The Wolf Man (1941)
by Robbo
Posted on 22 November 2021
Rating -
The Wolf Man is a 1941 American horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner.
The title character has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood’s depictions of the legend of the werewolf.
The film is the second Universal Pictures werewolf film, preceded six years earlier by the less commercially successful Werewolf of London (1935).
The film opens with Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returning to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to bury his recently deceased brother and reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains).
While there, Larry falls in love with a local girl named Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) who runs an antique shop.
As an excuse to talk to her, he purchases a walking stick decorated with a silver wolf’s head, and Gwen tells him that it represents a werewolf (which she defines as a man who changes into a wolf “at certain times of the year”).
Various villagers recite a poem whenever the subject of werewolves comes up:
May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.
Later that night, Larry attempts to rescue Gwen’s friend, Jenny, from what he believes to be a sudden wolf attack. He kills the beast with his new walking stick, but is bitten on the chest in the process.
A Gypsy fortune teller named Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) reveals to Larry that the animal which bit him was actually her son Bela (Bela Lugosi) in the form of a wolf.
She also reveals that Larry will transform into a wolf as well since he who is bitten by a werewolf and lives will turn into one himself.
From her, Larry learns that silver is the only thing that can kill a werewolf.
Just like Maleva warned, Larry transforms into a werewolf on the following full moon and kills several villagers.
He returns to normal the next morning initially with no memory of his rampage, but the recollection of his crimes gradually returns to him, leaving him horrified and wracked with guilt.
The night of the next full moon, he begs his father to restrain him to prevent him from hurting anyone else. Nevertheless, he becomes a werewolf once again, breaks free of his restraints, and attacks Gwen.
Seeing that his son is doomed to become a werewolf and kill innocent people as long as he lives, Sir John reluctantly puts Larry out of his misery by bludgeoning him over the head with his own silver-headed cane. The movie ends with Sir John and Gwen watching in horror as the dead werewolf transforms into Larry’s human corpse.
I must admit that of all the Universal monsters, the Wolf Man is one of my favourites.
Casting proved problematic, the part initially written for Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi campaigning hard, Universal eventually cast contract player, Lon Chaney Jr. And the rest as they say is history. Chaney and the Wolf Man would forever be joined.
The Wolf Man originated many of the modern werewolf myths, such as a person becoming a werewolf through a bite, the only way to kill a werewolf is with a silver bullet, and werewolves and their victims being marked with pentagrams.
Jack P. Pierce would design the werewolf makeup for Werewolf of London, but Henry Hull felt it was too concealing and opted for a lighter version so Pierce would resurrect the original makeup for this film.
Lon Chaney Jr. brings some warmth to the character of Larry Talbot, a good natured, amiable and warm hearted, yet tragic character with a bumbling charm. You really feel invested in the film and care about what happens to the character with the ending of the film being heartbreaking, a father having to kill his own son.
I know that this film would be considered tame by today’s standards, but I still find it atmospheric and thrilling, one of Universal’s best and one of the finest horror films ever made.
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