Here are the choices -
Greta Schroeder (Nosferatu - 1922)*
Helen Chandler (Dracula - 1931)
Melissa Stribling (Horror Of Dracula - 1958)
Jan Francis (Dracula - 1979)
Winona Ryder (Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1992)
Peta Wilson (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - 2003)
What's your favourite?
*Yes, I know she's called Ellen, but it's basically the same character.
I Love Hammer Films But Peta Wilson was Hot
shareAs much as I love Hammer and Universal, I think Winona Ryder did a fantastic job. BTW, I can't stand Greta Schroeder... I loved Nosferatu, but she was the most annoying 'Mina' EVER!!
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=All&id=squid_vicious
In the 1979 Dracula, we really should be talking about Kate Nelligan in the Mina role, even though the names of Mina and Lucy were switched.
However that may be, Melissa Stribling is the best onscreen Mina, if only for the sly suggestive smile she gives her husband the day after her first encounter with Dracula. It's a wicked, fun moment.
As for Winona Ryder, she was terrible -- it was like watching a high-school production of Dracula, tailored to young female viewers who like Harlequin Romance novels
In 1977 there was a Dracula made for GREAT PERFORMANCES with Louie Jordan. Mina was played by Judi Bowker and I always thought her the perfect Mina. She was lovely and seemed so delicate but, inside, she was very strong and at one point she seems to know far more than Van Helsing and all the men around her, trying to save her. I just really appreciated her character and she will always be my favorite Mina.
sharebeckeis wrote:
"In 1977 there was a Dracula made for GREAT PERFORMANCES with Louie Jordan. Mina was played by Judi Bowker and I always thought her the perfect Mina. She was lovely and seemed so delicate but, inside, she was very strong and at one point she seems to know far more than Van Helsing and all the men around her, trying to save her. I just really appreciated her character and she will always be my favorite Mina."
Having read the book recently, I can attest, in the novel, Mina was the most intelligent person in the story. Professor Van Helsing's major flaw in the novel was holding back too much information. The fact that he didn't tell others what was going on led directly to Lucy's death, and later, when the entire group of vampire hunters were already weeks into their work, the decision to start leaving Mina out of things "for her own protection" almost led to HER death! Ever since I read that, I've suspected that Stoker may have written it that way as a subtle stab against that sort of sexism. A mild change in the BBC adaptation was making Van Helsing (Frank Finlay) a bit LESS culpible in what went wrong. While very close to the book, Finlay's Van Helsing was more likable as a character. (It also strikes me his version of Van Helsing was the one Mel Brooks based his later portrayal on.)
Louis Jourdan - and yes that was a great adaptation.
shareI agree with you steve about Melissa Stribling. That smile made her look like the cat that swallowed the canary!
shareI have to say I liked Greta Schroeder best. I thought her preformance was great (though over-the-top by today's 'talkie' standards). And I think she was the most attractive...sometimes vintage is better!
So I would put them in this order:
1) Greta Schroeder (Nosferatu - 1922)*
2) Melissa Stribling (Horror Of Dracula - 1958)
3) Jan Francis (Dracula - 1979)
4) Helen Chandler (Dracula - 1931)
5) Winona Ryder (Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1992)
6) Peta Wilson (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - 2003)
"The face of evil is ugly to look upon. And as the pleasures increase, the face becomes uglier."
"Jan Francis (Dracula - 1979"
Jan Francis was actually playing the Lucy role but they switched the names of the characters around.
"I don't need to fight to prove I'm right. I don't need to be forgiven."
It's not a great movie, but the Mina from LXG comes closest to the way she was in the book- a smart, vulnerable "new woman".
"Don't shoot at me- I'm the comic relief!"- MST3K
Maria Rohm as Mina Harker in Bram Stroker's Count Dracula 1970 with Christopher Lee as Count Dracula.
This was the first film version of the novel in which Dracula began old and became younger as he fed upon fresh blood.
Lupita Tovar (Dracula 1931 - Spanish Version!!! Once you get past the subtitles this version has a better Mina and clearer ending.
shareMy favorite is Helen Chandler, by far. I just love her looks as well as the haunting way she played the role.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop
Lupita Tovar as "eva" in the 1931 spanish version beats the crap out of Helen Chandler.
Edit:
Now that I've seen the 1977 version, I'll rank all the Minas I've seen:
1. The Mina from the Novel, and by turn, Judi Bowker, although some of her actions were trimmed out of the 1977 version, such as her hypnosis that allowed her to show the way to Dracula's Castle, and the fact that she made back-ups of everyone's journal entries so everyone was kept in the know-how.
2. Lupita Tovar. Even though the Spanish Version fell pray to the same butchuring of the plot the English Version did, Tovar at least played the Complete and utter Damsel-in-distress part Mina was reduced to with dignity.
3. Amy Yasbeck. Basically replaying Maid Marian from "men in tights" all over again, but the movie called for that kind of performance, being a parody.
4. Melissa Stribling again, plays the damsel part with dignity.
5. Helen Chandler is AWFUL, But it's not entirely her fault, seeing as the film was subject to censoring that removed any sense of horror or emotion and virtually non-existent direction.
How you can make the world a better place:
Don't shop at Wal-Mart.
Judi Bowker in the 1977 Count Dracula. Not only was she beautiful and intelligent, but she was also tough. In that version, during the battle with Dracula's gypsy servants, she shoots one of them -from a distance with her rifle- when one of them is about to kill Jonathan.
I agree that Van Helsing was portrayed as far more likeable in that version. For example, he doesn't reveal his reasons for the garlic flowers with Lucy because her mother is ill and he doesn't want to put more stress on her.