Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula has been adapted many times for stage and screen, from F. W. Murnau's plagiarism, Nosferatu (1922), to the Balderston-Deane stage adaptation (which served as the basis for the famous 1931 Tod Browning movie Dracula starring Bela Lugosi), all the way through to Gary Oldman's chilling performance of the Count in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 version. But by far the closest to the original novel is the little-known hour-long radio drama adaptation of Dracula directed by Orson Welles, which aired on July 11, 1938, and which is now available on CD from noirdame.com.
Mere months before his (in)famous 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, the 23-year-old up-and-coming Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater company were invited by Columbia Broadcasting to do a series of theatrical performances for radio. These were mostly adaptations of classic works of literature into hour-long radio plays. The first of these was the Mercury Theater on the Air's performance of Dracula.
In addition to directing the performance, Orson Welles, as was typical, also starred, playing the roles of both Dracula and Dr. Seward, who serves as the narrator. Although Welles follows the Deane convention of merging two of Lucy's suitors, Dr. Jack Seward and Arthur Holmwood, into one 'Dr. Arthur Seward' and dropping that pesky American, Quincey Morris, entirely, he otherwise adheres more closely to the novel than any other adaptation, before or since.
The audio drama is presented in the form of diary readings and newspaper clippings, much as in the book. As the radio drama is only an hour long, it is forced by necessity to cut out much of the novel, and some of the more memorable scenes are reduced to only a couple lines of dialogue. Nonetheless, much of that dialogue is straight from the book, Dracula's in particular. Orson Welles manages to bring a desperate intensity to his portrayal of Dr. Seward, wanting desperately to convince his audience of events even he can scarcely believe, despite his having witnessed and participated in them. Welles's performance as Dracula is even more powerful; the deep, accented voice he assumes for the character fully conveying Dracula's dark majesty and malevolence. Orson Welles literally becomes, at times, Dr. Seward, at others, Dracula. Mercury Theater on the Air actress Agnes Moorehead's performance as Mina is also impressive, managing to convey Stoker's competent yet feminine 'new woman' as she struggles against the supernatural forces seeking to conquer her.
The ending of the radio drama, however, is purely Welles's invention. (Has there ever been an adaptation of Dracula that adhered to Stoker's anticlimactic climax?) One gets the impression that Welles takes an almost palpable delight in leaving his audience guessing until the very end. And far be it from me to spoil such a masterful creation.
J.M. Comeau is a freelance writer from Massachusetts currently living in the wilds of Louisiana with a reference librarian, two cats, and many, many books.