Dracula A.D.1972 – 1972

A Hammer production released by Warner Brothers
Copyright MCMLXXII Hammer Film Productions Limited – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
RCA Sound System
Made at Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, England
Colour Processed by Humphries Laboratories 95 mins
Storyline
In London in 1872, Count Dracula is destroyed by his arch enemy Van Helsing. The action then moves forward a hundred years to swinging Chelsea, where a bunch of really cool, but very bored, cats hang round a coffee bar. To liven things up, one of their number, Johnny Alucard, who just happens to be a disciple of the Devil, suggests holding a Black Mass in a local de-sanctified church. During the service, as planned by Alucard, Dracula is resurrected and immediately sinks his fangs into Laura, one of the girls. His main objective, though, is to have his revenge on the Van Helsing family, one of whom, Jessica, is a member of the gang of pretty young things…..
Watch the trailer on YouTube
Crew
Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits |
Alligator Man by | Sol Valentino | 1 | ||||
Assistant Art Director | Ron Benton | 2 | ||||
Assistant Director | Robert Lynn | 53 | 9 Jun 1918 | 15 Jan 1982 | 63 | 6 |
Camera Operator | Bernie Ford | 1 | ||||
Casting Director | James Liggat | 52 | 1920 | 28 Sep 1981 | 61 | 29 |
Construction Manager | Bill Greene | 9 | ||||
Continuity | Doreen Dearnaley | 43 | 20 Nov 1928 | 3 Feb 1992 | 63 | 13 |
Designer | Don Mingaye | 43 | 1929 | 8 Nov 2017 | 88 | 25 |
Directed by | Alan Gibson | 33 | 28 Apr 1938 | 5 Jul 1987 | 49 | 8 |
Director of Photography | Dick Bush, BSc | 40 | 1 Dec 1931 | 4 Aug 1997 | 65 | 3 |
Dubbing Mixer | Bill Rowe | 40 | 2 Feb 1931 | 29 Sep 1992 | 61 | 10 |
Editor | James Needs | 52 | 17 Oct 1919 | 2003 | 83 | 111 |
Hairdressing | Barbara Ritchie | 44 | 1928 | 1990 | 62 | 2 |
Make-up | Jill Carpenter | 2 | ||||
Music Composed by | Michael Vickers | 30 | 18 Apr 1941 | Living | 79 | 1 |
Musical Supervisor | Philip Martell | 64 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 103 |
Produced by | Josephine Douglas | 45 | 6 Oct 1926 | 12 Jul 1988 | 61 | 1 |
Production Manager | Ron Jackson | 34 | ||||
Production Supervisor | Roy Skeggs | 37 | 1 Apr 1934 | 29 Dec 2018 | 84 | 45 |
Recording Director | A.W. Lumkin | 58 | 2 Feb 1913 | 25 Oct 1985 | 72 | 30 |
Recordist | Claude Hitchcock | 53 | 8 Nov 1918 | 4 Oct 2010 | 91 | 14 |
Screenplay by | Don Houghton | 42 | 1930 | 1 Jul 1991 | 61 | 20 |
Sound Editor | Roy Baker | 44 | 1 Jul 1927 | 1 Feb 2011 | 83 | 29 |
Special Effects | Les Bowie | 58 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 32 |
Wardrobe Supervisor | Rosemary Burrows | 36 | ||||
You Better Come Through by | Jim Barnes | 1 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Appearances |
Anna | Janet Key | 26 | 10 Jul 1945 | 26 Jul 1992 | 47 | 2 |
Bob | Philip Miller | 1 | ||||
Charles | Michael Daly | 1 | ||||
Count Dracula | Christopher Lee | 49 | 27 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 |
Crying Matron | Jo Richardson | 1 | ||||
Gaynor | Marsha Hunt | 25 | 15 Apr 1946 | 74 | 1 | |
Greg | Michael Kitchen | 23 | 31 Oct 1948 | 72 | 1 | |
Hippy Boy | Brian John Smith | 1 | ||||
Hippy Girl | Penny Brahms | 21 | 1951 | 70 | 1 | |
Inspector | Michael Coles | 37 | 12 Aug 1934 | 26 Apr 2005 | 70 | 2 |
Jessica Van Helsing | Stephanie Beacham | 23 | 28 Feb 1948 | 73 | 2 | |
Joe Mitchum | William Ellis | 28 | 4 Jan 1943 | 78 | 1 | |
Johnny Alucard | Christopher Neame | 24 | 12 Sep 1947 | 73 | 2 | |
Laura | Caroline Munro | 22 | 16 Jan 1949 | 72 | 2 | |
Matron | Lally Bowers | 54 | 21 Jan 1917 | 18 Jul 1984 | 67 | 1 |
Mrs Donnelly | Constance Luttrell | 80 | 9 Mar 1891 | 10 Sep 1983 | 92 | 1 |
Police Surgeon | Artro Morris | 45 | 17 May 1926 | 11 Feb 2014 | 87 | 1 |
Professor Van Helsing | Peter Cushing | 58 | 26 May 1913 | 11 Aug 1994 | 81 | 24 |
Footnotes
Exactly why Hammer got involved in this fiasco can easily be explained by the fact that Warner Brothers were actually very keen to finance an updated version of the Dracula myth. What they got, though, was a film which was dated even before its release, but which is worth seeing because it is now funnier than any of the comedies produced by Hammer!
On a more serious note, it does seem that the Company was by this time on the slippery slope, desperately looking for something to restore them to their winning ways.
Despite everything, however, it should be added that Messrs. Cushing and Lee manage to deliver performances well up to their usual high standard, although Christopher Lee does seem to have a slightly bemused expression throughout!
Stephanie Beacham starred again with Peter Cushing in Amicus’s “..,and now the Screaming Starts” (1973).
Caroline Munro had come to Hammer’s attention thanks to the Lambs Navy Rum adverts in which she had appeared (one of the posters can in fact be seen plastered to the side of the bus garage in “On the Buses”).
She also appeared in Hammer’s “Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter” (also 1972).
In the 1950s, producer Josephine Douglas presented, along with Pete Murray, BBC TV’s legendary pop music show “Six-Five Special”.
Incidentally, the trick of reversing ‘Dracula’ to produce the name ‘Alucard’ was not a new one and the idea had been used by Universal Pictures in their “Son of Dracula” (1943, with Lon Chaney, Jnr).
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection