Random 'Nosferatu' Blatantly Defied Copyright Laws To Become An Illegal, Vampiric Cinematic Masterpiec (10 items)

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  (#1) Prana Films, The Company That Produced 'Nosferatu,' Was Cofounded By A European Occultist

  In 1921, businessman Enrico Dieckmann and partner Albin Grau founded Prana Films. Grau was a member of the Fraternitas Saturni, a sect that practiced many of Aleister Crowley's teachings. Both men were keen on producing films to promote occult ideas, and Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was to be their first. Grau was also the film's production artist, and his beliefs influenced the expressionistic look and overall spirit of the film. 

  However, the filmmakers never got permission for their loose version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Ultimately, they declared bankruptcy in order to avoid litigation for copyright infringement from the author's widow, Florence Balcombe Stoker. 
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  (#2) The Film Was Allegedly Inspired By A Romanian Peasant Who Believed His Father Was A Vampire

  Nosferatu as we know it may not have existed without the horrors of WWI as an influence. Albin Grau was a soldier on the Serbian front while serving in the German army. It was there that he met a farmer who told him his father had become a vampire. This story was the seed for Nosferatu, which took much of its plotline from Bram Stoker's Dracula.

  Grau was not the only member of the project to have participated in WWI. Nosferatu director F. W. Murnau and lead actor Max Schreck both saw action during WWI, and their experiences color the film.

  As a nod to the conflict, Nosferatu is brimming with fog and rats, dangerous elements all-too-familiar to veterans. Fog and smoke obscured the battlefields, and rats were constant pests and carriers of disease. Like Orlok, their presence was accompanied by mass illness, and Orlok himself appears to have more in common with cadavers and rodents than the handsomely described Count Dracula.
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  (#3) 'Nosferatu' Diverged From Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula' In A Few Key Ways

  Though based on Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu differs from its source material in a few key ways. When Count Dracula became Count Orlok, his bites no longer turned his prey into new vampires, but simply ended their lives. And whereas Stoker's Dracula is only weakened by sunlight, Count Orlok is disintegrated by it.

  In this sense, Nosferatu had a greater impact on future vampire lore than Dracula, as the nature of vampire bites and vampires' lethal vulnerability to sunlight would be shared by such films and TV series as Interview with the Vampire, True Blood, and Salem's Lot. These series feature handsome and beguiling vampires, which is more akin to Dracula than Nosferatu. However, other works of fiction play with the idea that, as a vampire reaches extreme old age, they bear greater resemblance to Orlok than they do Dracula. This is seen in films like Blade II, What We Do in the Shadows, and Dracula Untold.
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  (#4) Bram Stoker’s Widow, Florence Balcombe Stoker, Immediately Sued Prana Films For Copyright Infringement

  The plots of Nosferatu and Dracula are basically the same: An English clerk goes to meet a new, mysterious client in Eastern Europe, leaving his wife behind, only to learn that his client is a fiendish vampire who intends to prey on his wife. The word "nosferatu" is even referenced in Dracula, being an Eastern European term (thought to be Romanian in origin) for the undead. 

  Nosferatu's filmmakers might have gotten away with making their film had its marketing not declared it to be "freely adapted" from Dracula. Prana never sought permission to use the story in the first place. After its release, someone sent Stoker's widow, Florence Balcombe Stoker, the promotional materials and program from the Berlin premiere to let her know it existed. 

  Balcombe, who was the literary executor of her husband's work, lived off of a small amount of royalties from the novel and was furious that there was an unauthorized version of her late husband's work out there. She immediatly sued for copyright infringement, and Prana claimed bankruptcy to avoid the suit.
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  (#5) A Judge Ordered Every Copy Of ‘Nosferatu’ And Its Original Negative To Be Destroyed

  With Prana in bankruptcy, there was no way Florence Balcombe Stoker would ever collect any money, but she stuck with the lawsuit nonetheless. The next best thing she could do was ensure the film would never be seen. With the help of a judge, she nearly succeeded in getting her wish.

