Is there any possibility of agitating to get the Louis Jourdan version available on video or DVD? Honestly, I can't understand how something like that can be overlooked.
The Christopher Lee version I described, in which he descends the castle wall like a lizard, is the 1970 version directed by Jesus (accent mark on the "u") "Jess" Franco. It is as little known, it seems, as the Swedish-Irish co-production of "Frankenstein" which I've also talked about on this forum in the past. Both were low budget, but both had much higher claims to fidelity than any of the big budget productions. (And don't get me started on the bloated and awful Coppola and Branagh "interpretations", respectively ...).
Since I haven't seen the Louis Jourdan version -- and the Jesus Franco version falls apart in the middle (it comes close to redeeming itself in the final scene, which is again faithful to the book) -- the version I like the best is Dan Curtis'. True, he takes some liberties, and I especially disliked the changes regarding Jonathan Harker's fate (blame scriptwriter Richard Matheson), but it's still 10 times better than any other version I've seen solely because it respects Bram Stoker's novel thematically and plotwise -- something that few other productions seem to do (which I have never understood).
The Christopher Lee - Jesus Franco version also has the scene where Dracula returns with the bag squirming with a baby inside ... Klaus Kinski, is, of course, excellent as Renfield.
The Spanish settings (e.g., palm trees) are a little out of place in Whitby, England
... but as I mentioned, the dark, authentic castle interiors were the most realistic I've seen.
