May Movies: Dracula

Ack! I have fallen behind two days! No worries - I will catch up! I have a ton of older movies to share with you this month! So, without fail, here is the entry for May 4th.

A few weeks ago, Svengoolie featured the 1931 movie Dracula on his weekly show. I was intrigued to watch it as I had never seen the original. I think I made it part way through the version with Winona Ryder, but didn't care for it at all. I just reread the book in 2011 after I got the Kindle app on my Droid. I am a big fan of reading a book prior to seeing the movie version, so I was looking forward to it.

The story in the book is told primarily through letters, journals, ship logs and newspaper clippings. It is like a compilation by someone who is researching the events, in a different form of first-person narrative than someone synthesizing the material to tell a story. You get different points of view from several of the characters. Jonathan travels to Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania to assist him with some legal matters and quickly figures out he is a prisoner there. He notes all kinds of strange occurrences.

Soon after he escapes, Dracula makes his way to England and is smitten with Jonathan's finacee, Mina, and her best friend Lucy. Lucy and Mina are both bitten by the vampire. Lucy dies and Mina alternates between consciousness and unconsciousness as she continues to be held under his power. Dr. Seward, one of Lucy's suitors, is suspicious of her illness prior to her death and gathers a group of men, led by Van Helsing, to determine what is going on. Van Helsing recognizes the signs of vampires. Seward has a mental patient named Renfield who consumes bugs and creatures and is able to somewhat track Dracula's movements. When Jonathan returns, he helps the group on their mission to find and destroy Dracula.


The movie version has the fundamental story the same as in the book, but some marked differences. Count Dracula makes his way to England after receiving a visit from a young gentleman. Only in the movie, the visitor is Renfield, who goes insane during the ship voyage to England from Transylvania. Dracula meets the women and their suitors, including Jonathan, while attending the theatre. The women are attracted to Dracula and he quickly makes them his own. Van Helsing, Jonathan and Seward work toward eradicating Dracula for good.

The movie is rather enjoyable, especially as an example of a classic horror movie from the 1930s. It is the definitive form of Dracula, as Bela Lugosi's interpretation has been mimicked ever since. I will admit that I do not see the appeal of the character, is Lugosi simply is not that attractive to me. And I snickered every time he gave his hypnotizing stare to one of the women he was attempting to seduce. One eye would close ever so slightly while the opposite eyebrow raised a little. Had I seen it 80 years ago, though, I may have been more creeped out.

I will also admit to falling asleep every time the movie has come on. I am not so sure that it was from boredom, as opposed to sheer exhaustion. I like to fall asleep to movies. This one, having no music soundtrack, is good at allowing for that to happen.

It is, however, much better than any of that other vampire stuff that is out there right now in the movies. :-P

See it once just to see it, so that you can say you have viewed a classic. You can rent from Amazon here. Or, you can always just purchase a copy for your own collection.

Movies in May: I Was a Male War Bride

I have been in love with Cary Grant for a couple of decades now. He was the Man's Man and every woman's dream. In I Was a Male War Bride, a movie from 1949, Grant plays a French office of the Army opposite Ann Sheridan who is a Women's Army Corp officer. The two act like they can't stand each other, constantly poking fun at each other and bickering. But we all know what usually happens in cases like these.


The two end up having to go on a mission together to Germany, to track down a lensmaker who is working on the black market. Their trip includes the usual screwball comedy for which Grant was famous in that era. Think of finding more than a needle in a haystack, broken doorknobs, backrubs and waterfalls. Along the way, the two finally succumb to their love for each other and decide to get married.

Because Grant is a French citizen, they run into all kinds of problems when they try to get married, ending up with three separate ceremonies. Before they have a chance to consummate their marriage, Sheridan is called back to the United States. Grant is obviously going to return to his wife, but gets stalled by even more red tape. The only way he can get there is as an American War Bride, because there are no separate distinctions for men.  People are tremendously confused by his title, "Alien Spouse of Female Military Personnel Enroute to the United States Under Public Law 271," and never know how to accommodate him. More hilarity ensues, including Grant finally having to dress up as a woman to sneak on board a ship. Cary Grant was a beautiful man, but he is absolutely hideous as a woman!


Apparently, this movie is based on a true story about a man also named Henri Rouchard, who had to travel under such a title. They always say that truth is stranger than fiction!

I have watched this movie at least a dozen times on classic movie channels and now on Netflix's Watch Instantly. Or, you can purchase your own copy. It's one worth having in the collection!

The New May Challenges

Yes, A to Z this year created a monster. I can't sit near my computer without wanting to write something. I have a zillion other things that I should be writing, especially for money, but it isn't happening. I think it is more important that I am writing anything.

One of my fellow members of the GBE2 group found an old daily challenge from last year. Some of us have decided to take it on to see what will happen. Each day has a different prompt. They are not related to a letter, nor any other specific theme. It just gives you a meme and you go with it. Because we are starting three days late and there are three days off, we will just eliminate those three extra days.

