The Kiss No Woman Could Resist! (May, 1931)

 

 

 

 
Out of Universal’s first wave of Gothic horrors, the one that probably aged the worst was also the first. Based on a popular stage version,the film adaptation of Dracula is nothing but a static recreation of the play it was based on and lacks the usual delirium of other Tod Browning flicks. And the director’s disinterested effort has been blamed on the fact that his star of choice, Lon Chaney Sr., died before filming commenced, allowing Lugosi to backdoor into the role, a role he was stuck with for his whole career (– though technically, he only reprised the role once, in Abbot & Costello meet Frankenstein). Alas, the fine folks at the Capitol Theater weren’t all that interested either, as aside from a few teaser ads (see post below), they seemed a lot more interested in the impending premiere of Lewis Milestone’s The Front Page, which was adapted again, several times, most notably by Howard Hawks for His Girl Friday.
 
Dracula (1931) Universal Pictures / P: E.M. Asher, Tod Browning, Carl Laemmle Jr. / D: Tod Browning / W: Hamilton Deane, John L. Balderston, Garrett Fort (play), Bram Stoker (novel) / C: Karl Freund / E: Milton Carruth / S: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan