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Dracula: The Original 1931 Shooting Script, Vol. 13:
From the Back Cover 60th Anniversary Edition 1931-1991 It's a Universal Picture! From the Vaults of the Ackerman Archives. Contain's Production Background! Press Book! Biography Notes on the Cast & Crew! Complete Shooting Script! Rare Photographs! Behind the Scenes Photos! See the film on MCA/Universal Home Video
- GenresVampires
290 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 7, 2025
DRACULA: THE ORIGINAL 1931 SHOOTING SCRIPT is certainly a book that merited a better presentation. As was the case with other books in the series from Bear Manor, much of the material is photocopied rather than being recreated. So, photograph reproduction is much fainter than the collector would hope, and original source pages have drop-outs in type quality. The most disappointing offering is a screenplay by Louis Bromfield with the following introduction:
"We present for the first time what would have been Carl Laemmle Jr.'s ideal production of DRACULA intended for Lon Chaney."
What follows are pages photocopied and reduced to a 1/4-page size with four on a book page. This rendered the type so small that it would have been difficult to read even with a magnifying glass under the best of circumstances. But, with faded spots on the pages, some parts were entirely illegible for me. What I could read was fascinating, although I eventually had to give up.
The remainder of the material was very good in content, though. Background was provided not only about the Bram Stoker novel, various stage play productions and the film "Nosferatu," but also detailing the convoluted history of transferring the story to the screen (including the filming of a Spanish version). It is important for modern Readers to remember that American audiences weren't accustomed to actual supernatural forces being responsible for mysterious happenings in the cinema. Usually, it was what we might think of as the "Scooby-Doo" solution with a human villain trying to frighten people. "Dracula" contained the nefarious doings of an actual vampire, and then sent audiences home with a brief spoken epilogue warning that "such things exist."
I did enjoy reading the intended shooting script as there were some alterations from what finally was included in the movie. Mostly, extended sound effects (such as screams and the pounding of wooden stakes) were toned down, and the comedic sequences were a bit less "over the top" in the screenplay.
Overall, the book gave a terrific introduction to the effect "Dracula" had on audiences at the time it was released. I enjoyed learning a lot of the backstories which included the "studio politics" going on behind the scenes. (Universal's staff of Readers apparently gave a "thumbs down" on pursuing the production which they thought would alienate audiences despite the positive reception of the stage play.)
For those who are curious about the advent of the Universal Classic Horror films, DRACULA: THE ORIGINAL 1931 SHOOTING SCRIPT is an enjoyable and informative introduction.
"We present for the first time what would have been Carl Laemmle Jr.'s ideal production of DRACULA intended for Lon Chaney."
What follows are pages photocopied and reduced to a 1/4-page size with four on a book page. This rendered the type so small that it would have been difficult to read even with a magnifying glass under the best of circumstances. But, with faded spots on the pages, some parts were entirely illegible for me. What I could read was fascinating, although I eventually had to give up.
The remainder of the material was very good in content, though. Background was provided not only about the Bram Stoker novel, various stage play productions and the film "Nosferatu," but also detailing the convoluted history of transferring the story to the screen (including the filming of a Spanish version). It is important for modern Readers to remember that American audiences weren't accustomed to actual supernatural forces being responsible for mysterious happenings in the cinema. Usually, it was what we might think of as the "Scooby-Doo" solution with a human villain trying to frighten people. "Dracula" contained the nefarious doings of an actual vampire, and then sent audiences home with a brief spoken epilogue warning that "such things exist."
I did enjoy reading the intended shooting script as there were some alterations from what finally was included in the movie. Mostly, extended sound effects (such as screams and the pounding of wooden stakes) were toned down, and the comedic sequences were a bit less "over the top" in the screenplay.
Overall, the book gave a terrific introduction to the effect "Dracula" had on audiences at the time it was released. I enjoyed learning a lot of the backstories which included the "studio politics" going on behind the scenes. (Universal's staff of Readers apparently gave a "thumbs down" on pursuing the production which they thought would alienate audiences despite the positive reception of the stage play.)
For those who are curious about the advent of the Universal Classic Horror films, DRACULA: THE ORIGINAL 1931 SHOOTING SCRIPT is an enjoyable and informative introduction.
May 22, 2023
Note: The version of this book that I read is the Kindle, which is not listed as existing in Goodreads.
I purchased Dracula: The Original 1931 Shooting Script because I'm interested in film scripts. It was engrossing and I discovered some things I didn't know. Philip J. Riley did an admirable presentation, with a few caveats, notably, the inclusion of many blurry, poor-quality photos. All the photos are of interest, most of which I had not seen before; it is a pity their presentation was badly done. In addition to the complete film script, this book includes some rarities.
It is noted in the book that director Tod Browning made changes in the film as he progressed, dropping, adding scenes, making adjustments. In preparation for reading the shooting script I rewatched Dracula, which I hadn't seen in years. So, I was quite fascinated to notice the changes from Garrett Ford's script. Also, the script solves one of the major omissions (blunders) in the film: Lucy is not forgotten and left wandering Whitby, supping on children in the darkness!
