ARCHIVE
This
archive article is now embarrassingly out of date, and
inadequate. One of
the very first archive features I attempted back in 1999. I repost this
article simply for archive interest. As with much of the
rest of the site I hope to update the article in the near
future....
Robert JE
Simpson
22 August 2006.
DRACULA
A Warner Bros release
running time 82 minutes
filmed in Technicolor® 1958
A
Hammer Film
Production
copyright ©MCMLVIII by Hammer Fim Productions
All rights reserved
Peter
Cushing
in
Horror of Dracula
with Christopher Lee as Dracula
Screenplay
by Jimmy Sangster
based on the novel by Bram Stoker
Music composed by James Bernard
conducted by John Hollingsworth
Director of Photography . . .Jack
Asher BSC
Production Designer . . Bernard
Robinson
Supervising Editor . . . James Needs
Color by Technicolor
Sound Recordist . . . .
Jack May
Editor . . . . Bill Lenny
Production Manager . . Don Weeks
Assistant Director . . Bob Lynn
Camera Operator . . . Len Harris
Make Up . . .Phil Leaky
Hair Stylist . . Henry Montsash
Continuity . . . Doreen Dearnaley
Wardrobe . . Molly Arbuthnot
Special Effects . . Sydney Pearson
Associate
Producer
Anthony Nelson-Keys
Produced
by
Anthony Hinds
Directed
by
Terence Fisher
CAST
Doctor
Van Helsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PETER CUSHING
Count Dracula . . CHRISTOPHER LEE
Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL GOUGH
Mina . . . . . . . . . .MELLISA STRIBLING
Lucy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CAROL MARSH
Gerda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OLGA DICKIE
Jonathan . . . . . . . .JOHN VAN EYSSEN
Vampire Woman . .VALERIE GAUNT
Tania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JANINE FAYE
Inga . . . . . . . . . . . BARBARA ARCHER
Doctor Seward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .CHARLES LLOYD PACK
Policeman . . . . . . .GEORGE MERRITT
Landlord . . . GEORGE WOODBRIDGE
Official . . . . . . . . . . . GEORGE BENSON
Undertaker. . . . . . . MILES MALLESON
Porter . . . . . . . . GEOFFREY BAYLDON
Lad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PAUL COLE
The blurb on the back
of the Terror Vision release reads thus:-
Jonathan
Harker (JOHN VAN EYSSEN) arrives at Castle Dracula with the
intention of destroying Dracula (CHRISTOPHER LEE) but he is
outwitted and becomes a victim of the evil Count and his vampire
bride. Realising he is destined to join the ranks of the undead,
Harker must act while his senses are still his own.
Doctor Van Helsing's (PETER CUSHING) search for Harker leads him
to Castle Dracula where he discovers his friend has become one of
the undead. He drives a stake through Harker but finds that
Dracula has deserted his castle.
At the home of the Holmwood family, Lucy Holmwood (CAROL MARSH),
Harker's fiancée, has been struck by a mysterious illness. Van
Helsing reports to Arthur Holmwood (MICHAEL GOUGH), Lucy's
brother, and tells him of Harker's fate. On learning of Lucy's
illness, Van Helsing realises that she too has become a victim of
Dracula who, as an act of vengeance, intends making her his
vampire bride.
So begins a terrifying sequence of events that culminate in a
chilling climax as Van Helsing pits the age old forces of good
against evil to find Dracula and end his reign of terror forever.
REVIEW: The film itself is a beautiful cinematic
masterpiece, though far removed from the novel that Bram Stoker
penned. The confusion between Jonathan Harker, Mina and Lucy's
identity is only the tip of the iceberg. As far as the story goes,
it is as if Jimmy Sangster is only sort-of associated with the
novel, and is more than a bit confused in his retelling of the
tale. However, we should not dwell in the plot irregularities,
but rather enjoy the rich colour and acting. Van Eyssen is fair
as Harker, though far removed from the Harker of the novel. Lee
is understated in the utmost as Dracula. Rather lighter vocally,
than his later portrayals of the count, but full of the legendary
sexual presence for which he is so famously credited.
Cushing is young and full of life, his leaps and bounds reminding
us just how much spirit he had, even in later life as he aged
rapidly after Hammer shut down. The vampire ladies are beutiful,
and the film is shot with excellence. Terence Fisher showing his
skills as a director and James Bernard creating one of the most
memorable scores in movie history.
Filmed in 1957 and released in 1958,
the film went under the title of Horror of Dracula, in
the US, so as not to confuse it with the 1932 Bela Lugosi version.
Hammer had asked Universal if they could use the costume design
for Frankenstein and been refused, this time, however it was not
such, though there are marked differences between Lee and Lugosi
in Dracula garb.
Well received, for most Hammer viewers it would be the first time
they would get to hear Lee speak. Fast gaining success in his
partnerships with Cushing, as Frankenstein's monster, Dracula and
the Mummy. It would be some six years before Lee would return to
the role, afraid of being typecast forever as the evil count.
However it is a role which stays with him to today. A sequel was
penned almost immediately, though Lee refused to appear.
The film is neither a re-make of the Universal version, nor the
novel, but is nevertheless a true horror classic. Incidentally,
Lee would do another version of the original Dracula, Bram
Stoker's Count Dracula in 1971, though not a Hammer, is a
damn fine interpretation. Lee even makes a different
interpretation of the role, and is by far the closest adaptation
since Nosferatu in 1922.
The film is currently under
release in the UK by Warner Bros, in the Terror Vision label code
S036162, released in 1997 for the first time (I think
ever on pal VHS in the UK) with a running time of 78 mins, rated
15. Warning!
It is also not only cut (though reputedly all existing copies of
the film are trimmed in several places, such as the vampirized
Jonathan Harker and the death of Dracula scenes), but also a
conversion from the US print, hence the on-screen title of Horror
of Dracula, annoying but for those like me who had never seen
the film before it is still a joy to watch.
page posted
Saturday 25th
September 1999
all original text, and layout of the page © RJE Simpson 1999
mail me with corrections, comments etc to
info@avalard.com
page reformatted and reposted 22 August 2006
