Dracula (partially found epilogue scene of Universal horror film; 1931): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:40, 30 October 2021

Advertisement poster for the film.

Status: Partially Found

Universal's Dracula is a 1931 horror film loosely based on the 1924 play of the same name directed by Tod Browning and Karl Freund starring Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing. The film is seen as a classic by many and is often regarded as the film that made Dracula a popular icon. The initial theatrical run of the film featured an epilogue by Sloan, similar to the prologue of Frankenstein, where he directly said to the audience:

"Just a moment, ladies and gentlemen! A word before you go. We hope the memories of Dracula and Renfield won't give you bad dreams, so just a word of reassurance. When you get home tonight, and the lights have been turned out, and you are afraid to look behind the curtains — and you dread to see a face appear at the window — why, just pull yourself together and remember that after all, there are such things as vampires!"

When Dracula was reissued in 1936, The Motion Picture Code, which worked to censor films in order to keep certain morals, was being taken very seriously. As such, the epilogue was removed to avoid contention from religious groups. The epilogue was never restored for any future releases.^[1]

A few stills and a brief clip of the epilogue are featured in the 1999 documentary Road to Dracula. In September 2021, David J. Skal, director of Road to Dracula and noted writer and historian known for his work in the horror genre, was contacted by the Loose Leaf Celluloid podcast and asked about the state of the footage. According to Skal, Universal acquired the only known copy of the sequence from the British Film Institute by the late nineties. As it features "several raggedy jump cuts" and is missing portions of the soundtrack, "Universal’s quality control people deemed it 'unusable' and refused to let it be used in its entirety, so I came up with the solution you see in my documentary." He also stated that a restoration is possible, though he doubts one is likely due to costs.^[2]^[3]

Video

Footage of the epilogue and explanation of the scene (7:53).

External Links

Wikipidea page for the film that details the epilogue. Retrieved 30 Apr '21

References

[1] Screen Rant article about the film that mentions the epilogue. Retrieved 30 Apr '21

[2] "Wrote to David J. Skal about the cut epilogue to Dracula (1931)..." Loose Leaf Celluloid (@loosecellpod) on Twitter. September 6, 2021. 9:45 AM EST.

[3] "Here's his full statement..." Loose Leaf Celluloid (@loosecellpod) on Twitter. September 6, 2021. 11:17 AM EST.

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-Universal's ''Dracula'', one of the most famous horror films of all time, was originally released in 1931 with an '''epilogue'''. It featured Edward Van Sloan, who played Van Helsing, talking directly to the audience. At first, it starts out with him telling the audience to not be afraid of vampires when they return to their homes.
+Universal's ''Dracula'' is a 1931 horror film loosely based on the 1924 play of the same name directed by Tod Browning and Karl Freund starring Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing. The film is seen as a classic by many and is often regarded as the film that made Dracula a popular icon. '''The initial theatrical run of the film featured an epilogue by Sloan''', similar to the prologue of Frankenstein, where he directly said to the audience:
-However, at the last moment, Edward says ''"There '''are''' such things!"'' and the movie ends.
+<blockquote>"Just a moment, ladies and gentlemen! A word before you go. We hope the memories of Dracula and Renfield won't give you bad dreams, so just a word of reassurance. When you get home tonight, and the lights have been turned out, and you are afraid to look behind the curtains — and you dread to see a face appear at the window — why, just pull yourself together and remember that after all, there ''are'' such things as vampires!"</blockquote>
-By the time ''Dracula'' was reissued in 1936, The Motion Picture Code (which worked to censor films in order to keep certain morals) was being taken very seriously. As such, the epilogue was removed to avoid contention from certain religious groups. To this day, the entire epilogue has not resurfaced.
+When ''Dracula'' was reissued in 1936, The Motion Picture Code, which worked to censor films in order to keep certain morals, was being taken very seriously. As such, the epilogue was removed to avoid contention from religious groups. The epilogue was never restored for any future releases.<ref>[https://screenrant.com/dracula-bela-lugosi-trivia/ Screen Rant article about the film that mentions the epilogue.] Retrieved 30 Apr '21</ref>
-However, in the 1999 documentary ''Road to Dracula'', there are a few stills and even some footage and audio taken from the epilogue's reel (which can be viewed below). It's unknown why the entire scene hasn't been put out to this day, but one possible explanation is that the footage in the documentary may have been the only usable footage from the reel, considering both how old the reel must have been and how it likely wasn't taken good care of as it was effectively deemed useless due to the MPC controversy. It is unknown if Universal has or will try to restore the footage or if any other reels of it are confirmed to exist.
+A few stills and a brief clip of the epilogue are featured in the 1999 documentary ''Road to Dracula''. In September 2021, David J. Skal, director of ''Road to Dracula'' and noted writer and historian known for his work in the horror genre, was contacted by the ''Loose Leaf Celluloid'' podcast and asked about the state of the footage. According to Skal, Universal acquired the only known copy of the sequence from the British Film Institute by the late nineties. As it features "several raggedy jump cuts" and is missing portions of the soundtrack, "Universal’s quality control people deemed it 'unusable' and refused to let it be used in its entirety, so I came up with the solution you see in my documentary." He also stated that a restoration is possible, though he doubts one is likely due to costs.<ref>[https://twitter.com/loosecellpod/status/1434875514880237570 "Wrote to David J. Skal about the cut epilogue to Dracula (1931)..." Loose Leaf Celluloid (@loosecellpod) on Twitter. September 6, 2021. 9:45 AM EST.]</ref><ref>[https://twitter.com/loosecellpod/status/1434898673507442699 "Here's his full statement..." Loose Leaf Celluloid (@loosecellpod) on Twitter. September 6, 2021. 11:17 AM EST.]</ref>
-{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_hhOAdQDkY|640x480|center|Footage of the epilogue and explanation of the scene (~7:50)|frame}}
+==Video==
+{{Video|perrow  =1
+  |service1     =youtube
+  |id1          =C_hhOAdQDkY
+  |description1 =Footage of the epilogue and explanation of the scene (7:53).
+}}
+==See Also==
+*[[Dracula (lost Russian film; existence unconfirmed; 1920)]]
+*[[Batman Dracula (partially found Andy Warhol film; 1964)]]
+*[[Batman Fights Dracula (partially found Filipino comedy parody film; 1967)]]
+*[[Dracula Hunter (lost arcade game; 1979)]]
+*[[Dracula's Death (lost horror film; 1921)]]
+*[[The Un-Dead (partially found original Dracula manuscript; 1897)]]
+==External Links==
+*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_(1931_English-language_film) Wikipidea page for the film that details the epilogue.] Retrieved 30 Apr '21
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
+[[Category:Lost films]]
 [[Category:Partially found media]]
-[[Category:Lost films]]
+[[Category:Historic]]