For those hording toilet paper

 

I am currently watching Dracula's Daughter again, and while I have pretty much said all I have to say about it in prior times in the past, I do always find myself reminded of just how much of a presence Gloria Holden has as Countess Mariya Zaleska, the daughter of Dracula, since killed by Van Helsing in the classic Browning film only four years before. Holden, I don't know, just has this command when she appears, and it never wavers. She is of the classic actress of that period. But her eyes are magnetic and her aura of tragic vampirism as a curse for which she cannot escape provides much to take in. She gives in to the dark desires and abandons hope of "release". She simply decides she wants a specific man as hers for eternity. One great scene I like towards the end has Zaleska demanding her desired mate to rescue his secretary by giving himself over in exchange. I can't take my eyes off of Holden the entire time she's on screen. When Otto Krueger's psychiatrist's Jeffrey sees her for the first time, and seems bewitched (while his assistant, Marguerite Churchill, looks on in disapproval and jealousy), I understand why. I understand the descriptions of naysayers of its glacial pace and talky screenplay. It is grounded in the today contemporary of 1936, where science and superstition are debated as Van Helsing's sanity is under examination for putting an end to Dracula for good. There's the sexual tension and playful back-and-forth of Garth and Churchill's Miss Blake that often takes me right out of the film, but it does ultimately matter in the grand scheme of things as Zaleska uses their true feelings for each other as leverage. I am amused that the characters associated with Van Helsing (who might come to his defense) are written off as if they didn't exist. It is one of those classic Universal "nobody will notice" plot contrivances that sweeps under the rug most of what occurred prior to the next feature put on for horror audiences of the time. Why would Jeffrey Garth be Van Helsing's choice and not Doctor Seward, Harker, or Mina? I'm quite thankful that Holden is so alluring because Krueger and the rest of the cast kind of get on my nerves. It was nice to see Van Helsing in what is kind of a glorified bit part where he has a few scenes to defend himself and his "doing the world a service" by staking Dracula. But, for me, Zaleska and her deep-voiced brutish manservant, Sandor (Irving Pichel), whose role is pivotal is keeping his female master from escaping the darkness that has endured thanks to her lineage. Why she wasn't mentioned in Dracula and where she came from is never explained.