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Dracula (1979 Film)
''Dracula'' is a 1979 gothic horror film directed by John Badham. The film starred Frank Langella in the title role as well as Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence and Kate Nelligan. The film was based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula'' and its 1924 stage adaptation, though much of Stoker's original plot was revised to make the film—which was advertised with the tagline "A Love Story"—more romantic. The film received mostly positive reviews and was a moderate box office success. It won the 1979 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. Plot In Whitby, Yorkshire in 1913, Count Dracula arrives from Transylvania via the ship ''Demeter'' one stormy night. Mina Van Helsing, who is visiting her friend Lucy Seward, discovers Dracula's body after his ship has run aground and rescues him. The Count visits Mina and her friends at the household of Lucy's father, Dr. Jack Seward, whose clifftop mansion also serves as the local asylum. At dinner, he proves to be a charming guest and leave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Badham
John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an English television and film director, best known for his films ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977), ''Dracula'' (1979), '' Blue Thunder'' (1983), '' WarGames'' (1983), ''Short Circuit'' (1986), and '' Stakeout'' (1987). Early life Badham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, the son of U.S. Army General Henry Lee Badham Jr., and English-born actress Mary Iola Badham (née Hewitt). Henry, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, moved his family back to the US when John was two years old. John's parents and paternal grandparents are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. Henry was an aviator in both World Wars, and was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007. After retirement from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general, Henry became a businessman and helped develop the Ensley and Bessemer regions near Birmingham. This same line of business had brought his own father, John's grandfather, into associati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gothic Film
A Gothic film is a film that is based on Gothic fiction or contains Gothic elements. Since various definite film genres—including science fiction, film noir, thriller, and comedy—have used Gothic elements, the Gothic film is challenging to define clearly as a genre. Gothic elements have also infused the horror film genre, contributing supernatural and nightmarish elements. To create a Gothic atmosphere, filmmakers have sought to create new camera tricks that challenge audiences' perceptions. Gothic films also reflected contemporary issues. ''A New Companion to The Gothic''s Heidi Kaye said "strong visuals, a focus on sexuality and an emphasis on audience response" characterize Gothic films like they did the literary works. ''The Encyclopedia of the Gothic'' said the foundation of Gothic film was the combination of Gothic literature, stage melodrama, and German expressionism. In ''The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction'', Misha Kavka says Gothic film is not an established genr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Haygarth
George Anthony Haygarth (4 February 1945 – 10 March 2017) was an English television, film and theatre actor. Life and career After leaving Marlborough College, Liverpool, Haygarth worked unsuccessfully in 1963 as a lifeguard in Torquay, and also tried escapology, equally unsuccessfully. Other jobs included psychiatric nursing and he was an amateur actor before turning professional and appearing in repertory theatre, followed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Haygarth played a milkman in '' Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads'' and made his film debut in the comedy film '' Percy'' (1971), from then on playing many roles in police and historical dramas, as well as situation comedies. He was normally cast as a solid, reliable character with a down-to-earth attitude. From 1977 to 1981 he played PC Wilmot in Roy Clarke's series ''Rosie''. He played Milo Renfield in ''Dracula'' (1979) opposite Frank Langella, Donald Pleasence and Laurence Olivier. Haygar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Harker
Jonathan Harker is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. His journey to Transylvania and encounter with the vampire Count Dracula and his Brides at Castle Dracula constitutes the dramatic opening scenes in the novel and most of the film adaptations. Stoker appropriated the surname from his friend Joseph Cunningham Harker (1855–1920), a set designer at the Lyceum Theatre and father of actor William Gordon Harker (1885–1967) as well as great-grandfather of actress Polly Adams, whose actress-daughters Susannah Harker and Caroline Harker adopted the Harker surname for their stage names. In the novel Harker is a recently qualified solicitor from Exeter, who is deputed by his employer, Mr. Hawkins, to act as an estate agent for a foreign client named Count Dracula who wishes to move to London. Harker discovers in Carfax, near Purfleet, Essex, a dwelling which suits the client's requirements and tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trevor Eve
Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series '' Shoestring'' and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC television drama '' Waking the Dead''. He is the father of three children, including actress Alice Eve. Early life Eve was born in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, the son of Elsie (née Hamer) and Stewart Frederick Eve. His father was English, and his Welsh mother was from Glynneath. Educated at Bromsgrove School, he had little acting experience during his school days. He studied architecture at Kingston Polytechnic (now Kingston University) in London. He dropped out of the course after three years to enrol at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where, upon leaving, he was awarded The Bancroft Gold Medal. Career Eve portrayed Paul McCartney in Willy Russell's 1974 play '' John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert'' at the Lyric Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel ''Dracula'' by Bram Stoker. The 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family, she is Mina Murray's best friend and Count Dracula's first English victim. She subsequently transforms into a vampire and is eventually destroyed. Character history Lucy Westenra is a 19-year old woman, "blonde, demure, and waiting for the right man to come along to marry her". She is, however, not a passive woman: she has three suitors, and writes to her friend Mina that she would like to marry all of them, so none of them will feel sad. All three propose to her on the same day— Arthur Holmwood, the wealthy son of Lord Godalming; Quincey Morris, an American adventurer; and Dr. John Seward, a psychiatrist—and she chooses Holmwood. She is prone to sleepwalking and is attacked by Dracula, who gradually drains her of her blood until it eventually proves fatal. In her final moments, her vampiric side emerges and nearly tries to bite Arthur, but Luc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Francis
Janet Stephanie Francis (born 5 August 1947) is an English actress. She appeared as Penny Warrender in the 1980s romantic comedy ''Just Good Friends''. Early life Francis was born at the former Charing Cross Hospital London. She is the eldest child of Frank Francis, a clerical officer with the Agricultural Society, and Marjorie (née Watling), an employment agent, who were married in 1944. She was brought up in Streatham and was educated at the Lady Edridge Grammar School. After training as a dancer at the Royal Ballet Senior School from which she graduated in 1965, Francis performed with the Royal Ballet Touring Company in Britain, in the rest of Europe and the United States. Francis left the Royal Ballet in September 1969 to pursue an acting career. Acting Francis made the transfer to becoming an actress through choreography, and performed with the Cheltenham Repertory Company between 1969 and 1970. She first appeared on television in 1971, before landing BBC Television ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mina Harker
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker (née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. In the novel She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and best friends with Lucy Westenra. She visits Lucy in Whitby on July 24 of that year, when schools would have closed for the summer. Unlike her best friend, Mina is an orphan; who never knew her father or mother. After Mina's fiancé Jonathan escapes from Count Dracula's castle, she travels to Budapest and joins him there. Mina cares for him during his recovery from his traumatic encounter with the vampire and his brides, and the two return to England as husband and wife. Back home, they learn that Lucy has died from a mysterious illness stemming from severe blood loss as the result of repeated attacks by an unknown, blood-drinking animal. The animal, they learn, was none other than Dracula taking a different shape. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Seward
John "Jack" Seward, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula''. In the novel Seward is the administrator of an insane asylum not far from Count Dracula's first English home, Carfax. Throughout the novel, Seward conducts ambitious interviews with one of his patients, R. M. Renfield, in order to understand better the nature of life-consuming psychosis, or as he calls it, zoophagous. As a psychiatrist, Seward enjoys using the most up-to-date equipment, including using a recording phonograph to record his interviews with his patients and his own notes. Several chapters of the novel consist of transcriptions of Seward's phonograph recordings. One of the main contributions made by Dr. Seward is his recordings of the events depicted from his personal perspective as a doctor; allowing the reader to gain a scientific understanding of the behaviour of vampirism through his behavioural analysis of Renfield. He is best friends with Quincey Morris an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the Post-nominal letters, string of letters that follows his name: "Doctor of Medicine, MD, Doctor of Philosophy, D.Ph., Doctor of Letters, D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a Doctor (title), Doctor, Professor, Lawyer, Philosopher, Scientist and Metaphysic. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire hunter, vampire slayer, monster hunter and the archnemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypical Parapsychology, parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. ''Dracula'' In the novel, Professor Van Helsing is called in by his former student, John Seward, to assist with the mysterious illness of Lucy Westenra. Van Helsing's friendship with Seward is based in par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been inspired by the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler, who was also known as Dracula, and by Sir Henry Irving, an actor for whom Stoker was a personal assistant. One of Dracula's most iconic powers is his ability to turn others into vampires by biting them and infecting them with the vampiric disease. Other character aspects have been added or altered in subsequent popular fictional works. The character has appeared frequently Dracula in popular culture, in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals. Stoker's creation Bram Stoker's novel takes the form of an epistolary novel, epistolary tale, in which Count Dracula's characteristics, powers, abilities, and weaknesses are narrated by multipe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Cliff is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey, where Cædmon, the earliest recognised English poet, lived. The fishing port emerged during the Middle Ages, supporting important herring and whaling fleets, and was where Captain Cook learned seamanship and, coincidentally, where his vessel to explore the southern ocean, '' The Endeavour'' was built.Hough 1994, p. 55 Tourism started in Whitby during the Georgian period and developed with the arrival of the railway in 1839. Its attraction as a tourist destination is enhanced by the proximity of the high ground of the North York Moors national park and the heritage coastline and by association with the horror novel ''Dracula''. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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