Bram Stoker's Dracula (1974 film)

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Bram Stoker's Dracula
Dracula palance.jpg
Release poster
Also known asDracula
GenreGothic horror
Written by Richard Matheson
Directed by Dan Curtis
Starring Jack Palance
Simon Ward
Nigel Davenport
Pamela Brown
Fiona Lewis
Penelope Horner
Music by Robert Cobert
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languagesEnglish
Hungarian
Production
ProducerDan Curtis
Cinematography Oswald Morris
Editor Richard A. Harris
Running time100 minutes
Production companyLatglen Ltd.
Original release
Release8 February 1974 (1974-02-08)

Dracula, also known as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Dan Curtis' Dracula, is a 1974 British made-for-television gothic horror film and adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula . It was written by Richard Matheson and directed by Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis, with Jack Palance in the title role. It was the second collaboration for Curtis and Palance after the 1968 TV film The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . [1]

Contents

Plot

"Bistritz, Hungary May 1897": natives in Transylvania seem afraid when they learn solicitor Jonathan Harker is going to Castle Dracula. Jonathan finds the Count abrupt and impatient to get things done. Dracula reacts very strongly to a photograph of Harker's fiancée Mina and her best friend, Lucy. After preventing his brides from devouring Harker, he forces the young solicitor to write a letter saying he will be staying in Transylvania for a month. Harker climbs down the castle wall and finds Dracula's coffin but is attacked and knocked out by one of Dracula's gypsy servants before he can stake Dracula. They later throw him in the lower levels of the crypt, where the brides attack him again.

The Demeter runs aground carrying only Dracula and the dead captain lashed to the wheel. Soon after, Lucy begins to fall ill. Her fiancé, Arthur Holmwood, is perplexed and calls in Dr. Van Helsing. Dracula arrives at the house in Hillingham and uses remote hypnosis to make the occupants fall asleep, he then turns his attention to Lucy. Entranced, Lucy awakes in a highly aroused state and aware of Draculas presence, immediately makes her way outside to him. Drawn to him and completely spellbound she kneels before him and guides his hand to her neck, confirming she is submissive to him. After a brief and passionate seduction she is fully pliant and completely under his will. Consumed by bloodlust, Dracula exposes Lucy's neck and reveals his fangs. Lucy allows herself to be bitten. Dracula feeds on Lucy as she is in a helpless state of bliss. The doctor starts to recognize what might be happening, after Lucy is found, drained of blood, under a tree the next morning. Dracula has flashbacks of his wife – of whom Lucy is the spitting image – on her deathbed centuries earlier.

Lucy's mother is in the room with Arthur when Dracula comes calling the last time, a wolf shattering the window and attacking Arthur. Lucy soon rises from the dead and comes to the window of Arthur's home, begging to be let in. Arthur does so, delighted and amazed that she's alive, unaware that she is now a vampire under Dracula's control. This very nearly gets him bitten, but Van Helsing interrupts with a cross causing her to flee. They go to Lucy's grave and drive a wooden stake into her heart. When Dracula comes to the tomb later and beckons to her, he goes berserk upon finding that she's truly dead.

Mina tells Van Helsing about the news story about the Demeter, the boxes of earth, and Jonathan going to meet Dracula to sell him a house. From these clues, Van Helsing and Holmwood go about finding all but one of Dracula's "boxes of earth" (containing his native soil, in which a vampire must rest). But back at the hotel, the vampire hunters discover Dracula is there seeking revenge. He has bitten Mina and, before their eyes, forces her to drink blood from a self-inflicted gash in his chest. All that they love, all that is theirs, he will take, he says.

