SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our SEEING DOUBLE series! Saturday, October 29, 2022
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.
7pm DRACULA: English Version (1931, dir. Tod Browning, Universal, USA, 75mns, DCP*)
8:45pm DRÁCULA: Spanish Version (1931, dir. George Melford, Universal, USA, 104mns, DCP*)
*Special Note: Newly restored DCP at Universal's request
One of the fascinating artifacts of the transition from silent cinema to sound in Hollywood was the brief period in which studios decided to shoot “simultaneous” versions of their movies with different actors and different filmmakers but on the same sets, etc so as to have versions of the movie ready for the foreign market.
One of the MOST famous case studies of this are the two 1931 Draculas that ignited Universal’s Monster Horror Cycle. The English-language version, directed by Tod Browning, made Bela Lugosi a star overnight (though it may have cursed him to play such roles the rest of his life). While it’s surprisingly chaste and classic for a Tod Browning movie (the man made Freaks after all), it still hums with an unsettling eeriness. And of course it is powered by Lugosi’s hypnotic (literally) take on the vampire.
The Spanish-language version is actually 30 minutes longer even though it’s working from the same script and on the same sets. One of the reasons for this has to do the Spanish language version’s willingness to be more erotic, more deliberate, more. . . .sexual and unhinged. It’s fascinating to watch scenes you know from the English language version kick up the...”heat”...to 11.
The story goes that the English-language version shot on the sets in the day, then the Spanish-language cast and crew came in and worked at night.
Enjoy one of the most fascinating case studies in what happens when different cultural sensibilities work from the exact same material!
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.