Nosferatu: The Dracula That Wasn't

Anyone who has ever had any dealings in the area will tell you that copyright is a tricky thing, with lots of nuances and caveats surrounding it. But that’s not a new scenario, of course, as proven by the vampire classic by FW Murnau, Nosferatu.

Released in 1922, Nosferatu was pretty openly an interpretation of Dracula, made despite the Stoker estate – led by Florence Stoker – refusing to sell the rights to the book. The production company, Prana Film, was set up by Enrico Dieckmann and Albin Grau, who had wanted to make a vampire movie since 1916. Of course the team behind the film were sharply aware of the situation as per copyright, which led to a range of changes – though some early versions of the film still included the Dracula title card.

Those alterations saw the introduction of Max Schreck as the iconic Count Orlok – probably one of the definitive horror performances even to this day – and Gustav Von Wangenheim in the role of Thomas Hutter, a loose version of Jonathan Harker from the original novel. His wife Ellen Hutter (Greta Schroder) takes the role of Mina Harker, with Professor Bulwer (portrayed by John Gottowt) in lieu of Van Helsing.

The story was of course moved to Germany and shot in the Expressionist style that had been brought to the fore by 1920’s The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. But despite all these changes, the copyright infringement case was more than apparent – not helped by the aforementioned title card referring to Dracula. While the author himself had been dead for a decade when Nosferatu was released, it is understandable that his widow Florence was incensed at the film’s claim to be an adaptation without any rights purchased or permission granted.

Florence would pursue the company behind Nosferatu, Prana Film, for damages, and the company declared bankruptcy in 1924 having released just one movie. But even stronger action was to come from the German courts – they requested that all copies of the movie be destroyed, and also that any planned screenings be cancelled.

Given this background, it’s incredible that Nosferatu didn’t become a lost film – it survived by virtue of a single copy making its way to the US, where Dracula was out of copyright due to an administrative error. More copies were created and maintained through a handful of film collectors, though sadly Murnau’s original negatives were lost in the cull of the movie.

Max Schreck’s Count Orlok is in many ways typical of the Dracula before the stage play, the Derby Dracula that has become so known and loved across multiple mediums. Orlok is unpleasant, physically unappealing and distinctly ‘other’ – a monster far more in line with Stoker’s novel than the Count who would step onto the stage at The Grand Theatre in 1924. This first redefinition of Dracula would lead to the acclaimed and highly successful film version of 1931 – directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi – and inspired by the theatrical version that premiered in Derby. And thankfully this one did not have to fight any copyright battles, being licenced by the Stoker estate.

There is plenty more to the story, of course, and I’m sure we’ll revisit Nosferatu in these pages as we go along. But if you think that copyright wrangling and lawsuits are a modern development, this film of more than a century ago says otherwise…