  The judge ordered that all copies of the film and its negative were to be seized and burned. Nosferatu nearly became a forever-lost silent film classic - but fate had other plans. 
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  (#6) A Few Copies Survived The Purge And One Came To The US, Where ‘Dracula’ Was Already In The Public Domain

  While most copies of Nosferatu were wiped out, a few were spared. One made it to US shores, where Dracula was already in the public domain. Bram Stoker never filed for copyright in America, so the film was legal in the United States.

  More copies were made, and over time, Nosferatu became a horror classic - much to Florence Stoker's dismay. She continued to round up any copies she could to prevent the spread of the film in Europe, but she couldn't stop it from catching on. So, she decided to beat Nosferatu in a different way. 
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  (#7) Florence Balcombe Stoker Did Approve A Number Of ‘Dracula’ Plays

  Stoker's widow wasn't against all adaptations of his novel, just Nosferatu because it was unauthorized. She gave permission for Dracula to be performed as a play in Dublin in 1924.

  Three years later, the play was introduced to the US for the Broadway stage. It played for a year in New York with newcomer Bela Lugosi cast as the Count. It was a hit with audiences, and the show toured the country for another two years, all with Mrs. Stoker's blessing.
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  (#8) Hollywood’s ‘Dracula’ Starring Bela Lugosi Didn't Come Out Until 1931, Nine Years After ‘Nosferatu’

  The first horror film talkie, Dracula, was a departure from Nosferatu and had Florence Stoker's blessing. Based on the stage play, it featured Bela Lugosi, who originated the role on Broadway. Behind the scenes, Lugosi played middleman between Universal and Florence Stoker to get her to lower her price for the novel's rights. After two months of negotiations, Stoker agreed to reduce her asking price from $200,000 to $60,000.

  The Dracula film soon became a smash hit. When Lugosi's character hit the screen, he was not only the embodiment of evil, but also an object of desire. The Count made him a superstar overnight. 
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  (#9) 'Nosferatu' Has Had Its Own Remake And Continues To Influence Vampires In Film 

  Despite the success of Dracula, Nosferatu has never been forgotten. Instead, it's only gotten more popular, and, like Dracula, it has been remade.

  In 1979, director Werner Herzog released Nosferatu the Vampyre, with Klaus Kinski as Count Orlok. By the time Herzog created his version, Dracula had fallen out of copyright in Germany. As it was now in the public domain, Herzog restored the original character names. 

  Nosferatu's Count Orlok has also influenced other vampires in movie history. In Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Oldman's Count Dracula is a mix between Lugosi and Schreck, and Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows has one vampire, Petyr, who shares a distinct resemblance to Count Orlok. 
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  (#10) 'Shadow of the Vampire' Tells A Fictional Story Of The 'Nosferatu' Production 

  The making of Nosferatu also has its own movie, Shadow of the Vampire, which features John Malkovich as director F.W. Murnau. Willem Dafoe plays Count Orlok, an actual vampire who poses as actor Max Schreck. The film veers between horror and outright comedy as the film crew tries to accommodate the whims of its ambitious director and bizarre star.

  In Shadow, the crew is told Schreck is so committed to his part that he'll never break character and only film at night. One night, Albin Grau (Udo Kier) asks Schreck what he thinks about Stoker's novel. The vampire's response is one of the more interesting and moving parts of the film: 

  It made me sad... Dracula hasn't had servants in 400 years and then a man comes to his ancestral home, and he must convince him that he... that he is like the man. He has to feed him, when he himself hasn't eaten food in centuries. Can he even remember how to buy bread? How to select cheese and wine? And then he remembers the rest of it. How to prepare a meal, how to make a bed. He remembers his first glory, his armies, his retainers, and what he is reduced to. The loneliest part of the book comes... when the man accidentally sees Dracula setting his table.

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