youthen

Dracula (Spanish-language version)

Dracula (1931) is a Spanish-language version of the more famous Tod Browning-directed Dracula starring Bela Lugosi.

In the early days of sound, it was common for Hollywood studios to produce foreign language versions of their films (usually in French, Spanish and German) using the same sets, costumes and etc., because early sound film audiences regarded dubbing as a cheat on the magic of talking pictures. Unfortunately, most of these foreign language versions no longer exist. The Spanish version of Dracula is an exception. The Spanish language version of Drácula was made by director George Melford who simultaneously filmed the movie using the same sets at night. Of the cast, only Carlos Villarías was permitted to see 'dailies' of the English-language film and was encouraged to be as "Lugosi-like" as possible.

In recent years this version has become more highly praised by some than the English language version. The Spanish crew had the advantage of watching the dailies from the English crew's version when they came in for the evening and they would figure out better camera angles and more effective use of lighting in an attempt to "top" it. As a result, this version's supporters consider it to be much more artistically effective.

The Spanish semiologist Roman Gubern considers that the longer duration allows better development of the plot in spite of the shortened shooting time and smaller budget.

The Spanish version was included as a bonus feature on the Classic Monster Collection DVD in 1999, the Legacy Collection DVD in 2004 and the 75th Anniversary Edition DVD set in 2006. Included was an interview with Lupita Tovar, who had married producer Paul Kohner two years after filming.

Cast

Carlos Villarías (as Carlos Villar) as Count Dracula
Lupita Tovar as Eva
Barry Norton as Juan Harker
Pablo Álvarez Rubio as Renfield
Eduardo Arozamena as Abraham Van Helsing
José Soriano Viosca as Dr. Seward
Carmen Guerrero as Lucia
Amelia Senisterra as Marta
Manuel Arbó as Martin
Geraldine Dvorak as Bride
Cornelia Thaw as Bride
Dorothy Tree as Bride

Plot Summary

Renfield, a solicitor, makes a journey into Transylvania via stagecoach. He mentions his destination, Castle Dracula, to the locals who react with alarm. They tell him Count Dracula is a vampire and when he doesn't believe them, one insists he wear a cross. When he arrives at the Castle, the Count bids him welcome. After drinking drugged wine, Renfield drops the cross and is bitten.

Aboard ship, a now-enslaved Renfield laughs maniacally below as Dracula picks off the crew one by one. When the ship reaches England, he is the only living person found.

Dracula meets Dr. Seward and his family at the Opera. Lucia is completely fascinated by him and that night becomes his victim. Professor Van Helsing is called in, and he recognizes the danger for what it is. He also realizes that Dr. Seward's patient Renfield is somehow tied up in events. But soon after meeting the Doctor's new neighbor, Dracula, he figures out who is a vampire--based on the fact Dracula casts no reflection in the mirror. Not a moment too soon, because by now Seward's daughter Eva is falling under his spell. To her horror, she feels increasingly weak and also increasingly wild--at one point attacking her fiancee Juan.

With Seward's and Harker's help, Van Helsing seeks to trap Dracula but he outwits them and escapes with Eva by seizing control of a nurse's mind. They follow Renfield into Carfax Abbey--an act which ends with Dracula killing his slave by strangulation then tossing him from a tall staircase. Deep in the catacombs under Carfax, they find Dracula asleep and Eva, still alive. Van Helsing drives a stake through the vampire's heart.

Deviations from the novel

This list is not exhaustive, but intended to convey a sense of the differences between the film and the novel:

The setting is shifted to circa 1930.
Renfield goes to Transylvania and is victimized. He is found, insane, aboard the Demeter.
Dracula does not "youthen."
The characters of Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris are omitted.
Dr. Seward is Eva's father, not Lucy's suitor. Lucy is his ward.
Dracula does not have multiple coffins. He can only change into a bat, not a wolf.
Dracula must sleep by day.
Dracula is killed by Van Helsing, with a wooden stake.

Differences with the English Version

At the Borgo Pass, the coach driver from the castle (who is Dracula, in disguise) actually has his face covered.
Renfield cuts his finger with a breadknife, not a paper clip.
The Brides, rather than Dracula, bite Renfield.
The characters' names are Hispanicized. We see Juan Harker instead of Jonathon Harker and Lucia instead of Lucy Weston/Westenra. Also, Mina is renamed Eva.
The plotline of whatever happened to Lucia is resolved. Though not shown and only mentioned, Van Helsing destroys her.
In this version we get to see an additional exterior shot of Carfax Abbey, not seen in the English-language version.
Eva's costume is far more revealing than the one worn by Helen Chandler. In the interview she gives for the Legacy Collection DVD Eva/Mina's actress Lupita Tolvar remarks that Latins are less restrained Anglos.
When Renfield is in Carfax Abbey, he carried a torch rather than a lamp. His death is more violent is this version as well.
In general there is a great deal more camera movement and atmospheric lighting.