In 1931 Universal produced its classic DRACULA, which set the standard for the horror cycle that took hold thereafter and would endure until the end of the Second World War. Bela Lugosi’s classic portrayal would enshrine him as the definitive vampire and the performances of Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing and Dwight Frye as Renfield are no less iconic. Somewhat less well known, in part because it was considered lost for many years, is the concurrently made Spanish version directed not by Tod Browning but George Melford and starring Carlos Villarias as El Conde Dracula.
Then, as today, Hollywood film studios knew that the overseas market was a potent source of box office revenue. One idea explored by Universal executive Paul Kohner in the early 1930s was to utilize the sets of a given production and use them to film an alternate Spanish-language version with a different set of actors. Hal Roach had used this method for his Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts as well, but in this case the comedy duo actually spoke the German, Spanish and French dialog themselves via the use of cue cards. One of these alternative French language shorts features no less than Boris Karloff!
The Spanish DRACULA benefits from the fact that, after Browning and his crew finished their day’s work, Melford and his team would review the footage shot and make what adjustments they saw fit. Whereas Browning presents the brides of Dracula as bloodless Art Deco ghouls, Melford has a bevy of wraith-like succubi terrorize Renfield (Pablo Alvarez Rubio). Villarias portrays a Dracula far more bestial than Lugosi, prone to gnashing his teeth in the sort of rage that Christopher Lee would one day display in the films of Hammer. The film in general manages to be daring in ways that are surprising even in the more permissive atmosphere of pre-Code Hollywood. And it is something to hear Lugosi’s immortal “I am Dracula” become “Soy Dracula” as Villarias greets Renfield upon his arrival at the castle.
The film in its complete form was considered lost for many years, until David Skal, author of the seminal
Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen
, tracked down a print located in Havana, Cuba. Since then it has resurfaced on television and various home video formats, garnering new generations of fans and offering a unique glimpse into a time when Hollywood sought novel ways in which to appeal to audiences the world over.