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OHMSS and Dracula

LudovicoLudovico
in Literary 007 Posts: 15,117
I have mentioned in other threads the topic of this one and I thought it deserved a thread of its own: the similarities between Dracula by Bram Stoker and Fleming's OHMSS. I love both novels, I discovered the first one as a teenager, I read the latter much later in my life and it struck me right away that the whole part at Piz Gloria had an uncanny resemblance with the part where Jonathan Harker is in Dracula's castle.
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Comments

  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 5,993
    There's a more immediate connection : Joanna Lumley.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,798
    Yes, there's definitely a Dracula thing going on the way Bond shows up at a villain's lair, gets invited in, then does him in...
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Blofeld and Dracula have a lot in common: suddenly Blofeld is tall and thin, he has white hair, strong nose, etc. he may also have syphilis. Dracula is a recluse in his castle, an aristocrat to the outside world. Blofeld is a recluse in Piz Gloria and wants to be recognized as an aristocrat. Dracula has his three brides, Blofeld his angels of death. They are not vampires, but they bring diseases that they will unleash on the world. Dracula has mental control over his victims, Blofeld hypnotizes the girls and brainwashes them. Dracula wants to spread vampirism over England and the world. Blofeld, to unleash a disease. Jonathan Harker is invited to the castle, so is Bond to Piz Gloria. Both of them end up prisoners.
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    I like your analogies. I recall reading a reviewer who described the Bond villains not as descendants to Al Capone but to Count Dracula. :)
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    Great analysis, Ludovico! You're really on to something there. Dracula is also deeply proud of his heritage, and of course he goes after Harker's new bride, Mina. I think Fleming must have, on some level, been thinking of Dracula while writing OHMSS. Been a while since I've read the book, but I'll keep these connections in mind the next time I do.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    edited November 2014 Posts: 15,117
    Tracy is different to Mina though: she is more Mary Madeleine than Virgin Mary, so to speak. But both Bond and Harker have a girlfriend/fiancée/bride who will be victim of the hostile attention of the villain. Interesting also that Harker is a mild mannered Englishman, a barrister, while Bond plays a mild mannered Englishman.

    And true, both Blofeld and Dracula are proud of their heritage, and they even say a similar line: Blofeld says he is a de Bleuville as he can feel it in his blood, while Dracula says proudly that he has Attila's blood. Both of them, also, are shapeshifters.
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    Two of my favourite novels, studied Dracula at university. You make some interesting comparisons, the similarities between the two books never occurred to me.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,798
    fire_and_ice wrote: »
    Two of my favourite novels, studied Dracula at university. You make some interesting comparisons, the similarities between the two books never occurred to me.
    Me either, but now being pointed out, they are undeniably there, eh?
  • ohfilms1ohfilms1
    Posts: 112
    Another coincidence... Those are the only books I've read so far this school year! :-?
    Otherwise everyone else has good points.
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    chrisisall wrote: »
    fire_and_ice wrote: »
    Two of my favourite novels, studied Dracula at university. You make some interesting comparisons, the similarities between the two books never occurred to me.
    Me either, but now being pointed out, they are undeniably there, eh?

    Agreed, OHMSS is overdue for a revisit! Will certainly look for common themes.
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    This is very interesting.
    I'm ashamed to say that I haven't read Dracula.
    I've often thought about it but for some reason just have'nt picked it up. Perhaps this is the encouragement that I need.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Dracula is an amazing novel.
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 5,993
    Indeed. The curious thing is that I read it before seeing any of the movies. The first adaptation I saw of it was John Badham with Frank Langella. But my Dracula is and will always be Christopher Lee. Coppola's version may have been closer to the novel, but Lee was closer to the character than Gary Oldman was.

    There's still one difference between Dracula and OHMSS : the second is not an epistolary novel. And in the first,
    the bad guy doesn't get away
    .
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Coppola's version was a joke, borderline a porn trying to pass as art. Very unfaithful to the spirit of the novel. Dracula differs from OHMSS in many aspects, mainly because Fleming inspired himself from the first part of the novel. Consciously or subconsciously, I might add.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    edited November 2014 Posts: 4,399
    (deleted)
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    I do mind Coppola's Dracula, it was such an arrogant movie, and it was SO unfaithful to the novel claiming it was faithful, sickening really.

    But anyway, it is off topic. Fleming seems to have understood the novel very well. Another analogy: Dracula at some point uses the pseudonym Monsieur De Ville. Wich is of course a pun, but also quite close to De Bleuville.
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I do mind Coppola's Dracula, it was such an arrogant movie, and it was SO unfaithful to the novel claiming it was faithful, sickening really.

    But anyway, it is off topic. Fleming seems to have understood the novel very well. Another analogy: Dracula at some point uses the pseudonym Monsieur De Ville. Wich is of course a pun, but also quite close to De Bleuville.

    @Ludovico, I fully get that you don't like the film, but narrative-wise, Coppola's Dracula really was very close to the novel (of course with the major addition of the Dracula/Mina love plot and a few minor details like Renfield being Harker's predecessor). Tone is something else. The tone and atmosphere of Coppola's film are a bit all over the map, and there I would agree with you that it doesn't always line up with the book. But I'm curious (briefly, before we get back on topic, since you brought it up ;) ) if you think Coppola's Dracula was very unfaithful, which film do you think was more faithful to the novel?
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    I do like Coppolas Dracula, aspects of the movie make it one of the more faithful adaptions. What irratates me about many Dracula interpretations certainly more modern films, they mess about with it to much. Still don't feel there is a truly definitive Dracula on screen, though I do enjoy and respect Lugosi and Lee's films.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,798
    The 1958 Lee film is the most awesome IMHO.
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    I do love Hammer Dracula movies, one of my favourite being the Dracula absent film The Brides of Dracula. Probably one of the first vampire movies I watched. Cushing was excellent as always as Van Helsing.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Nosferatu was far more faithful than Coppola's pseudo Dracula ever was. The BBC adaptation was very faithful in its narrative, maybe the most faithful in the literal sense, but they made very bad changes and Louis Jourdan was miscast.
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Nosferatu was far more faithful than Coppola's pseudo Dracula ever was. The BBC adaptation was very faithful in its narrative, maybe the most faithful in the literal sense, but they made very bad changes and Louis Jourdan was miscast.

    Completely forgot about Nosferatu momentarily, superb film Max Schreck was genuinely convincing as a creature of the night.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Anyway back on topic... Blofeld looks like Drac.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    And then you have Draco. Coincidence?
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Funny I never thought about Draco.
  • CraterGunsCraterGuns
    Posts: 618
    Fleming directly references Castle Dracula in You Only Live Twice... I'm sure he probably read Stoker as a lad.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    CraterGuns wrote: »
    Fleming directly references Castle Dracula in You Only Live Twice... I'm sure he probably read Stoker as a lad.

    Oh yes I remember the reference in YOLT. Pretty much every teenage boy read Dracula. It was Winston Churchill's favourite novel when he was a young man.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    This is a very interesting thread. Congratulations, @Ludovico...
  • Villiers53Villiers53
    Posts: 802
    Bravo @Ludovico. It certainly is interesting and once I've read 'Moriarty' I'll be on with Dracula. You've broadened my mind.
  • NapoleonPluralNapoleonPlural
    Posts: 512
    I thought I was the one who raised this point on the OHMSS overrated thread, but a few posts earlier it is indeed Ludovico who first flags it up, and I hadn't concsiously noticed.
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