The tracking of Dracula back to his home commences with Van Helsing hypnotizing Mina. Via the bond of blood, she sees through Dracula's eyes and discovers where he is headed. At the castle, Van Helsing and Holmwood find and stake the brides. Jonathan, now a rabid and bloodthirsty vampire, attacks Arthur and Van Helsing, but in the struggle is knocked by Arthur into a pit of spikes and killed. The final confrontation with Dracula takes place in what looks like a grand ballroom. Arthur produces a cross, temporarily keeping Dracula at bay, but the vampire throws a table at them, knocking it away. As Dracula attacks Arthur, Van Helsing pulls down the window curtains, and sunlight pours in. Dracula is weakened, giving Van Helsing the opportunity to pierce his heart with a long spear.

They leave him there. Before the portrait of a living warrior Dracula, with Lucy's lookalike in the background, a text scrolls across the screen about a warlord who lived in the area of Hungary known as Transylvania, and how it was said he had found a way to conquer death – a legend no one has ever disproven.

Cast

Production

Dan Curtis decided to film Bram Stoker's Dracula in two locations: Yugoslavia, where there were old castles and quiet land, and England, where the remainder of the story is set. [2]

Release

The initial CBS-TV broadcast in October 1973 was pre-empted for an address by Richard Nixon on the resignation of Spiro Agnew. Instead it was broadcast in February 1974. [3] CBS took advantage of the successful release of director Francis Ford Coppola's identically titled adaptation, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), to rebroadcast the film on 28 November 1992 (two weeks after Coppola's film opened).[ citation needed ]

Legacy

The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc. In the 1990s, Columbia Pictures and Coppola, who wanted to emphasize that his cinematic adaptation of Dracula would be unlike any that had come before, purchased the rights to the title Bram Stoker's Dracula. [4] Nearly all subsequent home video releases of the earlier film have been under the title Dan Curtis' Dracula, or simply Dracula.[ citation needed ]

In addition to the title of Curtis' movie, Coppola also utilized its two key elements which distinguish it from previous adaptations: the depiction of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler  – the historical Dracula – as being the same person, and the relationship between Dracula and his reincarnated wife (Lucy in the 1974 movie, and Mina in the 1992 film). [5]

According to a featurette on a DVD release of the film, Palance was asked to reprise the role of Dracula several times, but he always declined.

The Marvel Comics series The Tomb of Dracula features a Dracula whose appearance was based on Jack Palance. [3] The series debuted in 1972, before Palance had actually played the role of Dracula. Artist Gene Colan was inspired by Palance's performance in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968), Curtis and Palance's previous television movie. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Van Helsing</span> Fictional character created by Bram Stoker

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist, and metaphysician. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypal parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. Some later works tell new stories about Van Helsing, while others, such as Dracula (2020) and I Woke Up a Vampire (2023) have characters that are his descendants.

<i>Dracula: Dead and Loving It</i> 1995 film by Mel Brooks

Dracula: Dead and Loving It is a 1995 comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Leslie Nielsen. It is a spoof of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and of some of the story's well-known adaptations. Brooks co-authored the screenplay with Steve Haberman and Rudy De Luca. He also appears as Dr. Van Helsing. The film's other stars include Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, Peter MacNicol, Harvey Korman, and Anne Bancroft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mina Harker</span> Fictional character

Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quincey Morris</span> Fictional character created by Bram Stoker

Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic novel Dracula.

Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family and is Mina Murray's best friend. Early in the story, Lucy gets proposed to by three suitors, Arthur Holmwood, John Seward, and Quincey Morris, on the same day. Turning the latter two down due to already being in love with Arthur, she accepts his proposal. Before getting the chance to marry, Lucy becomes Count Dracula's first English victim, and despite Seward contacting Abraham Van Helsing for help, she transforms into a vampire. Following her return as a vampire and attacks on children—dubbed the "Bloofer Lady" by them—she is eventually cornered into her crypt by Van Helsing and her suitors who destroy her, putting her soul to rest.

