Lupita Tovar, star of Spanish DRACULA, dies at 106

Cafe Society
1

Wow! I had no idea she was still alive!

Lupita was one hot patootie in 1931’s DRACULA…in her low-cut gowns, much sexier than Helen Chandler in the English-speaking role. (The Spanish actors filmed on the same sets as Lugosi et al after they left for the day. For some reason the early talkie producers thought this would be cheaper than dubbing the original movie into Spanish. In the case of DRACULA, the Mexican movie people ended up with a much better picture.)

2

Sorry to hear that. I just re-watched the Spanish version just before Halloween. David J. Skal interviewed her and Raymond Huntley (who played the role onstage in London before Lugosi got the role) for his book [BHollywood Gothic**.

Ms. Tovar was much more animated in her role than Helen Chandler was in the American version, but that’s true of the entire Spanish cast. (LUpita played “Eva” rather than “Mina”).

I’ve never seen any of her other films.