When talkies arrived, American studios began shooting foreign-language versions for international and non-English-speaking domestic markets, at the same time they filmed the English versions.
A second crew—including a different director and stars—shot at night on the same sets used during the day for the English version of the Bram Stoker classic starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Tod Browning.
The Spanish version of the film, which is 20 minutes longer, has been lauded as superior to the English one. The Spanish-language crew had the advantage of watching the English dailies and improving on camera angles and making more effective use of lighting.
Directed by George Melford (best known for the Valentino sensation “The Sheik”), the Spanish version starred Carlos Villarías (billed as Carlos Villar) as Conde Drácula, Lupita Tovar as Eva Seward, Barry Norton as Juan Harker, and Pablo Alvarez Rubio as Renfield.