Count Dracula
Screenshot
Directed by	Philip Saville
Produced by	Morris Barry
Written by	Gerald Savory
Starring	Louis Jourdan Frank Finlay Susan Penhaligon Judi Bowker Jack Shepherd Mark Burns Philip Saville (sometimes credited as Philip Savile) (born 1929) is a British television director, active in the genre since the late 1950s. ... Morris Barry was born in Northampton and was a noticeable figure on the production side of the BBC in the 1960s and 1970s. ... Louis Jourdan (born June 19, 1919) is a French actor, known chiefly for his suave manner and good looks. ... Frank Finlay, CBE (born 6 August 1926 in Farnworth, in Bolton, Lancashire, England) is a British stage, film and television actor of English, Irish and Scottish descent. ... Susan Penhaligon in Doctor Who Susan Penhaligon was one of the most notable British television actresses of the 1970s, and continues to make stage and screen appearances today. ... {{subst:http://www. ... Jack Shepherd (born October 29, 1940, Leeds, Yorkshire) is a British actor, well-known for playing avuncular policemen, army personnel, and clergy. ...
Music by	Kenyon Emrys-Roberts
Editing by	Richard Bedford
Distributed by	BBC PBS
Running time	150 min
Country	UK
Language	English
Budget	unknown
IMDb profile

Count Dracula (1977) was a television adaptation of the famous novel by Bram Stoker. It was remarkably faithful to the original book. Louis Jourdan played the title role. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... PBS re-directs here; for alternate uses see PBS (disambiguation) PBS logo The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a non-profit public broadcasting television service with 349 member TV stations in the United States. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A biological adaptation is an anatomical structure, physiological process or behavioral trait of an organism that has evolved over a period of time by the process of natural selection such that it increases the expected long-term reproductive success of the organism. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative in prose. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847–April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... Louis Jourdan (born June 19, 1919) is a French actor, known chiefly for his suave manner and good looks. ...

Cast

• Louis Jourdan as Count Dracula
• Frank Finlay as Abraham Van Helsing
• Susan Penhaligon as Lucy Westenra
• Judi Bowker as Mina Westenra
• Jack Shepherd as Renfield
• Mark Burns as Dr. John Seward
• Bosco Hogan as Jonathan Harker
• Richard Barnes as Quincey P. Holmwood

Alternate meaning: Dracula (orchid genus) Dracula is a fictional character, arguably the most famous vampire in fiction. ... Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character in Bram Stokers 1897 novel, Dracula. ... Dwight Fry as Renfield in the 1931 adaptation of Dracula. ... Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the name of its title character, the vampire Count Dracula. ... Jonathan Harker is a fictional character in the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. ...

Plot Summary

Lucy Westenra spies on her sister Mina saying farewell to the latter's fiancee, Jonathan Harker. He is leaving on a business trip to Transylvania. The scene then shifts the Borgo Pass where Harker is left alone by the local driver. He flatly refuses to wait for Harker and tosses his luggage out before driving away. Soon, another carriage approaches, from Castle Dracula (presumably) but the coachman does not speak. After reaching the ruined castle, Harker emerges and the coach drives away. Then Dracula himself opens the door for him, uttering the famous line "Welcome to my house. Enter freely and of your own will." Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow Transylvania (Romanian: or Transilvania; Hungarian: ; German: ; Serbian: / Transilvanija or Ердељ / Erdelj) is a historical region in central and western Romania. ... Borgo Pass retains its atmospheric appearance Borgo Pass is the road that linked Transylvania with Bukovina (Moldavia), still the main route today through the eastern range of the Carpathian Mountains. ... Caernarfon Castle, Wales. ...

Harker, a solicitor, is there is expedite Count Dracula's purchase of several properties in England, including Carfax Abbey. The Count is urbane and gracious, but also vaguely sinister. He insists Harker stay for a month to tutor him on the finer points of English. As time goes by, Harker witnesses increasingly bizarre events. The Count--who has fangs and long fingernails--casts no reflection in the mirror. Twice Harker spots the Count crawling down the outside wall of the castle, seemingly defying gravity. Finally, he violates the Count's rules and goes to sleep in the library, where three beautiful women appear and seem to entrance him--until interrupted by Dracula himself, who gives the three a baby, which they devour. Harker explores and finds the Count asleep in a coffin, then tries to kill him with a shovel (which has no effect). A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia New Zealand and Canada, but not the United States (in the United States the word has a quite different meaning—see below). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ...

In England, Mina and Lucy go to the seaside town of Whitby and befriend an old sailor who tells them stories. One day, the three of them are atop a hill as a storm approaches, and the sailor notes a ship is in the storm, en route. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... Statistics Population: 13,740 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: NZ893109 Administration District: Scarborough Shire county: North Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: North Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (North Riding) Services Police force: North Yorkshire Police Ambulance service: Yorkshire Post office...

This ship is the Demeter, which goes aground. The sailor is found dead the next morning, at the very spot where he'd last seen Mina and Lucy. Ceres (Demeter), allegory of August: detail of a fresco by Cosimo Tura, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, 1469-70 Dêmêtêr (or Demetra) (Greek: , mother-earth or perhaps distribution-mother, perhaps from the noun of the Indo-European mother-earth *dheghom *mater) is the Greek goddess of grain and agriculture...

