Orson Welles inspires a lot of “isn’t it a shame he never made/finished X” among film buffs –the unmade King Lear and Heart of Darkness, all the incomplete films. My own personal “isn’t it a shame” was isn’t it a shame he never made Dracula. Welles had a taste for thrillers, they weren’t just ways to pay the rent for him, and his adaptation of Dracula was the first work for Mercury’s radio show.Because Dracula was written in diary form it adapts very well to radio. This is a passionate, full blooded production; it would have made a terrific movie, very much in line with Coppola’s Dracula (which was surely influenced by Welles – maybe even this production). The bond between Mina and Dracula is well evoked, Welles gives a strong performance in the lead (you could imagine him playing Van Helsing just as well). Welles also plays Jonathan Seward. The silly music sting is laughable but they stop doing it after a while (maybe they realised it).
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