Mystery and Imagination: Dracula – review

Director: Patrick Dromgoole

First aired: 1968

Contains spoilers

Mystery and Imagination was a series of horror based plays that ran from 1966. Whilst this episode, an adaptation of Dracula that formed part of the fourth season, has survived the ravages of time it is sad to note that currently (and probably forever) lost is the adaptation the series created of Carmilla.

The series replaced “armchair theatre” and we must note that the idea was to produce a three act play. Consequently there is a stagy feel and the majority of the episode was filmed at Teddington Studios. Thus we get some set wobble occasionally, a recoiled Dracula makes a wall wobble, a gravestone does shift ever so slightly etc. I mention that now and say that I can live with this, it was occasional, noticeable but forgivable. To add to the normal “contains spoilers” note, I will say that my expectation is that you, dear reader, will know Dracula as a story and my aim will be to show how this differed from the book and what it did well, so it will be fairly blow by blow.

As always with a film, stage or television adaptation of the novel, this was free and easy with the characters, many of the main characters are merged. Bar a flashback sequence the entire Transylvanian sections of the novel are missing, all the play taking place in England and all of the English scenes have been transposed to Whitby. The adaptation starts in the asylum where two guards are asked to provide water by inmate 34 (Corrin Redgrave). They agree, remove his restraints and he makes a break for it.

Dr. John Seward (James Maxwell) is holding a dinner party. At this point he and his guests have retired to the drawing room. With him are his fiancée Lucy Weston (Susan George) and her mother, Mrs Weston (Joan Hickson). Someone unseen plays piano. The fact that Lucy’s familial name has been contracted from Westenra is obvious. Seward is now engaged to her and the other two suitors, Arthur and Quincey, are no longer part of the story. The genial atmosphere is smashed as 34 comes bowling through the French Windows.

He drops to his knees and refers to the piano player as Master. Indeed Dracula (Denholm Elliott) is the piano player. He commands 34 back to his cell, and the lunatic complies, but when Seward asks if the Count knows him, both Dracula and Renfield deny knowledge of each other. Seward mentions that 34 was found on a beached Russian ship, the Demeter, and it is observed that Dracula was on that ship. He says that he saw no other passengers for his habits are nocturnal, as they know, due to the fact that the sun greatly pains him.

Let us look at Elliott as Dracula. The look is fantastic, with the actor sporting a goatee beard he really looks quite sinister. When we first see him he is wearing dark glasses – which he removes to play eye mojo with 34. These are clearly an affectation (and the design seems out of the Victorian period, to say the least) to give credence to his cover story of an inability to withstand bright light for medical reasons but it is interesting that such a groovy pair of shades should have been used as a prop almost quarter of a century before the Coppola version. Not so groovy is the accent, which does slip occasionally. For the main this is a very English production, and the mainly plumy accents reflect that, but Elliott and Bernard Archard as Dr Van Helsing do affect other accents and neither is really that wonderful – not enough to spoil the show but enough to mention. During these scenes Elliott manages to get in the “I do not drink… wine” line. We also get a shot, unseen by the characters, that evidences to us that Dracula casts no reflection.

The next day Van Helsing arrives to take a look at 34. It is noted that he is zoophagous and he seems to become more aggressive as the sun sets. Van Helsing hypnotises him and he describes his encounter with the brides (Nina Baden-Semper, Marie Legrand and Valerie Muller) in the castle. This is the only scene we get from Transylvania and the look of the brides had my opinion split. Generally they are fantastic, more animalistic or primal than in other productions but with a raw sexuality that clearly affected 34. Then we get to the teeth, however, and I was not sure what was going on there. In some shots they look blackened, as though they are rotten, in other more distant shots they look like they are rows of sharp teeth. I think the effect was meant to be the latter but they didn't work that well as an effect - we shall discuss teeth/fangs again, very soon.

