Classic Movies - Universal Studios Monsters: the Wolf Man - House of Dracula

Today we will conclude our week of Univeral Studios Monster - the Wolf Man. The movie featured today is House of Dracula (1945), starring Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Martha O'Driscoll, Lionel Atwill, Onslow Stevens, Jane Adams, Ludwig Stössel, and Glenn Strange. During the 1940s, Universal had created several monsters to scare the public, one movie after another. Several of those movies not only featured one of their monster creations, but two or three, which added to the tension and fear of the film. In House of Dracula, Count Dracula and the Wolf Man seek a cure for their afflictions; a hunchbacked woman, a mad scientist and the Frankenstein monster have their own troubles.

Dracula arrives at Dr. Edelman's (Stevens) office asking for a cure to his vampirism. However, this is a ruse by Dracula (Carradine) to get near Dr. Edelman's beautiful female assistant, Nina (Adams), and turn her into a vampire. Meanwhile, a sincere Lawrence Talbot, AKA the Wolf Man (Chaney), arrives seeking a cure for his lycanthropy. When Dr. Edelman's first attempt fails, Talbot tries to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, but instead finds a network of underground caves where the Frankenstein Monster (Strange) is in stasis. Chaos ensues as the three monsters fight for dominance of each other.

So for a scary "Monster Mash Month" selection, we recommend watching the 1945 classic film, House of Dracula with Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, and Glenn Strange. Join "Let's Talk Classic Movies" next week to conclude our month of Universal Studios monsters when we feature a week of Universal's 'Mummy' movies. Monday we will be featuring Universal's 1932 film, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff.

**Trivia Question for Today: House of Dracula was the last of Universal's original FRANKENSTEIN movie series. How many films were included in this series? Which movie was excluded from this series?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: When The Monster's dialogue was deleted in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, also removed were any references to The Monster being blind - a side-effect of Ygor's brain being implanted into The Monster at the end of The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). As a result, Lugosi's sleepwalker-like lumbering gait with arms outstretched is not explained and became the subject of ridicule. It also established the Frankenstein Monster-walk stereotype.

Classic Movies - Universal Studios Monsters: Dracula

In our last post, we highlighted Bram Stoker’s weird tale about Count Dracula in the 1922 silent film, Nosferatu. Today we would like to forward to 1931 when a Hungarian-born actor named Bela Lugosi cornered the "ghoul" market as the blood-thirsty vampire in Dracula. Lugosi had played the vampire Count on Broadway, and was chosen by Director Tod Browning to portray Dracula in the film version. Black-caped, soft-spoken, and oh-so-sinister, Count Dracula made his daytime home in a coffin, but when he eerily emerged from it, audiences knew that he was ready for action. He was never actually shown at work as the vampire, but once a victim’s head fell back, exposing a "deliciously veined" neck, one knew exactly what was going to happen.

So for a scary "Monster Mash Month", we recommend watching the 1931 classic film, Dracula with Bela Lugosi. Join "Let's Talk Classic Movies" Friday to read about the Universal Studios Monster vampire comedy spoof movie -Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

**Trivia Question for Today: What was Bela Lugosi’s pivotal role in The Wolfman (1941)? The answer will appear in our next post.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Director F.W. Murnau found Max Schreck "strikingly ugly" in real life and decided the vampire makeup would suffice with just pointy ears and false teeth.

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).