Here is the meme list, in case you were wondering or were interested in trying it:

Day 01: Something you're looking forward to this year.
Day 02: Something you regret not having done last year.
Day 03: Something with which you struggle.
Day 04: Something that is part of your routine that you enjoy.
Day 05: Something in life that gives you balance.
Day 06: Something that excites you and fills you with joy.
Day 07: Vacation Hiatus
Day 08: Vacation Hiatus
Day 09: Vacation Hiatus
Day 10: Something at which you've been a champion or the best.
Day 11: Something about which people seem to compliment you.
Day 12: Something you hope to change about yourself and why.
Day 13: Discuss some of the things on your bucket list.
Day 14: Someone who has made your life worth living.
Day 15: A band/musical artist whose music impacted your life.
Day 16: A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 17: Someone with whom you shared a friendship/relationship that simply drifted out of your life.
Day 18: Someone you met randomly that's made an impact on your life.
Day 19: Something that shook your belief system to its core (a big disappointment in your life).
Day 20: Discuss your favorite movie and why it's so special to you.
Day 21: Write about your best friend (not significant other) and what makes them special.
Day 22: Describe a dark/turbulent moment in your life.
Day 23: Describe a truly spiritual moment in your life.
Day 24: Discuss a spontaneous moment in your life that that turned out to be fantastic.
Day 25: Discuss something you planned that ended up not being what you expected.
Day 26: How do you handle/deal with both success and failure?
Day 27: What is your vocation (why are you here on earth)?
Day 28: What is your biggest dream in life (what one great thing do you want to accomplish)?
Day 29: What WAS your biggest dream in life (you wanted to do as a kid but no longer can)?
Day 30: Someone in your family that means so much to you.
Day 31: Epilogue: Write a letter to yourself.


The other challenge that I came across is a month-long challenge on one topic for Blog Her's NaBloPoMo. This month's theme is "Play." If I can't come up with something every day for that, then I am not the youthful person I thought I was!

So, here comes the madness. You may remember I also had set myself up with the Movie May challenge, where I talk about movies that were created in the 1950s and earlier. And one of these days I need to finish They Live On.....

Movies in May: Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer Boris Karloff

The new tradition on Saturday nights has turned into watching Svengoolie on METV. He's the male version of Elvira, full of bad puns weaving in and out around the movie segments. It's as cheesy as any of those other movie gimmicks, like Dinner and a Movie that used to be on some channel, yet he has grown on me.

His favorite movies to play are the old horror movies and thrillers. Some of the movies are absolutely horrendous; but some actually are entertaining. The one that was on a few weeks ago was Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff.


I was intrigued by it because at the time I was in the middle of watching the TV show Thriller on Netflix (before they decided to remove it from Watch Instantly, those bastards!). The show was a sort of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but with longer and darker episodes. You can actually catch some episodes on METV on occasion.


I was also interested in finally watching a full-length Abbott & Costello movie. I don't think I had seen one all the way through before.

I actually really liked this movie. Sure, it is corny, but that is part of the charm of the comedy team. When attorney Amos Strickland is found murdered in his hotel room, the bellboy, played by Lou Costello, is considered the primary suspect. He is the one who happened to find the body, though, and had nothing to do with the murder. Bud Abbott plays the house detective who is determined to clear Costello's name and to find the real murderer. Boris Karloff is the swami who keeps trying to hypnotize Costello to make him confess to the murder. Costello keeps finding a dead body in various rooms of the hotel, but every time he tries to show Abbott, the body disappears. The hilarity ensues as they try to track down this moving dead body while determining the real killer. The comedic routines are familiar, yet worth watching. Out of all of their movies I have watched since this, this one is at the top of my list.

This movie is currently only available for purchase as a part of a collection.

Movies in May: We're Not Married

We're Not Married is a comedy from 1952 that stars some of your favorite classic actors, such as Marilyn Monroe, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ginger Rogers, Eddie Bracken, Mitzi Gaynor and many more.

What would you do if you found out you and your spouse really weren't married? Five couples have a big decision to make after finding out that their marriages were not legally valid. They all were married by a Justice of the Peace who jumped the gun and performed the ceremonies a few days before his license was valid. Some of them are still madly in love with each other. Some have kids to worry about. (Back in those days, it was frowned upon to have unwed parents.) Others are grateful for the chance to escape an unhappy union. 

The movie is light-hearted and worth a chuckle here and there. I watched it over a period of several nights, as I kept dozing off while it was playing. This was not an indication of any poor quality in the movie - I was just really tired that week. I did enjoy it and would probably watch it again. It was one of the few Marilyn Monroe movies I had not yet seen. I don't remember ever watching Zsa Zsa in anything. The stories are cute, even if a little predictable. With the Netflix rating system, I would give it about 3.5 stars, though I marked off 4. 

You can rent the movie for Amazon for $2.99 here.

Or, you can purchase your own copy. 

Movies in May

I had a lot of fun challenging myself through the A to Z challenge this past month. While I was doing it, I was already thinking up new challenges for this year, as well as some alphabet ideas for next year. I have decided that this May, I am going to do a movie challenge. I am not going to follow an alphabet or any other such strict rule. All of my movies, though, are going to be from the 1960s and earlier. I will not review anything later than that - at least not this time around. I like to fall asleep to these movies on a regular basis. I have even seen some of them in their entirety. My only challenge to myself is to have one post per day. We shall see how it goes!