Dr. John Seward, owner of a local asylum, is friendly with the Westenra family as well as Quincey Holmwood, an American diplomat who has become engaged to Lucy. Among Seward's patients is the madman Renfield who is somehow aware of Dracula's arrival, and worships (yet fears) him. Then, one night, Lucy goes sleepwalking into the local graveyard. Mina follows and briefly spots Dracula holding Lucy in his arms. From that night on, Lucy begins to change. She grows pale and weak, but rallies after sunset. She begins to sport tiny fangs. While everyone worries over her, she welcomes Dracula to her bedroom where he drinks her blood. Look up asylum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ...

Seward finally call on his friend Abraham Van Helsing for help with Lucy's strange illness. He almost immediately recognizes the signs and protects the girl's bedroom with garlic. Meanwhile, Mina receives word that Jonathan has turned up in a convent in Transylvania, weak and delerious (having escaped from the castle). She goes to be with, and marry him. While she is gone, a final attack happens at the Westenra home as a wolf crashes through Lucy's bedroom window. The shock kills her mother (who has a weak heart). When found, Lucy is sprawled across the bed, pale and nearly dead. Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. ...

As she fades, her manner shifts from herself to a kind of wild voluptuousness. When she finally dies, Van Helsing notices the wounds on her throat have vanished--and that she no longer casts a reflection.

Mina returns, deeply saddened at the loss of her family. Van Helsing takes Seward to Lucy's grave near dawn. They find a child nearby, dazed and talking about the "Bloofer lady" (i.e. "beautiful lady") and with tell-tale fang marks on his throat.

Van Helsing insists Seward and Quincey accompany him to Lucy's grave, where they see her approach--blood on her lips and gown. She speaks lovingly to Quincey, who nearly succumbs but flees when Van Helsing shows her a cross. In the tomb, Van Helsing explains what must be done and Quincey drives a wooden stake into Lucy's heart. Later, the professor fills her mouth with garlic and cuts off her head.

Harker, Van Helsing, Seward and Quincey all go to Carfax Abbey to sterilize the boxes of his native earth Dracula has had shipped there. They don't realize that now Dracula is visiting Mina and has bitten her. But Renfield does realize, and seeks to warn her and Seward. In revenge Dracula kills him, but before he dies Renfield manages to warn the men--who rush to Mina's bedroom, only to find her drinking blood from Dracula's chest. Dracula himself vanishes as they enter. Mina becomes hysterical, especially after Van Helsing touches her forehead with a piece of Holy Wafer and it sears her flesh. From that moment on, until Dracula's demise, she carries the scar as well as slightly noticeable fangs. For the death metal band from Sweden, see Eucharist (band) The Eucharist or Communion or The Lords Supper, is the rite that Christians perform in fulfilment of Jesus instruction, recorded in the New Testament,[1] to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. ...

As they continue to find Dracula's boxes, rendering them useless to him with crosses and the Host, they realize he must flee back to his castle. They follow. Eventually, Van Helsing and Mina go directly overland to the Castle while the others follow Dracula's coffin, transported by gypsies. In the Transylvanian wilderness, Dracula's brides approach the pair, but Van Helsing draws a circle around them, filling it with pieces of Holy Wafer. The Brides cannot pass, although they call to Mina to join them, naming her "Sister." The next morning, Van Helsing goes into the Castle, driving wooden stakes in each of the Brides' hearts (and Mina, sleeping, evidently feels the blows).

Finally, there is a chase. Harker, Seward and Quincey are chasing the carriage that carries Dracula's coffin. In the process, they must fight Gypsies loyal to Dracula. At one point, Harker is saved when Mina shoots a threatening Gypsy with a rifle. With hardly a moment to spare, the pursuers reach the coffin and pull off its cover. Inside, Dracula smiles noticing that it is almost sunset. But they drive a long wooden stake into the vampire's heart, and his body erupts into a mini-sandstorm. All that is left are his clothes and ashes. The Rroma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies. ... Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 This article deals with vampires in folklore and legends. ...

Deviations from the novel

This list is not exhaustive, but intended to convey a sense of the differences between the film and the novel: Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative in prose. ...

• Dracula does not "youthen."
• Mina and Lucy are sisters.
• Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood are combined into one character.
• Dracula is portrayed as urbane, even seductive.

Quincey Morris is a fictional character from Bram Stokers novel Dracula. ... For other uses, see Dracula (disambiguation). ...

Style

There was a surreal quality to this film. For example, several times the character of Dracula is shown as a negative image, especially when angry or feeding. When Lucy is visited by Dracula, she is shown dancing in slow motion to erie music with Dracula's face superimposed over the screen. Likewise, when Harker falls asleep in the library, he sees Mina in the corner, brushing her hair. Often shots of particular moments (like the entry or exit of Dracula from a scene or room) are shown several times on top of one another, with slight changes of color, speed, angle, etc. A cow standing on a pole. ... Color, positive picture (A) and negative (B), monochrome positive picture (C) and negative (D) In photography, a negative may refer to 3 different things, although they are all related. ...

Ultimately, the effect is to make the supernatural aspects of the story blend with the more naturalistic elements--the natural light, the muted colors, the realistic blood, an actual bat, etc.

Trivia

• After its initial USA broadcast on Great Performances, certain scenes (involving the Brides feeding from a baby) were cut from further broadcasts.
• This was the first film version to portray Count Dracula crawling down a wall, as well as the first to show the scene where Mina Harker meets the Brides outside the Castle.

Great Performances was a television series devoted to the performing arts which ran on the US television station PBS from 1972. ... Brides of Dracula is a 1960 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Studios. ... Alternate meaning: Dracula (orchid genus) Dracula is a fictional character, arguably the most famous vampire in fiction. ... Wilhelmina Mina Harker is a fictional character of Bram Stokers seminal horror novel Dracula. ...

External Links

• Online Review
• Another Online Review