Drácula (Spanish Version) (1931)
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Part of the A Nightmare on Franklin Street 2026 series
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Note: This film will be shown in the Taylor Screening Room.
1h 43m / Not Rated / Horror, Fantasy, Drama
Unfortunate real estate agent Renfield takes a miserable carriage ride through the Carpathian Mountains to castle Dracula, where he is to transfer the property of Carfax Abbey in London to the Count of the estate. He ends up changing careers — as it so happens, Count Dracula is a fearsome vampire, who drains the blood of the living with his incredible supernatural powers. He enthralls Renfield, travels to London and immediately turns his attention to seducing and draining the blood of his neighbor Mina Seward and her friend Lucy until Mina’s father calls in the expert Dr. Van Helsing to try and extinguish his vile influence.
In the 1920s, just like now, Hollywood studios relied on the exportation of their films to other countries in order to make their budgets. The rise of sound film created a problem for this model — now they had to do more than translate a few intertitles; they had to create a whole new soundtrack. Sound technology was rudimentary. In many cases, on-set sound was difficult to capture, and many early sound actors weren’t used to speaking on camera anyway. The method that developed (briefly) was to shoot more than one version of the film at the same time, using the same script, set, cameras and costumes but switching out the actors depending on the language of the intended market. In 1931, while Tod Browning was directing Bela Lugosi as Dracula during the day, George Melford was directing Carlos Villarías at night, making the same movie (except with additional dialogue and rearranged scenes). Melford didn’t even speak Spanish himself, but miraculously, they pulled it off! Many film scholars even consider it the superior version.
In Spanish, with English subtitles.
Before the screening, Hector Sotomayor—a professor of Film, Art, & Media at the Ringling College of Art & Design—will provide a brief introduction to the film.
**********************************************************
A Nightmare on Franklin Street series is presented by Bank of America. View the full series at https://tampatheatre.org/nightmare
**********************************************************
Note: This film will be shown in the Taylor Screening Room.
1h 43m / Not Rated / Horror, Fantasy, Drama
Unfortunate real estate agent Renfield takes a miserable carriage ride through the Carpathian Mountains to castle Dracula, where he is to transfer the property of Carfax Abbey in London to the Count of the estate. He ends up changing careers — as it so happens, Count Dracula is a fearsome vampire, who drains the blood of the living with his incredible supernatural powers. He enthralls Renfield, travels to London and immediately turns his attention to seducing and draining the blood of his neighbor Mina Seward and her friend Lucy until Mina’s father calls in the expert Dr. Van Helsing to try and extinguish his vile influence.
In the 1920s, just like now, Hollywood studios relied on the exportation of their films to other countries in order to make their budgets. The rise of sound film created a problem for this model — now they had to do more than translate a few intertitles; they had to create a whole new soundtrack. Sound technology was rudimentary. In many cases, on-set sound was difficult to capture, and many early sound actors weren’t used to speaking on camera anyway. The method that developed (briefly) was to shoot more than one version of the film at the same time, using the same script, set, cameras and costumes but switching out the actors depending on the language of the intended market. In 1931, while Tod Browning was directing Bela Lugosi as Dracula during the day, George Melford was directing Carlos Villarías at night, making the same movie (except with additional dialogue and rearranged scenes). Melford didn’t even speak Spanish himself, but miraculously, they pulled it off! Many film scholars even consider it the superior version.
In Spanish, with English subtitles.
Before the screening, Hector Sotomayor—a professor of Film, Art, & Media at the Ringling College of Art & Design—will provide a brief introduction to the film.
**********************************************************
A Nightmare on Franklin Street series is presented by Bank of America. View the full series at https://tampatheatre.org/nightmare
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Tampa Theatre, 707 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602-4400, United States
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