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| Above, Bela Lugosi (left) and his co-stars in a publicity photo. Photo by Universal Pictures. |
Today in motion picture history.
On Valentine's Day in 1931, Universal Pictures' Dracula starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan was released. It was the first purely supernatural movie and started the monster/horror cycle at Universal.
From Wikipedia:
Dracula is a 1931 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning from a screenplay written by Garrett Fort and starring Bela Lugosi in the title role. It is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Lugosi portrays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée.
Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, Dracula is the first sound film adaptation of the Stoker novel. Several actors were considered to portray the title character, but Lugosi, who had previously played the role on Broadway, eventually got the part. The film was partially shot on sets at Universal Studios Lot in California, which were reused at night for the filming of a concurrently produced Spanish-language adaptation of the same name, also produced by Universal.
Dracula was a commercial and critical success upon release, and led to several sequels and spin-offs. It has had a notable influence on popular culture, and Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula established the character as a cultural icon, as well as the archetypal vampire in later works of fiction. In 2000, the film was selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Incredible as it seems, the 1931 Dracula has been around for 94 years.
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