mood and atmosphere in the first two reels, which were based on the original stoker novel. Carla laemmle, a bit player in a handful of silent movies and at the dawn of the sound era e. The skalproduced program is hosted by carla laemmle, niece of producer and universal founder carl laemmle and actress she appears in one of dracula s opening scenes and it makes for an interesting discussion of the films history, though its a fairly undistinguished piece. One of my favorite films i like it because of tod brownings direction, garrett forts screenplay, karl freunds cinematography and bela lugosis performance.
Our story begins with the illfated renfield, a lawyer traveling to oversee count dracula s lease of carfax abbey. The ancient vampire count dracula arrives in england and begins to prey upon the virtuous young mina. Written by garrett fort, based on the novel by bram stoker and the play by hamilton deane and john l. This elevated the actor to stardom, and became the cornerstone of the entire. And of course, there are the famed monster films which include frankenstein 1931, dracula 1931, the mummy 1932. Laemmle, who had reportedly been in good health, was 104 years old. Meanwhile, dracula drains the blood of the female population of london. So confident was laemmle that he allowed the ambitious ulmer virtually free rein on the picture. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel dracula by bram stoker. The dashing, mysterious count dracula bela lugosi, after hypnotizing a british soldier, renfield dwight frye, into his mindless slave, travels to london and takes up residence in an old castle. To kick things off, rob takes a look at the carl laemmle jr. Regarded as one of the most important of the early film pioneers, laemmle was born in what is now germany.
Carl laemmle net worth 2018, biowiki celebrity net worth. Unfortunately, most of these foreign language versions no longer exist. Much of the criticism of the film still holds true the transylvania sequences are masterful, while the london ones can induce sleep but for sheer. Thanks to the amazing work done by character actor lon chaney, the studio starting making a name for itself with horror hits the hunchback of notre dame 1923 and the phantom. Although bela lugosi made nearly 70 more films in the 28 years after he first sucked blood in dracula 1931, among them ernst lubitschs ninotchka 1939, few filmgoers today remember him in a single one of them except, perhaps, his last, the bizarre cult classic directed by ed wood, plan nine from outer space, 1959. In recent years this version has become more highly praised by some. The solicitor renfield enters castle dracula to finalize the transferral of carfax abbey in london to count dracula. This play in turn is based on the novel dracula by bram stoker in 2000, the movie was selected for preservation in the united states national.
Towering ominously among the shadows of the carpathian mountains, castle dracula strikes fear in the hearts of the transylvanian villagers below. Opening to dracula 1931 1980 vhs 1985 packaging duration. Dracula is a 1931 film about the ancient transylvanian vampire count dracula, his voyage to england and his hunting by legendary monster hunter abraham van helsing. The beginning of universal horror in the sound era. Dracula 1931 movie simple english wikipedia, the free.
The most chilling, genuinely frightening film ever made, vows the reference series cinebooks. The strong story and eerie visuals overcome specialist tod brownings lessthaninspired direction of. Seward and meets his daughter mina, her fiance, john harker, and friend lucy. The movie was produced by universal pictures it is based on the 1924 stage play dracula by hamilton deane and john l. Draculas original soundtrack in the context of early sound films 19261931. Lugosi in dracula universal, 1931, he very well has proved himself as. London after midnight 1927 aka the hypnotist with lon chaney, sr. The road to dracula is a retrospective documentary introduced and presented by carla laemmle, carl laemmle s niece and the actress who delivered the first line of audible dialogue in the film, and thus also the first in horror film history. He immigrated to the united states in 1884 and worked in chicago. At one time he had over 70 relatives on his payroll and he lost the services of irving thalberg, his brilliant young production chief, when thalberg refused to marry his daughter. After first giving the treatment to james whale, universal chief carl laemmle. Browning had previously directed a number of silent films including the lon chaney vehicles the unholy three 1925, the unknown 1927, london after midnight 1927. One night at the opera, dracula introduces himself to dr.
Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the novel dracula by bram stoker. Carla laemmle on carl laemmle and universal studios duration. A sequel to the 1931 dracula, draculas daughter stars gloria holden, edward. With lots of interviews with film historians, relatives of cast members and contemporary fans, its a nice and insightful piece at the movies history and impact with some cool lost footage. Melfords dracula is essentially a betterexecuted version of the same general idea. Few characters in the history of literature and film have proven as. Dracula 1931 is one of the earliest classic american horror films from carl laemmles universal pictures an acclaimed masterpiece directed by tod browning, known also for two other vampire films.
Scored for the first time new music by philip glass bela lugosi, david manners, helen chandler, dwight frye, tod browning. Most of the extras in this set are ported over from universals previous dvd releases of the films, including the original 1999 classic monster collection, the 2004 legacy collection, and the 2006 legacy series releases of dracula, frankenstein, the. Jun, 2014 carla laemmles opening words in dracula 1931. Murnaus 1922 nosferatu remains the greatest of vampire movies, then universals 1931 dracula, directed by tod browning, could well be the most important, at least in terms of how the genre was subsequently to develop. Carl laemmle, although having made hundreds of movies in his active years as a producer 19091934, is probably best remembered for the hunchback of notre dame 1923, the phantom of the opera 1925, both with lon chaney sr. Perhaps that was true in 1931, but today i think the movie is interesting mostly for technical reasonsfor the stylized performances, the photography, the sets. I mean it too, its the same script, the same story, and even the same set.
Dracula 1931 is the spanish language version of the exact same film. Son of dracula 1943 yify download movie torrent yts. Once in england dracula turns his attention to virtuous young mina seward, daughter of dr. It stars bela lugosi as the title vampire count dracula. A powerful and ruthless vampire named count dracula arrives in london to prey on young, socialite women. Dracula s daughter is a 1936 american vampire horror film produced by universal studios, a sequel to the 1931 film dracula. All of the serious later movie draculas draw from lugosis performance, not. Posted on september 2012 by paula posted in features tagged 1930s, 1930s horror, blog events, blogathon, carl laemmle, carlos villarias, dracula, lupita tovar, paul kohner, scary movies, universal, universal 100, vampires. Carl laemmle born as karl lammle, january 17, 1867 september 24, 1939 was a pioneer in american film making and a founder of one of the original major hollywood movie studios universal. A legendary film whose reputation has arisen almost entirely thanks to its lead performance, dracula may not bear much resemblance to the bram stoker source novel but nevertheless has rightfully earned its status in the horror classic pantheon.
Thus does bela lugosi declare his presence in the 1931 screen version of bram stokers dracula. Bela lugosi stars as dracula in the 1931 original screen version of bram stokers classic tale. Carl laemmle and friends at the opening of universal city in march 1915. This post is part of the universal backlot blogathon, hosted by kristen at journeys in classic film it seems to me that most film fans are familiar with universals 1931 version of dracula. The little river below was swollen, red, a raging torrent of blood. It is based on the 1924 stage play dracula by hamilton deane and john l. Any one of the mythical nominees for best picture of the awards year running from august 1, 1931 to july 31, 1932 would be a good one grand hotel was the first movie to boast an allstar cast, freaks is a genuinely disturbing horror flick that holds up even by the standards of today, and scarface, directed by the legendary howard hawks, is the best gangster movie of an era characterized by. Skeptical of the villagers superstitions he is met with. After a naive real estate agent succumbs to the will of count dracula, the two head to london where the vampire hopes to stroll among respectable. Dracula is a 1931 american precode vampire horror film directed by tod browning and starring bela lugosi as count dracula. The dracula myth has been filmed so often, in so many different ways most recently by francis ford coppola in his bram stokers dracula, 1992, that its material has become like an opera libretto, or a play by shakespeare.
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