February 12, 1931: "Dracula" Premieres

February 12, 1931: Dracula premieres, based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. Having already played the role of Count Dracula, the nobleman/vampire of the Transylvania region of Romania, on stage, Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi played him again, and became a legend. Directed by Tod Browning, the film tells the tale of Dracula coming to England in hopes of extending his dominion through the British Empire.

The film establishes several myths about vampires in the public consciousness: They can only come out at night, sleeping in a coffin in the daytime to protect them from sunlight, biting their victims on the neck (easier to get blood that way), shapeshifting (especially turning into a bat, although Dracula also turns into a wolf), great strength, hypnotism, and, especially deadly, being charming and hypnotic enough to fool women into desiring him. (In times to come, female vampires would have this effect on men -- and there would even be a subgenre of lesbian vampire films.)

The film also establishes some vampire weaknesses, in addition to the preceding mention of sunlight: Garlic, wolfsbane, crucifixes, being revealed through the fact that they have no reflection in a mirror, being unable to enter a house unless they are invited to do so, and, most of all, the ability to kill them by driving a wooden stake through the heart.

(In some versions of vampire lore, this is not enough: Staking them paralyzes them, but leaves them in a kind of "living death" even beyond their traditional "undead" status. In order to truly end them, their heads must be cut off. Some versions go even further than this: Their bodies must be cremated. Every once in a while, including in the 10 Hammer Films from 1958 to 1976 that starred Christopher Lee, even this turns out not to be enough, as they can still be reconstituted.)

During the Great Depression, as with gangster movies, monster movies preyed on people's fears and anxieties. Later in 1931, the Boris Karloff version of Frankenstein would premiere. Later in the 1930s, there would be The Mummy, King Kong, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, and many more horror movies, including sequels to Dracula starring Lugosi, who, sadly, got typecast.

The name "Dracula" is taken from Vlad III, Voivode of Wallachia, who defended what is now Romania and Hungary from Muslim invaders in the mid-15th Century, and is modern Romania's greatest hero. This is in spite of what he did to his enemies, which led to his historical nickname, "Vlad the Impaler." His father, Vlad II, was known as Drakul, which can mean either "Devil" or "Dragon." So "Drakula" means "Son of the Devil" or "Son of the Dragon." George R.R. Martin, who mines medieval history for his A Song of Ice and Fire books, probably took this into consideration for House Targaryen and its association with dragons.

Vlad Drakula, "the Impaler"

However, aside from the name, and the fact that Vlad the Impaler killed thousands of people, there is no real connection between him and the fictional Count. There is no physical resemblance, and no military background for the Count was hinted at in either Stoker's novel or the film.

And Bran Castle, in the Transylvanian city of Brașov, has only been marketed as "Castle Dracula" since 1997, to aid in Romania's conversion from Communism to capitalism. It bears little resemblance to the castle described by Stoker, and it has only a minor connection to Vlad the Impaler. It has no more to do with Dracula (real or fictional) than cherry trees have to do with George Washington.

A 2019 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History featured "Nice" Peter Shukoff playing Dracula, with hair and makeup designed to make him look like the Christopher Lee version; and "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist playing Vlad the Impaler.

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February 12, 1931 was a Thursday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. But there were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers played the Detroit Falcons to a 1-1 tie at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Falcons became the Red Wings for the 1932-33 season.

And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Ottawa Auditorium. The Senators moved to become the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, and folded after 1 season.