Dracula
question
Dracula-Lugosi version
S
Jan 25, 2014 01:56PM
Although I hate Philip Glass, there is a version of the Lugosi film with a Philip Glass score. Originally, the film had no music, so the score does make it move faster.
reply
flag
I saw the original release that had no music. Then I saw a later cut that was set to portions of "Swan Lake". Ludicrous as it may sound, the more brooding and ominous parts of the ballet score melded nicely with the slow-moving, dialogue-free portions of the film. Seems whenever the film appears now in late night syndication, it's the "unscored cut". Though I'm not a great fan of the 1930 "original", I have yet to see the version with a score by Philip Glass. That might be of interest.
Saw the movie from 1931. It was just comical.
The original 1931 Dracula - as opposed to the 1922 Nosferatu - is like an old toy that you can't play with properly anymore because it squeaks and creaks, and parts of it are a little shaky. But you can see what it must have been like when it was newly-minted and its melodrama was not so panting and overtly theatrical. It isn't so very long since I saw it fully for the first time and I can see why it might be considered hokey and awful. It remains an important milestone though - and I think we need it for comparison. And if I can be honest, there are parts of the recent Dracula TV series that felt like they could rein it in a bit with no deficit to the drama.
I love the off-camera female screams from a host of 30s flicks. Oh.., and the rubber bat Lugosi. Perfection. :}
Let's not forget the (arguably superior) Spanish version--shot at night on the same sets as the Browning/Lugosi version.
The Tod Browning DRACULA is iconic, yes, but it's a stage-bound bore, regardless of the score. Like most of the Universal Monster classics, it's beloved more for what it represented to generations of Monster Kids than for its cinematic quality.
(James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN films are, most would argue, the pinnacle of the Universal Monster cycle. The best monster movies of that era are, interestingly enough, not Universal films--WHITE ZOMBIE, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, and Tod Browning's FREAKS, to name but three.)
The Tod Browning DRACULA is iconic, yes, but it's a stage-bound bore, regardless of the score. Like most of the Universal Monster classics, it's beloved more for what it represented to generations of Monster Kids than for its cinematic quality.
(James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN films are, most would argue, the pinnacle of the Universal Monster cycle. The best monster movies of that era are, interestingly enough, not Universal films--WHITE ZOMBIE, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, and Tod Browning's FREAKS, to name but three.)
all discussions on this book
|
post a new topic
