Dracula (1973/I) (TV)

Director:

Dan Curtis

Writer:

Richard Matheson (written by)

Release Date:

8 February 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Victim | England | Aristocrat | Vampire Bat | Victorian Era

Cast

Jack Palance	...	Dracula
Simon Ward	...	Arthur
Nigel Davenport	...	Van Helsing
Pamela Brown	...	Mrs. Westenra
Fiona Lewis	...	Lucy
Penelope Horner	...	Mina
Murray Brown	...	Jonathan Harker
Virginia Wetherell	...	Dracula's Wife (as Virginia Wetherall)
Barbara Lindley	...	Dracula's Wife
Sarah Douglas	...	Dracula's Wife
George Pravda	...	Innkeeper
Hana Maria Pravda	...	Innkeeper's Wife (as Hanna-Maria Pravda)
Reg Lye	...	Zookeeper
Fred Stone	...	Priest
Roy Spencer	...	Whitby Inn Clerk

Also Known As:

Bram Stoker's Dracula (USA)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Finland:K-18 | UK:15 (video rating) (1994) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Latglen Ltd.

Trivia:

The first film of Sarah Douglas.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Dracula flips over Lucy's coffin, the supposedly dead actress inside can clearly be seen to quickly raise her arms to cover her chest and face, presumably to shield herself from the fall.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

"I who commanded armies hundreds of years before you were born..."

Jack Palance is not the sexiest nor the spookiest Dracula, but he's a marvelous choice for many reasons--and he definitely stands out from the other (often memorable) performances. Only a couple of years before doing this movie, Palance starred in the film THE HORSEMAN, playing a legendary bukashi rider; it was only one of several such horseman-warrior roles Palance specialized in (including the part of Revak in an Italian film titled THE BARBARIANS). In fact, Palance is an actor who can claim to have played both Dracula AND Attila the Hun.

Some might wonder what that has do with the bloodsucking count, but at one point in the Stoker novel, Dracula says, "the blood of Attila flows through these veins." Though they didn't retain that particular line, the film-makers emphasize from beginning to end this particular Dracula is an ex-warrior--and Palance suggests a former, Magyar beserker brilliantly.

This is also the first version of the novel to have the motivation of Dracula travelling to England for the purpose of reclaiming his lost love--an idea that adds a touch of pathos. Perhaps Dan Curtis did simply re-use it from his DARK SHADOWS series, but I can't help but wonder, however, if the idea might also have sprung from this movie's adapter, Richard Matheson. A talented novelist in his own right, Matheson wrote the book (and the screenplay) of SOMEWHERE IN TIME, which also has a central character searching for his true love across the ages. In any case, it's an approach that adds a layer to Dracula's character and would be used again in the Coppola version. I think it will be used in future adaptations as well. In any case, for the record, this was the version that did it first.

All in all, this version isn't as stylish or as atmospheric as some others, but it's well worthwhile and is a must in any Dracula fan's library.