<i>Dracula, the Musical</i> 2001 American musical by Frank Wildhorn

Dracula, the Musical is a musical based on the original 1897 Victorian novel by Bram Stoker. The score is by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Harker</span> Fictional character created by Bram Stoker

Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. An English solicitor, his journey to Transylvania and encounter with the vampire Count Dracula and his Brides at Castle Dracula constitutes the dramatic opening scenes in the novel and most of the film adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Seward</span> Fictional character appearing in Bram Stokers Dracula

John "Jack" Seward, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

<i>Dracula: Pages from a Virgins Diary</i> 2002 Canadian film

Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary is a 2002 horror film directed by Guy Maddin, budgeted at $1.7 million and produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a dance film documenting a performance by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet adapting Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Maddin elected to shoot the dance film in a fashion uncommon for such films, through close-ups and using jump cuts. Maddin also stayed close to the source material of Stoker's novel, emphasizing the xenophobia in the reactions of the main characters to Dracula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Holmwood</span> Character in Bram Stokers novel Dracula

Arthur "Art" Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

"Dracula" is a video-taped television play adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, part of the series Mystery and Imagination. Denholm Elliott played Count Dracula with Susan George as Lucy Weston.

<i>Count Dracula</i> (1977 film) 1977 British TV series or programme

Count Dracula is a British television adaptation of the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Produced by the BBC, it first aired on BBC 2 on 22 December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book. Directed by Philip Saville from a screenplay by Gerald Savory, it stars Louis Jourdan as Count Dracula and Frank Finlay as Professor Van Helsing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Count Dracula</span> Title character of Bram Stokers 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula

Count Dracula is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Vlad Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant.

Dracula is a television adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula, produced by Granada Television for WGBH Boston and BBC Wales in 2006. It was written by Stewart Harcourt and directed by Bill Eagles.

<i>Dracula</i> (1924 play) 1924 stage play

Dracula is a stage play written by the Irish actor and playwright Hamilton Deane in 1924, then revised by the American writer John L. Balderston in 1927. It was the first authorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. After touring in England, the original version of the play appeared at London's Little Theatre in July 1927, where it was seen by the American producer Horace Liveright. Liveright asked Balderston to revise the play for a Broadway production that opened at the Fulton Theatre in October 1927. This production starred Bela Lugosi in his first major English-speaking role.

Dracula is an adaptation, first published in 1996, by American playwright Steven Dietz of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel by the same name. Though it has never run on Broadway, the author lists it among his most financially successful works, and it is frequently performed near Halloween in regional and community theaters. Closely following the plot of the novel, the play chronicles Count Dracula's journey to England, his stalking of two young women, and his pursuit and eventual defeat by the heroines' suitors and their associates.

<i>Dracula: A Chamber Musical</i> Musical

Dracula: A Chamber Musical is a 1997 Canadian musical adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. The book and lyrics are by Richard Ouzounian and the music and orchestration are by Marek Norman. After premiering at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1997, Dracula in 1999 became the first Canadian musical to be staged at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

<i>Dracula the Un-dead</i> 2009 novel by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt

Dracula the Un-dead is a 2009 sequel to Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel Dracula. The book was written by Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Previously, Holt had been a direct-to-DVD horror screenwriter, and Stoker a track and field coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dracula (radio drama)</span> Radio show

"Dracula" is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as the premiere episode of the series on Monday, July 11, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

Hrabě Drakula is a Czechoslovakian 1971 black and white TV film adaptation of Bram Stoker's original novel Dracula.

References

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  2. Smith, Gary A. (2017). Vampire Films of the 1970s: Dracula to Blacula and Every Fang Between. McFarland & Company. p. 181. ISBN   9780786497799.
  3. 1 2 Scivally, Bruce (2015). Dracula FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Count from Transylvania. Backbeat books. ISBN   978-1617136009.
  4. Marx, Andy (26 January 1992). "A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : QUICK BITES : Bet You Thought Bela Lugosi's Neck Biter Was True to Bram Stoker". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
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  6. Field, Tom (2005). Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 99. ISBN   9781893905450.