Classic Movies - Universal Studios Monsters: Dracula - Nosferatu (Prana Film)

For the month of October "Monster Mash Month", let’s continue talk Classic Monster Movies of Universal Studios! This week, let’s talk Universal Monster Classics - Dracula! The film in today's highlight however, is not Universal Studios, but instead is a German made movie produced by Prana Film. Today we are going back to 1922, when a silent film, Nosferatu, was made based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, a weird tale about Count Dracula. This is the very first time in film history in which a vampire is killed by sunlight. Director F.W. Murnau knew that he would be sued for borrowing heavily from Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, without permission so he changed the ending so that he could say this film and Dracula were not exactly the same. This was the first and last Prana Film; the company declared bankruptcy after Bram Stoker's estate, acting for his widow, Florence Stoker, sued for copyright infringement and won.

Vampire Count Dracula moves to Wisburg and brings the plague, which reveals his connection to the Realtor Jonathon Harker, and the Count's obsession with Harker's wife, Nina - the only one with the power to end the evil. The story is narrated from the diary of Johann Cavallius, historian of the city of Bremen, who is wondering if it was the Nosferatu who brought the plague to Bremen in 1838.

Newlyweds Harker (Gustav von Wangenheim) and Nina (Greta Schroder) are saddened when Harker is sent to Transylvania by Harker's employer Renfield (Alexander Grannach) to arrange for Count Dracula's (Max Schreck) purchase of a house across the street from the Harkers' house in Bremen. Harker travels to Transylvania where he stays with the Count, is bitten by him, and eventually escapes from the castle but not before seeing the Count depart on a cart loaded with coffins. While Harker recuperates in a hospital after succeeding in his escape, the Count moves into the house across from the Harkers'. The rise in deaths is accredited to a plague thought to have arrived with Demeter, the ship that Count Dracula sailed to reach Bremen. The "Book of the Vampires" tells Nina what she must do to end the vampire.

The Count meets his doom when Nina manages to keep him until after cock crow. As the sun slowly advances on the houses across the street (visible from the window), the Nosferatu attempts to escape. In doing so, he passes the window and is trapped by the sunlight. He 'vaporizes' into a puff of smoke on the carpet.

Nosferatu is considered the most frightful portrayal of Dracula. So for a scary "Monster Mash Month", we recommend watching the 1922 classic film, Nosferatu. Join "Let's Talk Classic Movies" Wednesday to read about our next featured Universal Studios Monster movie -Dracula.

**Trivia Question for Today: What kind of make-up was used for Max Schreck in Nosferatu?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Donnie Dunagan, who portrayed Peter in Son of Frankenstein, provided the voice of young Bambi in Walt Disney's cartoon movie Bambi (1942).