Dracula - Spanish Version

127 East Congress Street,Tucson AZ 85701

20 October, 2022

Description

Filmed at night on the same sets that were being used during the day for the 1931 English-language film of the same name. In the early days of sound, it was common for Hollywood studios to produce foreign-language versions of their films (usually in French, Spanish, Italian and German) using the same sets and costumes. Of the cast, only Carlos Villarías (playing Dracula) was permitted to see rushes of the English-language film starring Bela Lugosi and was encouraged to imitate the other man’s performance. In recent years, this version has become more highly praised by some than the more popular English-language version. The Spanish crew had the advantage of watching the English dailies 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. This film was thought to be lost, but a print was discovered in the 1970s and restored. Soon after beginning work for Conde Dracula (Carlos Villarias), the clerk Renfield (Pablo Alvarez Rubio) learns that his employer is, in fact, a vampire who lives on human blood. Now under Dracula’s spell, Renfield helps his master travel to London, where the vampire takes another victim (Carmen Guerrero). Dracula also has eyes on the lovely Eva (Lupita Tovar), but her fiancé, Juan Harker (Barry Norton), and a wise professor named Van Helsing (Eduardo Arozamena) seek to stop him.