Dracula is speaking to Lucy and his monologue is the “We Szekelys have a right to be proud,” speech from the novel, which is curtailed and yet accurate enough to be still recognisable, except, of course, the one he speaks to is Lucy and not Jonathan. They are interrupted by Seward, with news of Mrs Weston – though the seriousness of her illness seems to have little impact on Lucy. Mina (Suzanne Neve) then arrives. On meeting Dracula she recognises the name for it is to his castle her missing husband went to on business. Dracula claims that they parted ways and that he received a letter from Jonathan written in Prague – Mina received a letter from Prague as well, but has heard nothing since.

When Mina and Seward are walking later, and he confesses his jealousy of the Count and the fascination that Lucy seems to have for him, 34 sees them from his window and calls out Mina’s name. They rush to the cell and Mina recognises her husband. He hugs her but then denies knowledge of her as soon as the sun sets. Yes, 34 is Jonathan Harker, the character of Renfield and Jonathan being merged into one. This actually works rather well as a concept and is only a stone's throw from other adaptations except, of course, this has the lunatic's wife on hand.

In this adaptation Dracula has not bought Carfax but rather Glebe House and, despite the impropriety, Lucy goes there for a visit. However the house is abandoned, it seems, and certainly no one is around. Suddenly scared she runs back to the carriage, her mad pace causing her to fall. Back in the carriage she snarls and then realises, with shock, what she has done. I did like the way that the production turned the nature of the women who came under Dracula’s influence, making them quick to anger in a way that was out with their personalities.

Seward has made the obvious connection between Harker and Dracula (and Dracula’s denial of knowing the man) but Van Helsing dismisses the notion as jealousy of the Count on Seward’s part. Meanwhile Lucy and Mina go to the graveyard. Now, this is a fantastic Gothic looking Graveyard that looks nothing at all like the graveyard at St Mary’s, Whitby (not that it overly matters but I thought I’d mention). They are approached by the almost mercurial Mr Swales (Hedley Goodall) and it was great to see that character appearing as he is oft missed out. He tells them the tale of the grave of George Cannon, a suicide. When they leave Dracula rises from the Cannon grave, his home due to the fact that it is un-consecrated.

A really crap bat is in Lucy’s room that transforms into Dracula, in a scene that demands scrutiny. His presence disturbs her sleep and she starts to twist and moan in an orgiastic way. He bites her and she cries for a moment with pain before moaning with pleasure. The sexual simile here is absolutely obvious but incredibly well done. If Stoker hinted at a sexual aspect to vampirism then this production screamed it and, going back to the bride scene, the animalistic sexuality displayed is almost primitive and Dracula’s words of “He is mine” and Jonathan’s look of longing clearly offers a bisexuality aspect into the mix.

Now let us speak of fangs for I loved the juxtaposition of the sinister and yet still suave look of Dracula, that almost cracks when he concentrates to use his psychic ability, against the Nosferatu style teeth. With Dracula they worked… however… I have mentioned them in terms of the brides (who seemed not to sport front fangs) and when Lucy turns (for she will, that is still in this version) we see a few fang shots and one of them is too close and you can see they are a moulded set. The other Lucy/fang shots do work, to be fair.

Seward and Van Helsing examine the insensate Lucy the following day and Van Helsing spots the fang mark on her neck. He will not tell Seward what he thinks but states that he needs to do a transfusion, noting that Seward is sceptical of such procedures due to the safety aspects (a nice add in, given that surely it was Van Helsing who killed Lucy in the novel by repeated un-typed transfusions from a variety of donors!). When done he looks to place a rosary over Lucy, she reacts to it in her sleep so he puts it next to her. The weakened Seward protests – his mention of idolatry coming from Jonathan’s reaction to such religious paraphernalia in the novel. When Dracula returns he recoils from the cross (and the set wall wobbles under the force of his recoil). He uses his eye mojo to make Lucy shift the cross and then he is on her again.

Seward and Van Helsing have to perform another transfusion (again from Seward) but first Van Helsing festoons the room with Garlic vines. He tells Seward that he suspects Lucy is being predated upon by a vampire – though it is clear that the younger Doctor does not entirely buy what Van Helsing is selling. Interestingly Van Helsing says that he garlic vines must be in unbroken chains to keep the vampire at bay. They refuse Mrs Weston entry to the room.

The woman, however, has another key and – spurred on by Dracula’s telepathic suggestion – she looks in on her daughter, breaking the chain on the door. Dracula is quickly back and having his toothsome way with her. Meanwhile Van Helsing shows Seward written evidence of vampires and one mentions an outbreak in Transylvania. The image looks like Dracula and suddenly the penny drops. Soon Van Helsing is hypnotising Jonathan again, to discover more about his Master’s whereabouts, when Dracula takes over the unfortunate lunatic and, speaking in his own voice, mocks them and brags that he has already won.

They race back to Lucy, who is led on the floor – Van Helsing says they are too late. Seward carries her to the bed and suddenly she speaks, asking him to kiss her. Van Helsing pulls him away just in time and we get a rather effective rabid moment before she drops dead to the bed. It is here, with fangs on show, that we get the unfortunate fang shot that I mentioned earlier.

Mina goes to the graveyard and she suddenly sees Lucy, who approaches her and tells Mina that she has returned. She explains that she “has not found rest but joy, joy beyond understanding.” She tempts Mina and when the bite comes we see Mina succumb to an orgiastic feeling, giving a Sapphic element and changing the bloofer-lady thread from the novel as it is Mina whom Lucy predates on. Suddenly Lucy is gone and Mina falls to the floor, Dracula appears to continue the seduction. Mina has already started acting, in moments, in a more primitive manner – angrily bemoaning her lot and spitting. She also throws herself at the Count and peppers him with kisses before realising what she has done.

Van Helsing has brought Seward to the Weston tomb and shown him the empty coffin. Lucy comes back and Seward goes to her, saved at the last minute by Van Helsing and a cross. They find her in her coffin, blood on her chin and Seward stakes her. They then try to discover Dracula’s whereabouts through Jonathan, they ask Mina to question him.

She does so but Jonathan realises that it is now Mina that Dracula has cast him off for and thus reveals Mina’s secret. Van Helsing places a cross to her forehead and it burns. He has her taken to a room and suggests sedation. Once back in his cell, a bat comes to Jonathan and the cell door opens, he has to lead Mina to Dracula. Wily old Van Helsing guessed this might happen and he and Seward are hidden and follow them to the graveyard, discovering Dracula’s resting place.

Van Helsing throws holy water over it, presumably denying Dracula re-entry to the grave. Dracula (who was with Mina and Jonathan at this point) turns to his tormentors. They hold up a cross and a bible and he tries to use eye mojo to make them lower the icons. Seward does but Van Helsing finds a hidden reserve of faith and defeats the mojo, whilst reciting the Latin sign of the cross.

The sun is rising and Dracula tries to tempt the men with knowledge and power. In a somewhat confused ending he runs at the men and Van Helsing pushes the cross into his chest. This causes a psychic flash, making Mina and Jonathan fall to the ground and Dracula staggers back. He starts to melt – a wonderfully done effect with acid melting a prop face – but what killed him, the cross and Van Helsing’s faith or the sun? We don’t actually know but he turns to dust.

There is a coda twist that, having spoilt everything else, I won’t spoil here but let it be said it was a great little moment. The acting was stagy, as I mentioned, but rather well done. Barring accent I really enjoyed Elliott as Dracula and thought that Corrin Redgrave was excellent as Jonathan – pirouetting between psychotic and morose, he displayed a manic nature that worked really well for the character. The fact that this was filmed in studio actually isn't a detriment, despite the wobbly moments, and they were able to inject some real moments of atmosphere.

The changes, also, were fine. We are used to Dracula being noodled with and this had some very interesting moments along with parts kept in the production that are usually lost. Given the budget and stage restrictions the changes were necessary.

All in all this version has been too long out of the public eye, despite a few minor flaws it is a fine version of Dracula (though not the best) and was, for its time, quite a bloody and sexually charged production. 7.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.