#mina seward

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Dracula (1931)

[skinetom]

Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Mina Seward (Helen Chandler) ~ Dracula ~ 1931

[joyfullywizard]

Hi! You have very good detailed level-headed takes about Dracula adaptations. I appreciate it. Could you tell what people often misunderstand about Dracula adaptations or get wrong?

Hi! You are welcome and thanks for nice words. As for what people misunderstand or get wrong about adaptations….well…in my opinion it's the following:

1) In many cases when people discuss adaptations, it becomes quite clear that either a person didn't actually watch that many adaptations or sometimes didn't even watch the particular adaptations this person is talking about -and that's ok not to watch every single adaptation out there, unless there is some broad generalization being made about adaptations, while the person making such generalization watched like maybe 3 adaptations tops. And it's specially bizarre to discuss and make definite statements about particular adaptations, when you haven't actually watched them. That creates some really false or outlandish claims.

2) People often miss that adaptations are not made in a vacuum and often ignore the historic and social context and circumstances and morals which existed when particular adaptations were made. Like, for example,  I saw people being “why 1931 movie Dracula is like that? Why does he look like that? Why is it set in 1930s? Why Seward is aged up to be Mina’s father? Etc.”  And the truth is….there are pretty logical plain explanations for all of that. Great Depression in US prevented movie from  having a big budget, so they couldn’t set it in period setting of XIX c. as it would have been too expensive. At the same time they had a very successful popular play adaptation of Dracula on Broadway, which opened in 1927 – the play already set the events in then-present day. Again, for simplicity of staging and costs. So they took that play as foundation for 1931 movie and set events in 1930s. Dracula’s looks in 1931 movie? Came directly from the play-cape, tuxedo, widow’s peak and all. Bela Lugosi who played Dracula in 1931 movie also played Dracula on stage in that very play. Seward being aged up and being Mina’s father? Also came directly from the play. And they aged him up and made him the father again for play for  simplicity reasons-in order to have a smaller cast of characters, streamlining the plot and all existing good characters being very easily explainable to the audience. Why do the producers latched on the adapting play more than the novel? Because at that time it was fashionable in movie industry. The number of sound pictures of the various horror and mystery variety had preceded Dracula, including such stuff  as The Terror, Stark Mad, The Cat Creeps, The Bat Whispers, and The Gorilla. Most of these were adapted from Broadway plays in which the scary stuff was intermingled with comedy and anything that appeared paranormal was always revealed as the machinations of malevolent plotting human beings. 1931 Dracula movie on the other hand was  absolutely fresh in a way that while it was also based a lot on a play, the audience got a character  who was a real  vampire and not just another crook in disguise -and that’s also one of the reasons why  1931 movie gave Dracula more screen time. Cause play did it, yes, but also because movie version was supposed to properly convince moviegoers that Dracula actually was a purely supernatural character and not just another hoax.

Same thing was happening with other Dracula adaptations – there were always particular reasons stemmed from the time period and social context and cinematic and cultural trends, which affected how this or that adaptation was made. Basically, there are always  very concrete and plain explanations why certainly choices were made, and those are never simply “that screenwriter or director just woke up one day and decided to make that particular choice in adaptation just because”. Not to mention I saw that people sometimes treat Dracula adaptation as if some form of conspiracy exists behind them, and that’s simply not true and is  explained, again by  the historic, social, cultural  trends as well as by the commercial side of the things.

[rosalie-starfall]

Amy Yasbeck as Mina

Dracula: Dead and Loving It - 1995

[quietparanoiac]

Let's really give them something to watch!

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

[sweet-christabel]

One Dress a Day - bonus challenges

Not-a-Dress November   Dracula: Dead and Loving It - Mina Seward (Amy Yasbeck)

I feel like this is kind of cheating on the ‘not-a-dress’ thing, because this nightgown might as well be a dress! It has a 1930s feel to it, with its fitted upper half and bias cut flared skirt. Unusually, it’s a nightdress that she has to dance in, so they made sure it would move beautifully. The morning after, she pairs it with a pretty but impractical-looking shawl!

[scifipinups]

Helen Chandler as ‘Mina Seward’, Dracula, 1931

[thecountesstold]

Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Renfield (Dwight Frye), & Mina Seward (Helen Chandler)

DRACULA (1931) dir. Tod Browning