Okay, you classic horror fans out there, riddle us this--which sound film first presented a Dracula with visible fangs? Horror Of Dracula? Nope, and you're 'way off. Believe it or not, the first sound film in which Dracula showed off his (sharp) pearly whites also featured absolutely no Christian symbolism and offered belly dancers to boot! Are you surprised? You won't be when you read the following article which brings to light perhaps the most obscure existing sound film version of Bram Stoker's undead Count, otherwise known as...
By PHILIP MADDEN The Dracula mythos has become internationalized ,its ability to fit itself into any culture or tradition is what makes it accessible to all. I am sure there are those of you who are not so close-minded to realize that many non-English speaking countries have made worthy celluloid contributions to the Dracula mythos, Germany and Italy would be the first countries that would pop into your head, maybe Japan and the Philippines as well. But what about Turkey? You would be forgiven for smirking a little, the land of harems, carpets and shining minarets is not in the first division of countries with macabre traditions in literature or cinema. Yet let us not forget that the model for Dracula, Vlad Drago made his reputation from impaling Turkish invaders as the ultimate’ Trespassers will be prosecuted ‘ sign and in Romania he is to this day revered as a national hero for his part in seeing of the Ottoman Empire which was the superpower of the Fifteenth century. The real-life Dracula and Turkey are therefore intertwined, so it comes as little surprise that there is one film set in Istanbul which ties a direct connection to the infamous bloodsucking aristocrat and the notorious skewer of Turkish flesh.
Dracula Istanbul da or Dracula In Istanbul was made in 1953, from a script by Umit Deniz a journalist and crime story writer, based on a 1928 novel by Ali Riza Seyfi called "Vlad the Impaler" which was for the most part a translation of Stoker’s "Dracula." There had never been an attempt in Turkey to make a horror film before and I have not been able to find out why the director Mehmet Muhtar decided that Turkish cinema goers wanted to watch a domestic horror film. Anyway, it matters little because they did make it. Seyfi’s novel, unlike Stoker’s original story, blatantly claims Dracula to be Vlad Drago and goes on to provide a chronicle of his crimes against the Turks, such as impaling them on massive wooden sticks, drinking their blood and burning them (at the same time ignoring the fact that they were after all invaders).The film also retains this concept, the Harker character comes across a book which contains a history of Dracula/Vlad’s past history and so there is no question that they are one and the same being.
It is his record against the Turks which is emphasized, an attempt to create a Turkish perspective on the mythos or at least an effort to forge a connection between Dracula and the interest of the Turkish cinema going audience, an audience that in the early 1950’s had no traditions of domestic horror films, especially ones endowed with Christian superstitions. So how does a film about Dracula, made for a predominantly Muslim audience, overcome the problem of crucifixes and Christian influences, and yet stay faithful to Stoker’s story? Simple. It just ignores them and creates its own mythos for the traditions and a prejudice of its own people.No mention of religious idolatry is mentioned, instead Dracula is repulsed by having garlic chucked at him. One of the most disturbing scenes in the film is when the Harker character goes to bed just before dawn on the night when he has discovered what Dracula really is. He has ran away from the fiend after shooting him and hitting him with a shovel while he laid sleeping in his coffin.
Our hero has finally succumbed to sleep when Dracula appears out of thin air in his bedroom. He walks over to the young demon fighter, leans over him and is about to bite him, when in walks one of the gypsy guardians of the vampire, he sees what is happening and promptly lobs a chain of garlic on the sleeping innocent therefore ensuring the vampire cannot make a meal of him. Enraged (and hungry), Dracula turns his attention to the unlikely savior and attacks him instead. So much for standing up to East European bloodsuckers. The film has all the essentials of Stokers story, there is a Jonathan Harker type character and a Lucy character who succumbs to the wiles and charms of the vampire. Dracula is portrayed as a weedy, bespectacled bookish type at the start of the film but soon transforms into the caped and fanged fiend we know and love and what is of interest here is that this Dracula, played by Atif Kaptan, is the first since Nosferatu in 1921 to have fangs pointing out of his mouth. It was not until Christopher Lee came on the scene in the Hammer films that English speaking vampires had fangs. So, 1-0 to the non Anglo–Saxons.
But that is not enough in itself to have any interest in ‘Dracula in Istanbul’ .The Turks although living in a secular republic are for the most part Muslim, and resent any attempt at Christian influence, although they willing accept Western technological advances ,it stops with anything spiritual. So our Turkish vampire is fought with garlic and spells from the Koran while this might be amusing for purists, I would offer the thesis that merely shows the adaptability of the vampire myth. The vampire is finally killed with a stake through the heart and then his head is chopped off, just as Van Helsing advised in Stoker’s original tale, something which Hollywood and Hammer filmmakers neglected to include. Dracula In Istanbul is arguably, the most complete film in its fidelity to the Bram Stoker novel that had been up until this time. Dracula hypnotizes his victims and they cannot resist his magnetic charisma. There is also a chilling rendition of the baby-in-the –bag scene ,the vampire throws down a bag to one of his female cohorts only for it to start kicking and writhing, implying a small child is inside. No filmmaker had been brave to do that before, not until Coppola’s 1992 version of the novel. Thirty nine years later. The Lucy Westnera storyline is also developed more than it is in other films of this era. There is quite a sophisticated scene where Dracula and the Lucy character dance upon a cliff face , silhouetted against the moon they sway and pirouette in each others arms .Later Lucy walks as one of the undead around a graveyard at night, until she is stabbed through the heart by a stake .The close up of her face twisted in agony is also quite effective.
In fact women characters are more fully developed in this film than any of its western fore runners. The demise of the Lucy character from a sweet and virtuous example of femininity, into a fiend of the night, and her ultimate destruction at the hands of those she loves is commendably well executed. This curious little film was forgotten about until recently and it can now be seen on Turkish TV at irregular periods. I do not know if it is available outside of Turkey but I would recommend anyone to watch it if they have the chance, you will not see a more faithful adaptation of Stokers story from this era and it is a shame that this film has been overlooked and ignored for so long, because it is worth more than the attention of vampire movie experts. . (Philip Madden is currently based in Turkey. His stories and articles have appeared in print and online publications such as Skyline, The Journal, Poetry Depth Quarterly, and Scorched Wings. He is on the staff of Dark Moon Rising.) Thanks, Philip. You're right, it's a downright shame that a decent print of this film has never surfaced in the U.S.--the few videos produced by the dubbers are uniformly awful. Old Renfield was lucky enough to catch an actual TV showing of this film back when he lived in Turkey. It is an amazingly faithful telling of Stoker's classic tale with a truly intimidating Count and even (in true Turkish style) belly dancers! For this reason, and the fact that this is the first sound film Dracula with visible fangs, we hope to see a nice restored version of it offered someday, hopefully on DVD. Article copyright © Philip Madden |
