Stubs - Drácula (1931)

Drácula (aka Spanish-language Dracula) (1931) starring Carlos Villar, Lupita Tovar, Barry Norton Directed by George Melford. Screenplay by Garrett Fort, Spanish adaptation by Baltasar Fernández Cué. Based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker (London, 1897) and Dracula (play) by Hamilton Deane, John L. Balderston. Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. Run time: 103 minutes. Black and White. USA Horror

Hollywood has always had an eye on the foreign markets. When they were making silent films, it was easy to do as only the interstitial cards could be translated and inserted. The coming of sound presented a different set of issues for doing this. As an example, between October 1929 and February 1931, the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy shot 10 of their films in Spanish, French, German and Italian, relying on interpreters writing the dialogue phonetically on a blackboard just out of camera range. Laurel and Hardy featurettes La Vida Nocturna (1930) is the Spanish-language equivalent of the team’s short Blotto (1930), while Politiquerias (1930) is a greatly amplified version of Chickens Come Home (1930).

Universal took a different approach when it came to Dracula. By 1930, the studio had focused primarily on developing Spanish-language films for the foreign market and rather than have Bela Lugosi learn Spanish on the set, they instead set out to make an entirely Spanish-language version with a Spanish-speaking cast. While Tod Browning would shoot during the day, the George Melford production would shoot at night and on the same sets.

The idea originated with Paul Kohner, a producer at the studio who convinced Carl Laemmle to make Spanish language movies that could be shot simultaneously at night with their English originals. While Drácula maybe the most famous, it was not the only film shot like this at the studio.

Apparently, the cast and crew would arrive in the evening, look over what was shot that day and then shoot their own version. They were apparently not required to be slavish to the original. While they used the same marks as the daytime production, they were free to make some changes. As an example, the Spanish version has more dialogue, different costumes and some different camera work. According to Lupita Tovar, who starred as Eva, they wanted theirs to “be the best” of the two releases. As some critic referred to it, Drácula was sort of like a second draft, which are usually better than the first.

Again, according to Tovar, director George Melford did not speak Spanish and had to use an interpreter to speak with the cast. That is not apparent on the screen.

The story is basically the same as Browning’s. Renfield (Pablo Alvarez Rubio), an English solicitor, makes a journey into Transylvania via stagecoach. The stagecoach wants to arrive at their destination before dark, but Renfield mentions that he has another stage to meet at midnight and that his destination is Castle Dracula, which alarms the villagers. They tell him Drácula is a vampire, but he doesn't believe them. They try to convince him not to go, but he is adamant. One of the village women gives him a cross to wear for his safety.

Conde Drácula (Carlos Villar) welcomes Renfield to Castle Drácula.

He is dropped off at the rendezvous and boards the coach which turns out to be driven by Conde Drácula (Carlos Villar) himself. At one point, Renfield looks out of the coach and sees that a bat is flying ahead of the horses. When he arrives at the Castle, the Conde meets him personally and shows him to his room. Renfield gets down to business and has the Conde sign the lease for Carfax Abbey. They make plans to leave the next night.

Conde Drácula offers Renfield (Pablo Alvarez Rubio) something to eat and dinner.

Conde offers him dinner and Renfield sits down to eat. He accidentally cuts himself and the Conde is about to swoop in, but the cross around Renfield’s neck stops him. He leaves Renfield to complete his dinner, but soon Renfield succumbs to the drugs in the wine. He collapses on the ground and is descended on by three brides of Drácula.

Aboard a ship, a now-enslaved Renfield laughs maniacally below as Drácula picks off the crew one by one. When the ship reaches England, he is the only living person found. The authorities think that the ship had gotten into a storm and that’s what killed the crew. Renfield is sent to an asylum, conveniently located next door to Carfax Abbey and the three boxes Drácula packed, with dirt from Transylvania, are reported as being delivered in the press.

Drácula has the power to cast spells and uses it on an usher at the opera to meet Dr. Seward (José Soriano Viosca) and his family, Lucia (Carmen Guerrero), Eva (Lupita Tovar) and her fiancé Juan Harker (Barry Norton). Lucía is completely fascinated by him and that night becomes his victim. She ends up being the Woman in White who coaxes young victims with the promise of candy.

Renfield talks, but refuses to help.

Professor Van Helsing (Eduardo Arozamena) is called in and he recognizes the danger for what it is. He also realizes that Dr. Seward's patient Renfield is somehow tied up in the events. They try to talk to Renfield, but while he knows something is wrong with himself, he refuses to rat on the Maestro, as he refers to the Conde.

But soon after meeting the Doctor's new neighbor, Van Helsing figures out that Drácula is a vampire based on the fact that Drácula casts no reflection in the mirror. By now, Seward's daughter Eva is falling under his spell. To her horror, she feels increasingly weak and also increasingly wild, at one point attacking her fiancé Juan. Even though she tries to end their relationship, for Juan’s sake, he never leaves her side.

Drácula visits Eva (Lupita Tovar) in her bedroom.

