Everything Action Theater: Dracula (1931)
While Nicolas Cage puts his stamp on the role of Dracula this weekend in Renfield, all actors playing the Count stand in the shadow of Bela Lugosi, who made the role iconic in the classic Universal Monsters movie from 1931. The movie was the first adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel to be filmed with sound and was a massive hit, becoming the biggest hit of 1931 for Universal and establishing that horror was a major moneymaker for the studio. Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein also debuted in 1931 and there would be multiple sequels for both movies in the years following. Bela Lugosi’s performance as Dracula became the de facto portrayal of the character for most people and you still see Lugosi-style Dracula homages and parodies to this day. The movie was put into the National Film Registry in 2000 and is still one of the greatest horror movies ever made. You can watch Dracula below thanks to Vimeo.
Dracula (1931) from Cinéphil on Vimeo.