Click2Flicks - Shadow of the Vampire - Chapter 7

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE</p> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" size=4>CHAPTER 7 - <i>NOSFERATU</i></b></font></p> <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3"><i><a href="http://www.williams.edu/Individuals/jshepard/productionbookcover.htm" target="_blank"><b>Nosferatu</b></a></i>, the silent film that still defines the <a href="http://www.internettrash.com/users/murnau/nosf05.jpg" target="_blank"><b>horror</b></a> genre, died a quick public death. At least that was <a href="http://www.france2.fr/images/dractab1.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Florence Stoker’s</b></a> intention. Thanks to pirated copies, the film (<a href="http://www.internettrash.com/users/murnau/nosf19.jpg" target="_blank"><b>unlike Dracula</b></a>) survived a court order to burn all negatives and copies.</p> <p>Trouble followed Murnau’s failure to get story-use permission from <a href="http://thelema.drak.net/seabrook/homage/stoker.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Bram Stoker’s</b></a> estate. By changing the character names and slightly altering the story line, Murnau thought he could evade copyright restrictions. The famous Count ("Graf") became <a href="http://www.williams.edu/Individuals/jshepard/nosferatupressbook.htm" target="_blank"><b>Orlock</b></a>, not Dracula. Locations were altered: Bremen for London; Germany for Transylvania. But the essence of the film was the essence of Stoker’s book. Litigation quickly followed release of the movie.</p> <p>The film was brilliant, but Bram Stoker’s widow (with whom he had had an unhappy marriage) was adamant. Even though sales of <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0451523377.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif" target="_blank"><b>the book</b></a> (which had been rather limited) would have improved with a popular movie, Florence filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in England against <a href="http://www.internettrash.com/users/murnau/murnau4.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Murnau</b></a> and his film company.</p> <p>It didn’t take much for the judge to see through the cosmetic changes. The <a href="http://rhs.jack.k12.wv.us/sthrills/nosfer/nosfersb1.htm" target="_blank"><b>story</b></a> was <a href="http://rhs.jack.k12.wv.us/sthrills/nosfer/nosfersb2.htm" target="_blank"><b>clearly</b></a> based on Bram Stoker’s work. The court ordered all negatives and copies of the work to be burned.</p> <p>Of course, an order by a British court wasn’t easily enforced in Germany and <a href="http://thesync.com/ram/nosferatu_56.ram" target="_blank"><b><i>Nosferatu</i></b></a> survives, in a reworked format, today. (Follow the link to view it. Be mindful of the download time. The film, located at thesync.com, is approximately 80 minutes long. If you only have a 28.8 modem, click <a href="http://thesync.com/ram/nosferatu.ram" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.)</p> <br> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="shadow_vampire_ch6.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>     <a href="shadow_vampire_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER  </a>   <a href="shadow_vampire_ch8.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </body>