It is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. This play in turn is based on the novelDracula by Bram Stoker.
In 2000, the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
References
↑"Dracula". The Film Daily (Volume 55) Jan-Jun 1931, February 15 Issue, Page 11.
↑Michael Brunas, John Brunas & Tom Weaver, Universal Horrors: The Studios Classic Films, 1931-46, McFarland, 1990 p11