Son of Dracula (1943)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1943
Running Times: 80 mins
Length: 2203.40 metres
Format: black and white     35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Universal Pictures Company Inc
Producer: Ford Beebe
Associate Producer: Donald H. Brown

SCRIPT
Script: Eric Taylor
Story: Curt Siodmak

DIRECTION
Director: Robert Siodmak
Assistant Director: Melville Shyer

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: George Robinson

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Saul Goodkind

MUSIC
Music: H.J. Salter; Werner R. Heymann (uncredited); Charles Previn (uncredited); Frank Skinner (uncredited)

SOUND
Sound Director: Bernard B. Brown
Technician: Charles Carroll
Sound System: Western Electric Recording

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Gowns: Vera West

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up Effects: Jack P. Pierce (uncredited)

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: John B. Goodman, Martin Obzina
Set Decorators: R.A. Gausman, E.R. Robinson

CAST
Robert Paige (Frank Stanley)
Louise Allbritton (Katherine 'Kay' Caldwell)
Evelyn Ankers (Claire Caldwell)
Frank Craven (Professor Harry Brewster)
J. Edward Bromberg (Professor Laszlo)
Lon Chaney (Count Alucard / Count Dracula)
Samuel S. Hinds (Judge Simmons)
Adeline Dewalt Reynolds (Madame 'Queen' Zimba)
Patrick Moriarity (Sheriff Dawes)
Etta McDaniel (Sarah)
George Irving (Colonel Caldwell)

PLOT SUMMARY

Dr Brewster and Frank Stanley arrive at the station expecting to meet a Count Alucard who fails to turn up. They do find a large amount of luggage all with Alucard's crest and Brewster notices that Alucard is Dracula spelt backwards...

CAPSULE REVIEW

Lon Chaney Jr might have been a great Wolf Man but he's a lot less impressive as a vampire. His brutish looks and far too physical presence disastrously work against his attempts to play a sophisticated Count Dracula and his performance suffers as a consequence. The film almost survives the fatal central performance by virtue of its unusual setting and atmospheric direction, but Chaney remains a liability throughout.

AVAILABILITY

USA
Video Distributors: MCA/Universal Home Video
Laserdisc Distributors: MCA/Universal Home Video
Theatrical Distributors: Universal Pictures; Realart Pictures Inc

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Argentina
Rating: 13

Australia
Rating: PG

Sweden
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: approved (PCA #9194)

TIMELINE

1943
January
7: USA – production begins

February
Day Unknown: USA – production ends

October
5: USA – theatrical release
7: USA – copyright granted (LP12313)

February
25: Sweden - theatrical release

POSTER TAGS

Chill and Thrill to Dracula's Curse!

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Destiny - working title
Draculan poika – Finnish television title
Draculas son - Swedish title
Il figlio di Dracula - Italian title
El hijo de Drácula – Argentinian title

LINKS

SEQUEL TO
Dracula (1931)
Dracula's Daughter (1936)

SEQUELS
House of Frankenstein (1944)
House of Dracula (1945)
Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Coming Soon (1982)
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)
Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula (1997)

REFERENCES

BOOKS

The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide by Stephen Jones p.28
credits, review

Universal Horrors (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co (1990) ISBN: 0899503691)
article (by Michael Brunas, John Brunas, Tom Weaver)

OTHER SOURCES

screen
cerdits

KEYWORDS

cemeteries, coffins, crucifixes, doctors, dracula, fortune tellers, graves, immortality, jails, morgues, the occult, parties, plantations, professors, railway stations, sheriffs, swamps, vampires, vampire bats, weddings

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009