In my last post I spoke of the story Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker, and was reminded of a draft of a review which I had begun back in 2014, and worked on over the years since, but never posted. I have wrapped it up and here it is, unbelievably, six years in the making…
Purportedly inspired by “Dracula’s Guest”, by Bram Stoker, “Dracula’s Daughter” is the 1936 sequel to the successful 1931 Universal film, “Dracula” featuring Bela Lugosi. There is little information available about the production of this film, aside from the respective IMDB and Wikipedia entries, but according to those and a few other Internet sources, there are a few commonly accepted “facts” which are frequently mentioned in the few articles I saw. Fact one, Gloria Holden, the statuesque beauty who plays the titular role, was not happy being saddled with it. Most aspiring actors loathed getting slated for Horror films and Holden was no exception. Holden’s main concern was that, like Lugosi, she would be typecast as a Horror actor and never be considered for anything else.
Gloria Holden and Bela Lugosi converse on set.
Ironically, even though it is the only Horror movie she ever did, it is one of the two films she is most remembered for; the other being “The Life of Emile Zola” (1937). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Holden#Films -retrieved 03-18-2014]
Oddly enough, the general consensus seems to be that this worked for her, as her disdain for the role played in with the character’s self loathing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula%27s_Daughter#Casting_retrieved 03-19-2014]
This particular aspect of the film (the self-loathing vampire) was also an inspiration for Horror novelist Anne Rice when she wrote her Vampire Chronicles.
“Dracula’s Daughter, 1934 [sic], with Gloria Holden — that’s my favorite vampire movie of all time, and the first one I saw as a child in the neighborhood theatre. There’s a great Youtube of the original Trailer. I feel [sic] in love with the metaphor of the vampire when I saw that film as a tragic, tormented outsider. I recommend the film.” [https://www.facebook.com/annericefanpage/posts/428675387184001_retrieved 03-17-2014]
Wax bust of Bela Lugosi as Dracula.
Another “fact” is that several Universal Monster legends were originally slated to have parts in the film, including Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Colin Clive, but the only one who appeared was Lugosi, after a fashion, as a waxen bust. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula%27s_Daughter#Casting_retrieved 03-18-2014]
Originally, the rights to “Dracula’s Guest” belonged to MGM, whom had purchased it from Stoker’s widow. Fearful of stepping on Universal’s toes (legally, since they owned the rights to “Dracula”) they sat on it for a few years, bouncing around script drafts until they eventually sold it to Universal. Once theirs, Universal wanted James Whale to direct it, since he had made the original Frankenstein franchise such a success with “Frankenstein” (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), but he had his eye on doing Show Boat. There is even early poster art for this version, which never came to pass. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula%27s_Daughter#Production_retrieved 03-18-14]
Tentative poster art for an early version of “Dracula’s Daughter” with James Whale as the director. Note also that the figures look like Lugosi and a woman totally unlike Gloria Holden. Possibly they intended it to be Jane Wyatt, their first choice for the role.
The movie that we know and love now was written by Garrett Fort and bears no resemblance to Stoker’s story. “Dracula’s Guest” was basically an excised chapter from the original novel that describes an incident that befalls a traveler, presumably Jonathan Harker, on the road through Germany en route to Transylvania. Happening upon a deserted village, the traveler wishes to peruse the ruins but the coachman is insistant that they go on as it is growing late and it is Walpurgis Night, when the spirits of the dead run rampant and the Witches practice their Sabbats. The traveler scoffs at the coachman’s superstitions and sends him on his way. After a couple of hours strolling he comes upon the ruins just as a snow storm hits. Finding himself in a graveyard he tries to take refuge in a tomb which bears the inscription “Countess Dolingen of Gratz / in Styria / sought and found death / 1801. Inscribed on the back of the tomb “graven in great Russian letters” is: The dead travel fast.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula%27s_Guest_and_Other_Weird_Stories#Plot_summary_retrieved 03-18-14]
“Dracula’s Guest” by Bram Stoker [Arrow, 1966]
Basically, he enters the tomb and briefly sees what one assumes is the Countess: “In the instant, as I am a living man, I saw, as my eyes were turned into the darkness of the tomb, a beautiful woman, with rounded cheeks and red lips, seemingly sleeping on a bier.” [Stoker, Bram. “Dracula’s Guest”. The Vampire Archive. Ed. Otto Pnzler. Quercus. 2009. p. 167]
It is implied that he is saved by Dracula, who pulls him from the tomb then sits on his chest in wolf form and licks his neck to keep him warm until help arrives.
The only carry over from Stoker’s tale into the Universal movie was the idea of a female vampire, and possibly that she is a countess. Picking up from where “Dracula” left off, “Dracula’s Daughter” starts with Edward Van Sloane reprising his role as Van Helsing (albeit with a slight name change to “Von Helsing”) explaining himself to a couple of goofy bobbies who for some reason have stumbled into Carfax Abby just as Von Helsing finishes dispatching the Count and his brides. After a brief awkward exchange that comes off as a poor Abbott and Costello routine, the Bobbies decide to contact Scotland Yard.
Subsequently, Von Sloane is sticking to his story about Dracula being a vampire, as his friends at Scotland Yard try to persuade him to change his tune to avoid murder charges. He calls for his friend Dr. Jeffrey Garth to come to his defense. Garth feels indebted to his old master and agrees to help, but is of the same mindset as the others. As a psychiatrist, he also finds Von Helsing’s talk of vampires to be a little credulous.
In the interim, a mysterious woman in a black cloak, showing only her eyes, and brandishing a bejeweled ring, hypnotizes one of the bobbies into giving up Dracula’s corpse, which is being stored at the local police station.
Dracula’s daughter (Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska) glamors a bobbie with her bedazzling ring and hypnotic gaze.
She is later seen burning the corpse on a pyre, reciting a doleful incantation, which we soon learn was intended as an exorcism of Dracula’s spirit. Believing herself freed of the curse of her father’s vampirism. Unfortunately, we soon find that is not the case when her thirst for blood returns. Desperate, she seeks psychological help from Garth, whom she meets at a soiree in the home of a local socialite. Her mouthy manservant, Sandor, is not pleased with this development as he intends to have the Countess give him the gift of eternal life in payment for his loyal service. He is the devil in her ear constantly reminding her of her duty to her vampire heritage.
Despite his multiple requests for her to come clean, the Countess never directly tells Garth what the nature of her issue is, so he cannot diagnose her properly, and thus his treatment inevitably proves ineffectual. Things get really sticky when one of her victims is found to have survived an attack and although she doesn’t name her, Garth is able to surmise who the young woman’s assailant was and hotfoots it to the Countess’ Chelsea apartment to find her.
Realizing that the jig is up, the Countess decides to flee for fear of capture after a recent spree of murders is traced to her doorstep, and she decides she cannot leave without bringing along Garth to continue her therapy in Transylvania. Garth refuses to follow so she kidnaps his secretary Janet (his sassy love interest in the movie, and aggressive rival of the Countess) to secure his compliance. He of course comes to her rescue and one can surmise how things turn out for the countess and her sinister servant.
I love this movie for Holden’s excellent portrayal of the shadow haunted countess, although the screenplay itself feels a bit watered down. I would have been curious to see the original script, which was supposedly a lot more dark and decadent and vetoed by the films censors at the time. Also, the inclusion of Lugosi, at the very least in a proper cameo, would have helped give the film some gravitas.
