Todd’s Serial Blog

DRACULA RETURNS: A UNIVERSAL SERIAL IN 13 CHAPTERS

Producer: Morgan B. Cox
Director: Lewis D. Collins
Photography: Gus Peterson
Script: Joseph Polland
Paul Huston
Barry Shipman
Music: Charles Previn
Make Up: Bud Westmore

Cast:

Larry Talbot: Lon Chaney, Jr.
Miliza Talbot: Martha O’Driscoll
Count Dracula: Bela Lugosi
Frank Raymond: Milburn Stone
Jack Halsey: Dennis Moore
Steinmuhl: Skelton Knaggs
The Frankenstein Monster: Glenn Strange
Kharis, The Mummy: Tom Tyler
Nina: Jane Adams
Inspector Krohl: Harry Cording
Hawkins: C. Montague Shaw
Miller: Edward Keene
Dr. Matthews: Bryon Foulger
Maleva: Maria Ouspenskaya

CHAPTER ONE: THE MYSTERIOUS VISITOR

In the city of Washington, D.C., sits an innocuous building, it houses the World Peace Organization, a United Nations created foundation to prevent wars and dictators from taking over the world. Miller, who is head of the organization calls for his colleague Miller to see him at once. When the other man arrives he is handed a report. After reading it he asks if it’s true. Hawkins nods. Miller says he can’t believe it, the man is supposed to be dead. Hawkins counters with the statement that such reports have been made in the past and are always wrong. Luckily their best agent Frank Raymond, who has a few unbelievable abilities himself is on the case. Miller hopes Raymond is successful.

It is night at the office of Dr. Mathews. He is startled at the sudden appearance of two men in his office. One is short and the other tall. The tall man keeps himself in the shadows while addressing Dr. Mathews with a thick accent and inquires about powering up the Springfield Death Ray. Mathews laughs and says that Death Ray was lost some time ago in Africa after Dr. Springfield’s first test destroyed a mountain top and scared all of his native porters away.

The accented man replies that he has found the machine and demands to know how to power it up. Dr. Mathews is amused and says that even if he did have the Springfield Death Ray it would be useless to him as it was powered by the extremely rare element Callotyne, and all known sources were used up on the first experiment. The only other way to power the machine would be to augment it for some kind of organic power supply, but that’s impossible as no human being has enough electrostatic energy to do it.

While Mathews was talking the stranger examines a large ceramic urn. He asks what’s inside. Mathews replies tanna leaves, he had been examining them for the Scripps Museum. The stranger replies that that is very interesting and takes the urn, preparing to leave. Mathews tries to prevent him and is effortlessly cast aside. The stranger tells his companion to take care of the professor and then leaves the room. Hearing a gun shot, he is soon joined by the smaller man and they both leave, the smaller man asking what the leaves are for and the stranger replies that he will explain later.

After they are gone a heavily bundled up man steps out of the shadows. He goes into Dr. Mathews’ office but leaves a minute later to follow the two men who had just left.

In the village of Visaria lives Larry Talbot and his wife Miliza. Talbot is enjoying his favorite past time, standing in front of an open window and letting the light of the full moon bath down on him. Miliza is setting the table for dinner and asks if he is ever going to get tired of that. Talbot replies never. A knock sounds at their door. Talbot goes to open it and is clubbed down by a small man with the butt of a gun. As he falls to the floor, the small man enters and Miliza recognizes him as Steinmuhl who had one time worked for her late employer, Dr. Eddleman. Steinmuhl says that he going to make her pay for the death of his brother, who was killed by Eddleman.

The tall stranger enters and says no, Miliza is his. He steps into the light and reveals himself to be Count Dracula. Miliza gasps and says that it is impossible, Dracula is dead. Dracula laughs and tells her that Eddleman made the mistake of leaving his remains in his coffin after using sunlight to kill the vampire. He simple regenerated and hid while regaining his strength. Dracual wants to know what became of Eddleman. Miliza explains that Talbot shot the physician after he had killed his misshapen nurse, Nina, and revived the Frankenstein Monster. Eddleman’s house was burned to ground along with Monster.

Dracula says that that is too bad as he had hoped to use Eddleman. But now he has come to reclaim Milliza as his. Suddenly Steinmuhl screams. Everyone turns and sees that where Talbot had fallen now stands the Wolf Man, growling and ready to spring. Miliza cries that Steinmuhl’s blow must have damaged the surgery Edelmann had performed and caused Talbot to revert back to a werewolf. Dracula wastes little time and changes into a bat so he can fly away out the open window. Steinmuhl fires several ineffective gunshots at the approaching werewolf before jumping out the window himself.

The Wolf Man turns his attention to Miliza. She backs into a corner away from him as he slowly pads toward her, growling. Suddenly his legs tense to spring at her. Miliza screams in terror.

NEXT WEEK-CHAPTER TWO: THE MUMMY AWAKENS