Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast premiere of a classic mammoth made-for-TV vampire adaptation masterpiece.
“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast premiere of Dan Curtis’ “Dracula” (1974) with Jack Palance
British theatrical trailer for Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth made-for-TV movie masterpiece adaptation, “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) with Jack Palance; released theatrically in Great Britain by now-former British recording, film & technology giant EMI under the title of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula**.”
British EMI theatrical poster art for “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) with Jack Palance.
The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth monster/horror feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) this Sat., March 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The classic mammoth 1974 made-for-TV movie adaptation masterpiece of Bram Stoker’s gothic vampire novel, “Dracula” was directed by veteran TV and feature film director-producer Dan Curtis. Curtis was best-known for producing and directing his own classic mammoth ABC television network gothic horror masterpiece series production, “Dark Shadows” (1966-71) with Jonathan Frid (in the lead role of vampire Barnabas Collins) and Grayson Hall (in the lead role of Dr. Julia Hoffman, also of 1972’s “Gargoyles” fame). Curtis also directed two classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gothic horror feature film masterpiece adaptations of his ABC-TV “Dark Shadows” series; “House of Dark Shadows” (1970) with Frid and “Night of Dark Shadows” (1971, produced and released around the same time that ABC cancelled “Dark Shadows”). 20 years after the final ABC broadcast of “Dark Shadows,” Curtis reunited with MGM to produce a newer, short-lived primetime “Dark Shadows” series for rival network NBC in 1991 with Ben Cross in the role of vampire Barnabas Collins in the latter/brief Curtis/MGM/NBC “Dark Shadows” series revival.
Curtis was also involved with two classic mammoth ABC “Movie of the Week”/”Kolchak” made-for-TV movie supernatural masterpiece pilots, “The Night Stalker” (1972, produced by Curtis, directed by John Llewellyn Moxey) with Darren McGavin (of the 1958-59 “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” TV adaptation series fame and later of 1983’s “A Christmas Story” fame), Carol Lynley (of 1972’s “The Poseidon Adventure” fame), Claude Akins (later of TV’s “Movin’ On” fame and TV’s “B.J. and the Bear“/“The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” fame), Larry Linville (of TV’s “M*A*S*H” fame), Simon Oakland (of Alfred Hitchcock‘s “Psycho” fame, Peter Yates’ “Bullitt” fame and TV’s “Black Sheep Squadron”/”Baa Baa Black Sheep” fame), Ralph Meeker, Charles McGraw, Kent Smith, Elisha Cook Jr., Stanley Adams, Jordan Rhodes and Barry Atwater and “The Night Strangler” (1973, produced and directed by Curtis) with McGavin, Oakland, Jo Ann Pflug (of Robert Altman‘s 1970 “M*A*S*H” feature film fame), Wally Cox (of TV’s “Mister Peepers” fame and of interest to fellow Super Tooners/Super SvenPals of Toony & Bill’s “Toon In With Me,” of the vocal stylings of TV’s “Underdog“ fame), Margaret Hamilton (of 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” fame, 1940’s “The Invisible Woman” fame, 1960’s “13 Ghosts” fame and in the latter part of her acting career- “Cora” for TV commercials for Maxwell House Coffee ), Al “Grampa” Lewis (of TV’s “The Munsters” fame and of 1966’s “Munster, Go Home!“ fame), Richard Anderson (of 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” fame), veteran horror actor John Carradine, Kate Murtagh (of 1977’s “The Car” fame and on the album cover of Supertramp‘s “Breakfast In America“ fame), Nina Wayne, Virginia Peters, Ivor Francis, Diane Shalet, Anne Randall, Francoise Birnheim and Regina Parton/Ethel Parker. The two classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpieces later inspired the 1974-75 classic mammoth Universal Studios/ABC “Kolchak” supernatural masterpiece TV series, “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” with McGavin and Oakland reprising their roles from the two aforementioned classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece productions.
Curtis also produced and directed his classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV thriller-horror anthology movie masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black , Robert Burton, John Karlen, George Gaynes, Jim Storm, Kathryn Reynolds, Orin Cannon, Gregory Harrison, Tracy Curtis and the vocal stylings of Walker Edmiston. Curtis also directed the classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning Paramount Pictures/ABC made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece miniseries adaptation of Herman Wouk‘s “The Winds of War” (1983) with Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Ralph Bellamy, John Houseman, Topol (of 1971’s “Fiddler on the Roof” fame), Polly Bergen and Peter Graves and a follow-up classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece sequel miniseries adaptation that was produced entirely by ABC, Herman Wouk’s “War and Remembrance” (1988-89) with Mitchum, Bellamy, Topol, Bergen, Sami Frey, Robert Hardy, Jane Seymour and William Schallert.
For his made-for-TV adaptation of “Dracula,” Curtis co-produced his classic mammoth telefilm adaptation with veteran associate producer Robert Singer. Singer previously co-produced Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV masterpiece sequel, “The Night Strangler” (1973). Singer later served as executive producer of the classic mammoth Warner Bros./NBC sci-fi masterpiece series, “V” (1984-85) with Jane Badler, June Chadwick, Jennifer Cooke, Robert Englund (of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” fame), Faye Grant, Marc Singer, Jeff Yagher and guest appearances by Howard K. Smith (former news anchor/correspondent of rival networks CBS and ABC) and Duncan Regehr (of “The Monster Squad” fame).
