CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 09/28/07

Pure Blooded

by jason davis

Count Dracula

Adapted by Gerald Savory

Foregoing the romantic element so often imposed on the narrative by other adaptations, the BBC's 1977 adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic offers up the most accurate translation of the novel to date.  Gerald Savory's two-part dramatization conflates the characters of Lord Arthur Holmwood and Texan Quincey P. Morris (Richard Barnes plays American Ambassador Quincey P. Holmwood) and creates a blood tie between the ill-fated Lucy Westenra (Susan Penhaligan) and the heroic Mina Murray (Judi Bowker) but otherwise hews closely to the book, with Dracula (Louis Jourdan) portrayed as an unrepentant monster unencumbered by the romantic dimension so often ascribed to him in filmed adaptations.  The novel's vivid characterizations are well realized, with Professor Abraham van Helsing (Frank Finlay) and Dracula himself stealing much of the show with their respective righteousness and wantonness.  Savory's avoidance of a romantic angle for Dracula does nothing to dilute the potent sexual undercurrents of the story, and the Victorian repression of lustful urges is ever present in the production.  Sadly, no supplemental materials showcase the adaptation or production.

Count Dracula
BBC Video
Not rated; 151 min.
$14.98

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Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , has been a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.

Count Dracula courtesy BBC Video

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