The NEW release of Dracula – the fully restored version with scenes that didn’t appear in the original release, is now on doing the rounds at selected cinemas throughout the UK and overseas I should think.

I saw it again yesterday at the wonderful Kinema in the Woods in the beautiful tree line village of Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire.

The cinema was quite full and seeing it again on the big screen after all these years was a real treat. When I first saw it – probably in 1958 – it scared the life out of me – and seeing it again I could maybe understand why.

Christopher Lee was menacing and quite frightening as Count Dracula. Peter Cushing was equally good as Van Helsing. The final confrontation was very well staged with Peter Cushing energetic and athletic as he fought with the Count

Both of them played their parts as though they were living in the roles. When we first see Count Dracula after Jonathan Harker has arrived at the Castle, he walks up to the screen and is close-up delivers the lines – ‘ I am Dracula – Welcome to my home’ – we see his commanding prescence and sheer power that we later see, he has over his victims

Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

ABOVE – Michael Gough – a renowned actor of many films who lived to be 94 and was a very busy man appearing in 205 films and TV shows from 1946. In this I didn’t think he was at his best

Dracula 1958

Melissa Stribling

Melissa Stribling Smith was born in Gourock on 7th November 1926. Little is known of her time in Gourock except that it was short: she moved with her family to England by the time she was in her teens. She worked as a cutting-room assistant at the famous Ealing Studios: here she met her future husband, director Basil Dearden. It wasn’t long before the photogenic Melissa made the jump from behind-the-scenes to on the screen: she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and was soon starring in films, starting with 1948’s The First Gentlemen, and television, starting with 1952’s The Locked Room.

Melissa is probably most famous for her role as Mina Holmwood in 1958’s Dracula, the first of the legendary Hammer Horrors featuring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. The film was notorious for its shockingly violent & provocative content, with Melissa’s performance as Mina a particular focus for moral indignation (and, in later years, praise for accomplished acting):

Melissa continued to work as a character actress over the course of 30 years: some of her notable roles in film & television in addition to Mina Holmwood include Lady Conyngham (The First Gentleman, 1948, film debut); Amanda North (Murder Reported, 1953); Joanna Brent (Crucible of Terror, 1971); Mrs Langley (Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson, 1979); & Lady Boeing (Paris by Night, 1988, final film role).

The 2008 Royal Mail Stamp which featured Melissa Stribling & Christopher Lee

Melissa died on 22nd March 1992. 16 years later, Melissa was the first Scottish woman to be depicted on a Royal Mail stamp when the Royal Mail commemorated the 50th anniversary of Dracula in 2008, and only the fourth Scot after Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns, and David Livingstone.

Melissa Stribling was married to Film Director Basil Dearden. His last film was ‘The Man who Haunted Himself’ with Roger Moore. Roger Moore tells the story that in the film he played Mr Pelham who eventually dies in a car crash filmed closed to Pinewood Studios when his car hit a bridge in the film. Soon after the film was completed Basil Dearden also was killed in a crash very similar to the one he had only recently filmed at or near the same bridge

———————————————————————————————————

Also In the film ‘Dracula’ was Carol Marsh – I really liked Carol Marsh – her lovely face and looks really appeal to me and I find her so magnetic – every scene she is in, her looks just draws you to her and ‘Dracula’ was no exception

She had a meteoric start to he film career when she had the female lead in ‘Brighton Rock’ opposite Richard Attenborough and then went on to play Alice in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and then after ‘A Christmas Carol’ things seemed to stall. ‘Salute the Toff was made in 1951.

She was busy though in this period – she appeared in a BBC Drama adaptation of ‘Time and the Conways’ in 1950 – that would have gone out ‘live’ in those days and she also played Alice – this time on stage – in ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ at the Princes Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue and that was in 1954. I have seen a picture of her in this production with Margaret Rutherford and that was from the Wimbledon Theatre – so maybe it was transferred there

Much later she played again in the West End in the very famous Agatha Christie play – ‘The Mousetrap’

I went the see ‘Dracula’ at the famous ‘kInema in the Woods’ at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire

The Kinema in the Woods is one of the most appealing and unusual Cinemas in the country if not in the world. It is situated in the beautiful town of Woodhall Spa in mid Lincolnshire.

In it’s 100 years life the Kinema in the Woods has had just three owners/managers; Major Carleton Cole Allport, James Green and now Philip Jones.

In an age of multiplexes, the Kinema is a mere minnow among the big chain ranks, but with four screens and the latest laser projection plus Dolby 7.1 sound in its most recently added screen, it’s technologically right up-to-date. Despite this the cinema retains its charm