Full Transcript for Topic: Dracula (1931)

home not happy, but afraid, which is part of how this ended up kind of launching that genre. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:44.079 Um, and you know, from pretty much the the film after this, Frankenstein on, and retroactively this one, they all sort of got called horror films from here on, and the genre was born, and it is uh perhaps most likely my favorite of the genres. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:55.680 So I wanted to do something big, and I wanted to cover uh uh the spooky season as thoroughly as I could. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:01.839 I originally had this big plan to do 13 episodes over the course of 13 weeks. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:13.360 As I explained in my last podcast, um other things came up, including booking a gig where I played Ed Geen, um, and then I was sick for a little while, and so I wasn't able to do that. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:16.720 So instead, the consolation prize is this. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:25.439 I'm going to release an episode every single day this week, which is actually gonna end up costing me money to do it that way. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.000 But you know what? 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.439 I think it's worth it because I love the genre. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.679 So we're starting 1931's Dracula. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:46.480 Um, and before we get into the nitty-gritty of Dracula, I did want to say I have been watching a lot of horror films lately. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:57.440 If uh if you wanted to find STS Pod on um Letterboxd, you would be able to do that. 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:02.639 Uh, and you would be able to see a record of most of the movies I've been watching. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:04.879 There's little gaps and holes in there. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:08.799 Uh, those are preparations for episodes that are gonna come later. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.200 And so I didn't put those movies into the rating system. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:23.279 Uh, Dracula, of course, will be um, yeah, I haven't put it in yet, but Dracula will be by the time this is uploaded. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:35.200 I'm probably gonna put it at three and a half or four three and a half stars because uh well, we'll get into my whole review of that in a little bit. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:41.440 Uh, we have other movies every single day this week, unless something crazy happens. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:10:05.759 I intend on having a new episode, and we're gonna continue with horror films after October is done, all the way until November the 13th, because that is a Friday the 13th, and we launched this uh podcast with a Friday the 13th episode, so we will be uh I can I that's the only one I'm gonna tell you ahead of time. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:14.559 Friday 13th, part three is coming, uh, and we do intend on having John Paul Edmondson join us again. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:22.720 Uh gifted comedian who's uh now branching off into acting, and he's gonna join us and we're gonna talk about that one. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:29.440 Um, hopefully, we'll

also be able to talk about some other films along the way uh with him and other people. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:35.200 Alright, let's get into the nitty-gritty of Dracula. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.360 As you can tell, I really like doing that voice. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:41.679 Dracula. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:45.679 So it was a pre-code movie. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.080 Now, we haven't had a chance to deep dive into history just yet. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.799 I want to, we just haven't got to it. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:11:00.960 Uh, the Hayes Code was a thing that had a huge effect on movies, it changed the way that they were done, and this is before that. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.600 So things like sexuality, things like violence can be in it. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.639 Now, they didn't go all in with this. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:14.080 There was no uh there's decidingly no gore whatsoever. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:18.320 Uh, but you know, they could have if they wanted. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.399 Now, I think it is interesting to point out. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:31.039 Um I hate to jump ahead here, but it was produced at Universal under Carl Lemmy Jr. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.320 I might be pronouncing his name wrong, but I think it's Carl Lemmy. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.159 Lemmel, it's L-A-E-M-M-L-E. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:40.240 It's his name. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:12:00.559 Um, but he uh had always wanted this dra uh this genre to exist, and it was his birthday, his 21st birthday, he was given control of the studio from his father, who was previously running the studio. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:08.320 Um now I'll get into all the specifics of that uh later down the road. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:14.799 I'll have a more researched and uh factual uh I'll make sure everything's factually accurate on that. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:19.120 Because I'm kind of doing some of this off the top of my head off of memory. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.000 Anyways, Carl Jr. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.120 wanted this genre to be a thing. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:29.039 He thought there was a lot of promise in it, and he bet big. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:47.600 So I'm gonna shoot ahead real quick to some of the the big information about it, you know, and and budget is where one of those things is$341,191 was the budget for this film. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:13:04.480 That's$7.3 million in today's money, rounded up, and um, the profit that this film made, the success that launched this genre, is reports that I've read. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.559 It's very hard to get exact numbers. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:13.519 Reports that I have read uh have put it at about$700,000 in profits. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:21.679 In profits, that puts you at about$14 million in profits on a$7.3 million investment. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:23.279 That's fantastic. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:38.879 Now, I don't know if the$14 million is after the budget was recouped, uh, because of the way that I had read the things and where I read them, and it's hard to get information on films that old, especially from the sources I normally get them from. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:52.799 Uh my uh there's a strong chance at some point we'll revisit Dracula uh when I have another host, and we'll get more into the specifics of uh those numbers. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:14:01.440 Uh so like I said, it's a studio system movie, it was directed by Todd Browning, screenplay by Garrett Fort based on a play. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:17.440 That's what a lot of people don't realize is Dracula was a play, it was a book, everyone knows that, but then it was a Broadway play that was very successful, and that's what got translated into this film, and it very much feels like it. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.600 Like once you're aware of it and you watch it, you go, Oh, yeah, this is definitely a play. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:26.240 Everything about this reads like a play on steroids. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:39.039 It definitely flows like one, the ending is like one, even the way that they do some of the tricks seems like how they must have done it on stage, with very few innovations. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:49.679 Um, you know, I'm sure that they didn't do the the uh cobweb thing, how they did it in this movie at the beginning of it. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:15:06.639 So uh it starts Bella Legosi, who was one of the people who played Dracula on stage, and Dwight Frye gives this brilliant, like over-the-top psychotic, creepy performances Renfeld. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:08.799 I thought that was great. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:14.799 Uh, the play, by the way, was written that it's based on was written by Hamilton Dean and John L. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:16.639 uh Balderston. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:37.120 And uh, as I said before, first uh horror film, it is uh the novel was written by Bramstroker, which most people know because of Bramstroker's Dracula, which is Francis Ford Coppola's take on on the movie. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.039 And that book was written in 1897. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.919 Now, here's something you might not know that's worth knowing. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:55.279 There is a Spanish version of this film that was filmed at the same time as the English version. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:09.440 What happened was during the day, regular Dracula shot, and at night, with a different cast and a different crew, but on the exact same sets, you had the Spanish version, which was directed by George Melford. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.559 And I have heard other people say that it is better than the original. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.960 You know, this being considered the original, so let me rephrase it. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.840 Better than the English language version. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:23.440 I agree. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:25.679 I watched both versions. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:28.799 I do not speak Spanish, it was fantastic. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:36.240 And

um, if you'll please hold, uh, just a moment. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:37.440 Alright. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:43.519 Uh, for you, that was uh not even a whole moment, but for me it was more. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.639 I didn't want to cough fall into your ears, ladies and gentlemen. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:56.240 Uh, this is a good time to remind you that to this day, this is still a podcast that is uh done um live to tape, an industry term. 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:59.039 Basically, I don't edit, I don't edit anything out. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:07.119 All the ums are there, the coughs are there, the accidentally saying uh the foul language is there, everything's there. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.720 Um here we are. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:09.279 Okay. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:17.200 So back on top of this, uh released in New York City on February 12th, 1931. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:23.039 And it was in the um, I believe the Roxy Theater. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.279 I thought I had that information written down, but I don't see it. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.359 But I remember it being Roxy Theater. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:34.000 Uh two days later it was rele uh began its international releases. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:36.400 Here's what's wild about it. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:41.920 Uh you know, they are I I I did find it. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.119 I have written it down. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:50.319 Uh it was after the premiere at the Roxy, it was reported that people fainted, which led to success across the country. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:54.160 So that was really smart of them the way that they marketed this film. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:18:07.200 Very similar to if you guys if you're old enough to remember the early 2000s, certain films were marketed not by what was happening in the movie, but by the audience's reaction to the movie. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:16.000 That trick obviously was being done in print, you know, 70 years earlier when this movie came out. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:20.720 It was selected in 2000 to be in the US National Film Registry. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:38.000 Uh, the National Film Registry is a collection of films which uh have special um special they are saved basically in vault in a vault. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:45.279 Uh so that if something happens, like proof of America, they get taken care of better. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:59.279 Like there's there's special copies that are made for this to happen, but it's an elite group of films that are important to America American, and by American, I mean United States of America, American culture. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:10.480 Before I was talking about the multiple versions, and yeah, no, dude, if you ever get a chance to watch it, if you gotta put subtitles on, put it on. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:19.839 I what I did was I watched the original Dracula, and then I turned around and watched the other one because it's kind of the same, it's pretty much the same thing. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:28.640 Uh but the acting's better, the women are more beautiful, um, and the I mean the acting is a lot better. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:57.039 Bella Legosi is fantastic, so I don't know if I'd say he's better, but the shots are definitely better, like from a director point of view, and you know, this is a director first podcast, like that is far better directed, and they're using the same physical location, so you can't do anything but look at that director and that director photography and say, No, yeah, I just did a better job. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:07.839 Um, but not to take away from this because the pacing is off and there's very little music in it, and that can be really hard for today's audience. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:24.400 Um I must admit, I have uh fallen asleep every time I've ever watched it and had to rewind because of the way that it's paced, it was not made for modern audiences, but what is there is still very good. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:31.519 I know that's weird to be like, oh, I fell asleep during it, but like it's good, especially certain parts. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:36.799 You know, that beginning in the in Dracula's Castle was fantastic. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:42.319 There's a few other moments later on, it's it's just really solid uh work. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:47.039 I think everyone should probably watch this movie at least once in their life. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:50.400 Um, I don't think it's something that I would watch every year. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.680 If I wasn't from the podcast, I had not planned on watching it. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:57.440 I thought this would be a great start of the series. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.519 Uh, let's see, what have I missed? 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:11.440 You know, I I did want to get into now that we're talking about the movie, it's a very highly uh rated film. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:17.920 Both uh critics and audiences are very kind to this movie. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:31.599 You know, it is for most people in Western culture, like some version of this Dracula lives in their brain, even if they've never seen the movie. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:33.920 The talking like this. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:59.440 Um the look, the cloak, and then the hairst uh the hairstyle like that, and all that stuff is is buried into our subconscious because the performance by Bella Legosi is so incredibly iconic, and uh there's a lot of you know. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.599 People like to say that he hated it and he wanted to get away from it. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:11.279 He wanted to be taken seriously as an actor, but I've seen mixed reporting on that. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:19.680 I do know that he didn't want to do he was offered Frankenstein and he didn't want to do it. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.200 And it created a rivalry because of who did do Frankenstein. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.319 But we'll get into all that stuff when it gets to Frankenstein. 00:22:28.799 -->

00:22:34.880 Uh, which eventually uh this podcast would would like to cover that movie as well. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:40.480 This movie has, like I said, no gore in it. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:47.119 A lot of the movies that I prefer do have a lot of gore and does have a lot of violence. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:55.920 I think uh violence belongs in horror, but it does this movie proves that it doesn't have to be there. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:02.960 And even when the violence is there, it can be the violence can be subtle with the horror being turned up. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:13.359 And the way that they do that is really manipulating suspense, it's their primary tool of fear and creepy. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:27.759 You know, I I call this the spooky season, as many people do, and spooky and creepy are words very closely related to each other, and creepy is what I mean. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:35.519 That performance by Dwight Fry, I had to look his name up, as Rain uh Renfeld. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:37.599 I mean, that's creepy. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.839 There's there's just no other way around it. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:55.279 It's it's theatrical and over the top, and a great thing to point at uh when you're trying to understand the difference between theater acting and film acting, because that's theater acting happening on film, but it's still kind of there. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:03.359 Like, dude, is really off-putting and unsettling if you allow yourself to buy into the film. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:17.599 I mean, imagine how huge that must have felt next to you, a performance like that, which is amplified even more because Bella is so subtle and calm and soft in his movements. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:26.160 So you've got uh the guy playing Renfeld, just berserko full-on tofer style. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:35.759 Sorry, it's just I play a lot of roles like that Renfeld role, and so really it really hit me real good. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:38.240 I said, Oh, that's that's good shit right there. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.920 Wait, and I'm sure it'll get under your skin. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.640 If it doesn't, let me know. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:57.519 You can let me know by going to our Instagram, which is the primary source of information for this podcast, is on uh Instagram at shadows that shine. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:00.400 We want you to follow us there. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.359 Uh, we hope that you're subscribed to this podcast. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:13.279 I am not gonna go on and on because it's just me, but there will be guest co-hosts throughout the week that will be joining us for different episodes. 00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:19.279 Um if uh if stuff happens, then some of these episodes might be just me. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:22.880 I hope you enjoyed this episode. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:29.200 I hope that you will go and watch Dracula and get in touch with the roots of this genre. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:35.359 You know, Dracula is a very important film. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:40.480 I you know, just like Psycho, just like Halloween. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.200 But we'll get into all that stuff later on and down the road. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:54.160 Uh I have been your host for the evening or day or night. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:26:00.640 I maybe have been the creature of the night that stalks you. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:03.119 Or maybe not. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:06.480 Maybe you're just like, you know, on your shit break. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:09.839 Hey, that's the first cast word of the night. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:12.640 Um I'm Topher Mac. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:16.640 This is Shadows That Shine, a movie podcast. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:18.880 See you tomorrow. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:20.000 Bye.