Inspired by Bram Stoker‘s gothic novel, the screenplay for Curtis’ classic mammoth made-for-TV adaptation masterpiece production of “Dracula” (1974) was written by veteran author Richard Matheson. Matheson wrote the original story treatment for Jack Arnold’s classic mammoth Universal Studios sci-fi/fantasy/visual effects masterpiece, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957) with Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton, a pre-“Beverly Hillbillies” Raymond Bailey, William Schallert and Lock Martin (of 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still” fame).
He also wrote the screenplay adaptation of Roger Corman‘s classic mammoth American-International macabre-thriller-comedy masterpiece adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe‘s 1845 gothic poem, “The Raven” (1963) and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Elsie Lee for Jacques Tourneur‘s classic mammoth American-International horror-comedy masterpiece production of “The Comedy of Terrors” (1963/64) with Vincent Price, Joyce Jameson, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Joe E. Brown, Beverly Powers, Buddy Mason, Alan DeWitt, Douglas Williams, Linda Rogers, Luree Holmes, Charles Soldani, Harvey Parry, Paul Barselou and Orangey/Rhubarb the Cat. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg‘s classic mammoth Universal Studios action-adventure-thriller masterpiece production of “Duel” (1971, originally produced as a Universal/ABC made-for-TV movie masterpiece production and one of Spielberg’s earliest productions) with Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Lucille Benson, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell, Shirley O’ Hara, Gene Dynarski and Amy Douglass. Matheson also wrote the teleplay for John Llewellyn Moxey and Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece pilot, “The Night Stalker” (1972).
Curtis’s classic mammoth 1974 made-for-TV masterpiece adaptation of “Dracula” premiered on the CBS television network on Feb. 8, 1974; according to IMDB.
According to the Feb. 8, 1974 edition of the Hanover Evening Sun newspaper of Hanover, Pennsylvania; CBS programmed “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) after an episode of “Good Times.” Curtis’ “Dracula” feature adaptation was showcased on CBS opposite episodes of “The Girl with Something Extra” and The Dean Martin Comedy Hour/Dean Martin Celebrity Roast on NBC and episodes of “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “The Odd Couple” and “Toma” on ABC.
For the original Feb. 8, 1974 CBS big broadcast premiere of “Dan Curtis’ Dracula,” Curtis’ classic mammoth made-for-TV vampire/horror movie masterpiece adaptation aired on CBS-owned WBBM-TV Channel 2 in Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois and on a regional scale for the home region/home office of “Silver Screen Reflections;” the CBS/Dan Curtis adaptation of “Dracula” was showcased on WTOP-TV Channel 9 (which later became WDVM in 1978 and became W*USA 9 in 1986) in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland/Northern Virginia region and on the “Keystone Network” trio of CBS-affiliated TV stations for the Hanover/Gettysburg/York/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania viewing area at the time- the now-former WLYH-TV 15 (which was affiliated with CBS until 1995), WHP-TV 21 (which became the primary CBS affiliate for the Hanover/Gettysburg/York/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area after 1995) and WSBA-TV 43 (once linked to Pennsylvania’s Pfaltzgraff pottery business– which lost its CBS network affiliation after the station was sold in 1983 and became WPMT-43).
“Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) was pre-empted in Baltimore, Maryland by then-CBS affiliate WMAR-TV 2; a syndicated movie airing of “A Man Called Sledge” (1970, part of a Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems syndicated movie package the station bought at the time) aired in its place. CBS later switched affiliations with Hearst-owned (and future Me-TV affiliate) WBAL-TV 11 in 1981 (WBAL returned to NBC in 1995)– CBS would later move to Westinghouse/Group W-owned WJZ-TV 13 in Jan. 1995– shortly before Westinghouse/Group W (which also bought Chicago’s WXRT-FM 93.1/93XRT that same year) merged with CBS.
Who was in “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974)?
The players who appeared in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth CBS/made-for-TV vampire movie masterpiece adaptation production of “Dracula” (1974) were Jack Palance (as Count Dracula), Simon Ward (as Arthur), Nigel Davenport (as Van Helsing), Pamela Brown (as Mrs. Westenra), Fiona Lewis (as Lucy), Penelope Horner (as Mina), Murray Brown (as Jonathan Harker), Virginia Wetherell, Barbara Lindley and Sarah Douglas (as Dracula’s wives, Virginia Wetherell received credit under the name of Virginia Wetherall), George Pravda (as the innkeeper), Hana Maria Pravda (as the wife of the innkeeper), Reg Lye (as the zookeeper), Fred Stone (as the priest), Roy Spencer (as the clerk of the Whitby Inn), John Challis (as the Stockton-on-Tees clerk), Nigel Gregory (as the Midvale Shipping clerk), John Pennington (as the Richmond Shipping clerk), Martyn Read (as a member of the Coast Guard), Gita Denise (as Madam Kristoff), Sandra Caron (in an uncredited role as the maid of the Whitby Inn) and Eddie Powell (in an uncredited role as a patron of the Whitby Inn).
Silver Screen Reflections 
