Why is there no Dracula?
Why is this movie called The Brides of Dracula sense there is no Dracula or was the Baron supossed to be a younger Dracula? If you know, please, tell me.
shareWell, we could split hairs as to its accuracy, as the title does say it's The BRIDES of Dracula, and not Dracula, proper. (While BRIDES OF BARON MEINSTER would be more correct, it wouldn't be as commercial. An equally questionable title is the one eventually tacked onto SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA--COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE BRIDE, the trailer for which promised we'd see Dracula marry the "queen of the zombies" and that "the devil himself will be exorcised.") But, in reality, while Hammer wanted to do a sequel to HORROR OF DRACULA, for many years Christopher Lee refused to reprise the role. So, Hammer decided to do a follow-up to their first Dracula film that focused on Dr. Van Helsing (as played by Peter Cushing once again), instead. (Which was somewhat in keeping with their Frankenstein films. In Universal's Frankenstein movies, the emphasis was on the monster, whereas in the Hammer series the focus was on Cushing's Baron Frankenstein.) Cushing had no qualms about typecasting, did not look disdainfully down his nose at Hammer/horror, so was quite happy to come back as doctors Van Helsing and Frankenstein for the studio. He always expressed gratitude for the exposure and employment it gave him. Eventually, Christpher Lee did come back as the count...don't know if Hammer made him an offer he could not refuse, or if the offers simply weren't coming in. Lee claims the studio made him feel guilty, because if he didn't play Dracula they could not make another Dracula movie and staff would be out of work. (The one thing that makes this argument suspicious is that Ralph Bates was supposed to take over as Dracula as of TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, but when Lee agreed to return to the role, the script was reworked to have Bates' character turn into Lee's Dracula during the course of the story. And SCARS OF DRACULA was initially written with an eye toward a new Dracula actor, which irked Lee when he became involved with the film, because the script gave Dracula more dialogue than he usually got.)
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mr.lee says he was emotionaly blackmailed into doing a lot of his films with hammer. he says they would ask him too do a film and come out with 'but, if you dont do this for us chris, it wont be made. it's being made because your going too be in it and we've already hired the crew for it and we'll have too sack them if you dont'.
(lol) Yes, many's the time that Christopher Lee has said the Colonel (Carreras) coerced him into doing Dracula by making him feel guilty about having to sack the crew if he didn't come through. However, a couple of Hammer producers have claimed in interviews that Lee would be very vocal about not wanting to repeat the role, let them sweat it out a bit, then agree to come back providing they paid him more. Hard to tell who's got the better memory there. Lee did say, during production of DRACULA AD 1972, that he was rather reluctant to relocate the count into contemporary times, yet came back for more in SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA. He did decline, however, to slip the fangs and cape on for a cameo in LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES.
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and we thank GAWD he didnt make it. it was an awful move. and i guess age affords you too have a selective memory. well, at his age, all his contempoaries are all dead now and whos left too dispute his view of things?
I highly recommend reading Lee's autobiography, "Tall, Dark & Gruesome." He has some great tales to tell, and his dry, wry wit is really shown off in those pages. As for LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES, it's a late night guilty pleasure, even if only to see Cushing's final performance as Van Helsing. (However, if you think LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES is bad, the chopped up version released as THE 7 BROTHERS MEET DRACULA makes it look like an eerie epic.) The DVD of LEGEND OF THE 7 contains both cuts and a bonus rarity: When the film came out, there was an audio dramatization soundtrack released, which had Peter Cushing telling the tale of the film. This album had limited release, so this was a welcome extra. (The first few minutes of the album are set up by the man who did the voice-overs for a number of Hammer trailers, then Cushing comes in to carry the ball for the bulk of the story.) There was talk of doing an audio adaptation for FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL, but I don't think it ever happened. (Don't know if an actual recording was made, or not.)
shareWhy didn't they hire someone else to play Dracula then, if CL didn't want to play him. CL never been my fave Dracula anyway ... he plays him with few lines and no personality, like a hungry beast--yet the book shows him to have the gift of the gab, and an interest in many things, especially history.
shareThe title uses "Dracula" as a metaphor for the vampire
shareThat's largely a matter of writing rather than CL's performance. CL himself is a huge fan of the book and has frequently said that he was disappointed with most of the Hammer Dracula scripts; he often used to insert lines from the book into the screenplays (e.g. in "Dracula AD 1972", when during the final fight he suddenly says "You would play your brains against mine... against me who commanded nations?"). His favourite of his own Dracula films, IIRC, isn't a Hammer one, but Jesus Franco's "El Conde Dracula".
CL certainly didn't look down his nose at Hammer horror at this period - look at all the other films he was appearing in! He just knew the power of the part and wanted to avoid the typecasting that had happened to Bela Lugosi.
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CL never been my fave Dracula anyway ... he plays him with few lines and no personality, like a hungry beast--yet the book shows him to have the gift of the gab, and an interest in many things, especially history.
Yes! When you take away all the moments of fang-baring, Christopher Lee (may he rest in peace) virtually gave non-performances each time he took on the role of Dracula. In Horror of Dracula, the sequence in which Jonathan Harker first meets the Count in his manor is easily amongst the weakest interpretations of that iconic moment, largely due to Lee's ineffectual line delivery; I think the suspenseful direction and intense musical score are both pretty great, though, and end up salvaging the scene from being a total bust. But, yes, other than looking fearsome, Christopher Lee just never did all that much with the character. share