We rented the restored DVD of the 1931 Dracula. Man, it’s great. I’ve got a question here.
It appears that our dear Count Dracula is wearing a large pendant in the shape of a Star of David. Is that indeed what he was wearing, and do any Dracula fans know why?
Cartooniverse
I would imagine that his pendant is meant to be some sort of military medal, sign of noble rank, or other distinguished award. Maybe some other Doper recognizes it?
Man, he’d be screwed if he needed all his food kosher.
My guess is that if he was wearing one, it was simply because the prop-master was looking for a unique religious symbol that he wouldn’t have to make from scratch.
Sam, I was inclined to go with that before I posted but…ya know…he’s wearing a Star of David but a Crucifix repulses him? I dunno…digging too deep? Maybe it was just a neato prop found in the drawer.
I didn’t start the thread, by the way , to start a range war on religious iconography- I was wondering if there was something in Dracula Lore that pointed to that icon??
Shalom 
Are all six-pointed stars a “star of David?”
From my coin knowledge, there are Morroccan coins as recent as the 20th century with a six-pointed star. Hardly a Jewish state.
I said, Star of David, not Israeli Flag. However, I’m not looking for a fight, honest. The symbol is thousands of years old… and yes, is used in the Arab world as well. I was just wondering if any film historians knew of the reason for it.
I meant no offense to any Morroccans out there, ok?
I’m not sure if this is related, but someone I knew was doing some research into the origins of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the immigration of Jews from Eastern Europe to England. I’m not in contact with her at the moment, so I can’t ask her for permission to post what she wrote, but the Star of David might be an allusion to that.
(How’s that for a vague post!)
I think that having a meddalion is a common part of the whole Vampire look, I seem to remeber the real Vlad having some medallion that was a big deal. As for why he has a six point star I have no idea, I always guessed that they were trying to give him something that was kind of pentacle like to give the evil satanic feeling, and miscounted or something. 
It may not be clear from my use of pronouns but the second sentence refers to the Dracula in the movie, not Vlad.
Damn. What a time to mislay my copy of David J. Skal’s HOLLYWOOD GOTHIC.
By the time I locate it and gather up the answer, that damn Eve will be in here being the hero again.
In the meantime, how about a joke about his changing his name from Draculowitz? No? I didn’t think so.
Actually, if you watch a lot of different types of Anime that have demonic references in them, you will see that they also use the Star of David instead of the actual pentagram. I think they did stuff like that to make it look demonic without really using the actual symbols. I guess it’s a taboo of sorts.
Yeah, you’re gonna be eatin’ Eve’s dust. Again. 
Count Draculipschutz? 
I thought it was because the Japanese tend to be nearly as clueless about Western religions as Americans are about Eastern religions.
Well, I’ve yanked out my copy of Hollywood Gothis, David J. Skal’s book on bringing Dracula from book to screen. The only picture of Drac with a medallion are those from the early “Transylvania” portion of the film.Bela doesn’t wear the mdallion at any other point in the film, and didn’t wear it on stage. No ther Dracula picture in the book (other actors, other films) have the medallion. Although, curiously, the picture of Lugosi in his coffin (when he really did die, in 1956) seems to show him wearing it (!).
It does, indeed, appear to be a six-pointed star. But that’s not exclusively a “STar of David”, and doesn’t imply he’s Jewish. If it were, all those sheriffs in the Wild West should’ve been wearing yarmulkes. (And how did Melrooks miss that opportunity in Blazing Saddles?)
Well, I’ve yanked out my copy of Hollywood Gothis, David J. Skal’s book on bringing Dracula from book to screen. The only picture of Drac with a medallion are those from the early “Transylvania” portion of the film.Bela doesn’t wear the mdallion at any other point in the film, and didn’t wear it on stage. No ther Dracula picture in the book (other actors, other films) have the medallion. Although, curiously, the picture of Lugosi in his coffin (when he really did die, in 1956) seems to show him wearing it (!).
It does, indeed, appear to be a six-pointed star. But that’s not exclusively a “STar of David”, and doesn’t imply he’s Jewish. If it were, all those sheriffs in the Wild West should’ve been wearing yarmulkes. (And how did Melrooks miss that opportunity in Blazing Saddles?)
Re: the Eastern European immegrant/vampire thing.
Close connection.
A couple years ago there was an article in the James Joyce Quarterly linking Leopold Bloom (Ulysses) with vampirism- using, of course, the old blood libel. I mention this because Stoker himself was a Dublin man.
Also, the vampire is closely tied symbolically in Stoker’s work (and others) with sickness and plague- which would have run rampant through immigrant quarters.
But I doubt that’s why he’s wearing it. It might actually be a joke. I believe it was Carl Lammele at Universal then…widely known, apparently, as a nice guy who would adopt you like his own (the rhyme about him went something like “Uncle Carl Lammele/has a very large family”) A lot of the studio heads were Jewish at the time, too…what better poke?
Cyn
Yes, it is a Mogan David.
This is the old ‘Jews=blood suckers’ bit.
aka ‘blood libel’.
In the early scenes, you see villagers putting a small child in a safe place as the sun sets. - “Jews kidnap Gentile babies and drink their blood” is another varient of the theme.
you can thank the RCC for this one.
Yes, Tom~, I know it was never official doctrine :rolleyes:
Seems unlikely to me. Certainly there’s nothing in the book, play, or film to suggest this. Considering that it only shows up in the Transylvania scenes in the original Bela Lugosi version (and not even in the simultaneously filmed on the same set Spanish version with Lupita Tovar) you can’t claim that this is emblematic of vampirism and vampire lore as a whole, or of Dracula, or even opf Balderston and deane’s take on Stoker’s novel. All you really have is that six-point star shape (and a cup is a damned cup), which would, as I note, condemn every Western with a sheriff.
Heck, director Tod Browning put armadillos in the Transylvania scenes. Do you think he was somehow involving sinister Mexicans?