Van Helsing tries to prevent Drácula from visiting Eva in the night by placing wolfsbane on the pillow, but that doesn’t work. Marta (Amelia Senisterra) falls under Drácula’s hypnotic spell and removes the flower and opens the door for him to come in.

Eva feels great and Juan Harker (Barry Norton) notices.

When Eva rises that night, she feels in great spirits. This is due to the fact that she has drunk some of Drácula’s own blood.

Drácula and Van Helsing (Eduardo Arozamena) meet in a battle of wills.

Van Helsing and Drácula have a meeting that night and while Drácula thinks he has taken control of Van Helsing, the professor outsmarts him and chases him away with a crucifix.

The next night, again with Marta’s help, Drácula comes back for Eva and takes her back to Carfax Abbey. Renfield also escapes and Van Helsing and Juan follow him. They figure out how he got into the castle.

Even though Renfield swears he didn’t bring them there, Drácula is unforgiving and strangulates his slave and throws his body from a tall staircase.

Drácula takes Eva back to Carfax Abbey.

It is getting near dawn and Drácula has to get back into his coffin, but Eva is not quite that far gone and wakes up.

Professor Van Helsing about to kill Drácula.

Deep in the catacombs under Carfax, Van Helsing and Harker find Drácula asleep. Using some wood next to the coffin, Van Helsing drives a stake through the vampire's heart. Drácula’s groans of pain can be heard and with each, Eva is no longer under his spell.

Eva and Harker leave, but Van Helsing remains behind and prays over Renfield's body.

The film’s production was announced on October 1, 1930 and the film went into production ten days later. Browning’s version had been in production since September 19^th. Both films ended production in November of that year.

Drácula, which was intended for foreign markets, opened in Havana, Cuba on March 11, 1931, New York on April 24, and in Los Angeles on May 8. It was not a financial success. By October 1930, The Hollywood Reporter described that foreign-language versions of films had been financial flops in every country, which led to studios dubbing films to reach non-English speaking markets. Melford's Dracula was among the last of these multi-lingual types of productions.

Drácula was largely forgotten after its release until a copy of the film was discovered in a New Jersey warehouse in the 1970s. A full print was found at the Cinemateca de Cuba in Havana, leading to several meetings to convince the archive to allow their copy of the film to be lent out for restoration.

While the two films tell the basic story, there are differences, as mentioned above. There is more dialogue in the Spanish-language version, helping to lead to a longer run time of about 30 minutes over the English version. Things that are implied in Browning’s version are spelled out in this one. Many point to this giving more depth to the characters.

The films also had different cinematographers as well with Karl Fruend working with Browning and George Robinson working with Melford. Fruend was known for the unique tracking shots to the English release of Dracula that hadn’t previously been seen in American cinema, but that is not to say there isn’t similar work in Robinson’s work.

Costuming is also something different between the two films. Lupita Tovar’s Eva is dressed in more plunging necklines than was Helen Chandler as Mina Seward in Browning’s version. This gives the Spanish-language version a more sensual quality.

Conde Drácula rising from his grave.

And, finally, Drácula uses special effects to enhance the entrance of Drácula from his grave. It helps to give Drácula a more supernatural quality and adds to the sense of menace when he’s around.

Bela Lugosi (l) and Carlos Villar (r) both play the same character.

Carlos Villar, also credited as Carlos Villarías, was a Spanish actor who is probably best known for this performance. His is a slightly different take on the character that Lugosi is also best known for as well. It’s hard to compare actors, but this is about as close of a contest as you can have with both films being made at the same time for the same studio. Villar does a good job with the character.

Lupita Tovar plays Eva Seward in Drácula.

Lupita Tovar has a quality that Chandler didn’t have. Even as the almost undead, there is life to her character that as I recall seemed to be missing from Chandler’s Mina Seward. Discovered by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty in Mexico City, Tovar worked in both Hollywood and in Mexican cinema. She had a contract at Fox and also worked at Universal, where she met her future husband Paul Kohner. In addition to her work in Drácula, in 1930, Tovar also appeared in La Voluntad del Muerto, the Spanish-language version of The Cat Creeps and was based on the John Willard mystery play, The Cat and the Canary. Both The Cat Creeps and La Voluntad del muerto were remakes of The Cat and the Canary (1927). Her daughter, Susan Kohner, would be nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Imitation of Life (1959).

If you’re into comparing performances, Pablo Alvarez Rubio as Renfield was one for the ages. While Dwight Frye as Renfield in the Browning version has one of the best mad laughs ever; Rubio’s goes above and beyond that. You really get the idea the man is insane. Rubio is a Spanish actor who mostly worked in Spanish-speaking films, but his performance as Renfield is one of the better performances in the film. There is a nuance to the character that Rubio captures that I don’t think Frye did as well.

So, the question is, if you have to pick a version of the Dracula story made in 1930 by Universal Pictures, which one should you watch? While I was pleasantly surprised by Drácula, I would have to give the nod to the Browning version. This is the one that really started the Universal horror genre. Every other horror film from that studio came after it. Dracula proved there was an audience for such films. However, once you’ve seen that film, you should really give Drácula a view. It will definitely surprise you and perhaps even scare you a little more.