Since there is no table of contents to the book, I'll give my version of what is contains. The Special Introduction by Bela Lugosi is a transcription of a March 27, 1931 radio promo for the opening of Dracula, which he composed and typed himself. The Forward by Ivan Butler, is a reminiscence of his four years in Hamilton Deane's British production of Dracula. The Preface by Clara Laemmle concentrates, at the request of Riley, not on "film-related stories" but on family memories, especially concerning Carl Laemmle and his son, Carl, Jr. The Production Background by Philip J. Riley and George Turner is an interesting, detailed exposition of the development of the film, touching on the notable participants, especially Carl Laemmle, Jr. and Tod Browning and production of the simultaneous Spanish version of the film. The background section includes the June 1930 full 32-page treatment of Dracula by Fritz Stephani and Louis Bromfield's August 7, 1930 50-page first treatment of Dracula (photocopies of the typed pages are unreadable; it should have been transcribed. It's good that a transcript is included in another of Riley's filmscript volumes, the one of the proposed Lon Chaney Dracula.). The discussion of the film's music in the background section is reprinted from a William H. Rosar article. The background section ends with selections from four notable film reviews. Garrett Ford's 181-page final, polished script, which cemented the film as a cinematic version of the stage production rather than the novel, is presented, even though as photocopies of the typed pages, in a quite legible form.
I did notice that the ending of two paragraphs during the discussion of the arrival of the Vestra and the climax at Carfax Abbey are switched (at least in the Kindle version).
There are lots of photos, including four pages from Stoker's original typed manuscript with annotations, of actors and important personages, stage productions, various production programs, movie stills (including some that were cut from the film), newspaper articles, and Universal's Pressbook, which was distributed to theater owners for publicity. As noted above, many of the photos are blurry and of poor quality.
The book reprints material from: William H. Rosar's "Music for the Monsters, Universal Pictures Horror Film Scores of the Thirties," Harry Ludlam's A Biography of Dracula, The Life of Bram Stoker, The Bela Lugosi Scrapbooks, and Elias Savada's Tod Browning: Child of the Night.
I purchased Dracula: The Original 1931 Shooting Script because I'm interested in film scripts. It was engrossing and I discovered some things I didn't know. Philip J. Riley did an admirable presentation, with a few caveats, notably, the inclusion of many blurry, poor-quality photos. All the photos are of interest, most of which I had not seen before; it is a pity their presentation was badly done. In addition to the complete film script, this book includes some rarities.
It is noted in the book that director Tod Browning made changes in the film as he progressed, dropping, adding scenes, making adjustments. In preparation for reading the shooting script I rewatched Dracula, which I hadn't seen in years. So, I was quite fascinated to notice the changes from Garrett Ford's script. Also, the script solves one of the major omissions (blunders) in the film: Lucy is not forgotten and left wandering Whitby, supping on children in the darkness!
Since there is no table of contents to the book, I'll give my version of what is contains. The Special Introduction by Bela Lugosi is a transcription of a March 27, 1931 radio promo for the opening of Dracula, which he composed and typed himself. The Forward by Ivan Butler, is a reminiscence of his four years in Hamilton Deane's British production of Dracula. The Preface by Clara Laemmle concentrates, at the request of Riley, not on "film-related stories" but on family memories, especially concerning Carl Laemmle and his son, Carl, Jr. The Production Background by Philip J. Riley and George Turner is an interesting, detailed exposition of the development of the film, touching on the notable participants, especially Carl Laemmle, Jr. and Tod Browning and production of the simultaneous Spanish version of the film. The background section includes the June 1930 full 32-page treatment of Dracula by Fritz Stephani and Louis Bromfield's August 7, 1930 50-page first treatment of Dracula (photocopies of the typed pages are unreadable; it should have been transcribed. It's good that a transcript is included in another of Riley's filmscript volumes, the one of the proposed Lon Chaney Dracula.). The discussion of the film's music in the background section is reprinted from a William H. Rosar article. The background section ends with selections from four notable film reviews. Garrett Ford's 181-page final, polished script, which cemented the film as a cinematic version of the stage production rather than the novel, is presented, even though as photocopies of the typed pages, in a quite legible form.
I did notice that the ending of two paragraphs during the discussion of the arrival of the Vestra and the climax at Carfax Abbey are switched (at least in the Kindle version).
There are lots of photos, including four pages from Stoker's original typed manuscript with annotations, of actors and important personages, stage productions, various production programs, movie stills (including some that were cut from the film), newspaper articles, and Universal's Pressbook, which was distributed to theater owners for publicity. As noted above, many of the photos are blurry and of poor quality.
The book reprints material from: William H. Rosar's "Music for the Monsters, Universal Pictures Horror Film Scores of the Thirties," Harry Ludlam's A Biography of Dracula, The Life of Bram Stoker, The Bela Lugosi Scrapbooks, and Elias Savada's Tod Browning: Child of the Night.
December 1, 2011
The story of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' has thrilled me since I was very young, as the vivid descriptions of the geography and people of the Carpathian Mountain region has filled my imagination and fueled my creative impulses ever since I first laid in my bed with my, now-worn, copy of a paperback edition. The 1931 film, starring Bela Lugosi, has long been one of my most favorite films. I traditionally watch the film in September or October, as a prelude to the festivities of Hallow'een. So, I was delighted to find the script was available for me to read through, and this book has an excellent collection of background information on the original film, the actors, the director, the producer, the writers, and all that went into the film. There is a photo of a first American edition of 'Dracula' that is signed by Bram Stoker, Bela Lugosi, Dr. Raymond T. McNally, Christopher Lee, Vampira, and many other famous horror film figures, which really caught my attention. I highly recommend checking this one out.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews