Dracula: The Original 1931 Shooting Script, Vol. 13 (Universal Filmscript Series) (Universal Filmscripts Series: Classic Horror Films) (Paperback)

by Philip J. Riley (Author, Editor), Magicimage Filmbooks (Corporate Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The vampire has always had audience appeal. What is amazing is that Hollywood shunned the King of Vampires for years fearing the story was too gruesome of any movie audience's palette. When Universal finally decided to make a screen production of the classic novel and successful Broadway play, they were not originally going to pursue Bela Lugosi for the part even though he had stunned audiences with his performance in the Broadway role for years. This MagicImage Filmbook traces the long trail of the classic 1931 production from legend to screenplay to film. Includes treatments, preliminary scripts even, for the first time anywhere, reproductions of some of Bram Stoker's original handwritten and typed draft manuscript for the novel. Special Introduction by Bela Lugosi and Preface by Carla Laemmle.

From the Back Cover
60th Anniversary Edition 1931-1991

It's a Universal Picture!

From the Vaults of the Ackerman Archives.

Contain's Production Background!

Press Book!

Biography Notes on the Cast & Crew!

Complete Shooting Script!

Rare Photographs!

Behind the Scenes Photos!

See the film on MCA/Universal Home Video

Or the restored version on MCA/Universal Laser Disc

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: Magicimage Filmbooks; 1st edition (December 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882127099
• ISBN-13: 978-1882127092
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #884,259 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #2 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( R ) > Riley, Philip J.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Collection of "Dracula" (1931) Script, Early Screenplays, Photos & History. , May 1, 2006

By	mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"Dracula: The Original Shooting Script" was produced in cooperation with Universal Studios and The Ackerman Archives, bringing together the original shooting script of 1931's "Dracula" and 88 pages of material about the novel, plays, and pre-production of this enduring film, including over 100 photographs and images. There is an Introduction by actor Bela Lugosi that reproduces a publicity blurb he was to deliver on a Los Angeles radio station to promote "Dracula" in 1931. The Foreword by Ivan Butler, written for the first edition of this book in 1989, recalls touring in the Hamilton Deane stage production of "Dracula". The preface by Carla Laemmle, cousin of producer Carl Laemmle, Jr., recalls life at Universal Studios in the 1920s-1930s.

Philip J. Riley, of The Ackerman Archives, and George Turner provide "Production Background", including 4 pages of Bram Stoker's rough draft of his novel "Dracula", some history of the brilliant but illegal F. W. Murnau film "Nosferatu", discussion of Hamilton Deane's 1924 stage adaptation and John Balderston's later adaptation upon which the film is based, a career bio of director Tod Browning, and the efforts to get "Dracula" made at Universal. There is a selection of early screenplays: A 32-page treatment of "Dracula" that Fritz Stephens submitted to Carl Laemmle is reproduced on 6 pages. A 50-page first draft of a screenplay by Louis Bromfield is partly reproduced in miniature on 13 pages. (You will need a magnifying glass to read it.) Part of the Dudley Murphy rewrite of the Bromfield script is included. There is a section dedicated to "Scenes from the Spanish Production of Dracula" that discusses some of the differences between the Spanish and English versions. A "Music" section discusses the film's score by Heinz Roemheld. There are excerpts from film reviews, sketches by Art Director John Hoffman, "Behind the Scenes" photos, and an eclectic mix of other photos and trivia.

The shooting script itself occupies about two-thirds of the book. It has been pieced together from the personal copies of Bela Lugosi, cinematographer Karl Freund, and producer of the Spanish version Paul Kohner. The most striking aspect of the script, in my view, is that so much of Renfield's scenes and dialogue were cut in the final films. Also cut were some short scenes with Count Dracula and Lucy Weston's un-dead scenes. The film lost some creepiness and suspense in cutting Lucy's scenes. But it lost most of Pablo Alvarez Rubio's great performance in the Spanish version of the film by cutting Renfield. Rubio's is the best performance of the two "Dracula" films, and I would like to have seen more of it. The shooting script is followed by a copy of the original press book for "Dracula", some old ads for the film, and the New York Times review from February 1931. "Dracula: The Original Shooting Script" is a nice collection of script, screenplays, history, and photos for fans of "Dracula" and aficionados of Universal horror films. My only criticism is that the sections preceding the script are poorly organized, the off-white paper doesn't reproduce photos well, and the quality of the paper is poor -although I have seen worse.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, January 26, 2000

By	Hank DEE "HD" (bulgaria) - See all my reviews

So MUCH information & images, many I'd never seen before. A compendium indispensible in understanding how the story moved from novel to stage to screen. Production stills, various early script treatments in their entireties... including oddities such as Forry Ackerman's 1st Edition Dracula hardcover signed by everyone from Stoker to Lugosi to Chris Lee and WAY beyond. Unbelievable-- a true treasure.