Goodnight, Mr. Renfield: Comparing the Two 1931 Dracula's
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- This 41-minute video essay uses the two 1931 versions of DRACULA (in English and in Spanish) as a 'natural experiment' to learn about directorial, visual, and editing choices and their consequences.
The author of this video essay is a film scholar and professor, and this video essay is a critical commentary for educational purposes. Almost every frame of the original has been transformed: by adding the timecode, and by juxtaposing the images with other images and with music and audio commentary. As critical, educational, and transformative, this video falls squarely under the Fair Use Doctrine of U.S. copyright law.
This video addresses issues central to the International Baccalaureate on film: notably textual analysis and comparative study.
NOTE: The 1931 Dracula's used very little music, owing to technical limitations at Universal in 1931. There is an excellent score by Philip Glass, but I have not used it here for IP reasons. Instead, I have adapted existing classical music (including Tchaikovsky 's 'Swan Lake,' which IS used in the original film) together with some music of my own. This music is a hybrid: partly intended to support the original film and partly supporting the organization and narration of the current video.
--Edward R. O'Neill
This was a very enjoyable comparison. I loved the granular detail you went into as well as discussing the merits of both.
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to make.
Very interesting video. I've been very into the movies Dracula (1931) and Renfield (2023) lately and I was wondering about this exact subject since I heard the Spanish one was 30 minutes longer. 😁
It's super-interesting to watch both! There's another video comparing the two: more historical. Thanks for commenting!
Man, Lupita Tovar is absolutely stunning
I agree 100%.
Lupita Tovar later married producer Paul Kohner. Their daughter Susan played Sarah Jane in the 1959 IMITATION OF LIFE. Susan Kohner's son became a director, and her grandchildren Chris and Paul Weitz made AMERICAN PIE!
A Hollywood dynasty!
All things being equal, I favor efficiency. The older a film is, the more distant and unusual the style is through modern eyes. It benefits a film to be shorter, more direct and to the point.
We can mulch over every single aesthetic trade off...but the fact of the matter is the American version of Dracula is an iconic film. The Spanish version loses Lugosi's legendary performance and adds HALF AN HOUR to the runtime.
I'll take the shorter version with the iconic performance. Indulgence is not always equivalent to increased quality.
Well put.
It's always been very clear to me that Browning's version is superior to Melford's. The only reason I even watch the Spanish version is for Lupita Tovar.
I think most people agree with you. I do find things Melford did well. There are more, but I didn't want to make an even longer video!
This seems like such an odd claim to me. I think most people actually prefer the Spanish version. From what I've seen of written reviews & youtube video reviews I think most prefer the Spanish save for the fact Carlos Villarias does not hold a candle to Lugosi (also Dwight Frye is just as good as Pablo Rubio).@@edwardroneill
@@conrad4852 I think "most people" aren't even aware that there is this Spanish version of the film. Among the die hard fanbase that IS aware...I think more of the, for lack of a better term, "pretentious" film afficionados like to just say that the Spanish version is better, or like the sort of parrot that opinion becomes it seems to be the sort of "in" opinion amongst that sort of critical "film expert" wing of the fandom.
The fact of the matter is removing Lugosi's iconic performance does irreparable damage to the energy of the film overall.
Imagine some alternate, 3 hour cut of The Dark Knight where someone else played Joker instead of Heath Ledger.
I think the Spanish version ruins the pace and structure of the film, while gutting it of one of the most iconic performances in film history.
There is no amount of small, moment to moment, scene to scene embellishments or cinematography decisions that outweigh those massive facts.
The Spanish version may be “better” in terms of how good the movie is but the Spanish Dracula does not even compare to the OG one
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