The Wolf Man (1941)

A practical man returns to his homeland, is attacked by a creature of folklore, and infected with a horrific disease his disciplined mind tells him can not possibly exist.

Director:

George Waggner

Writer:

Curt Siodmak (original screenplay)

Stars:

Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	The Wolf Man (as Lon Chaney)
Claude Rains	...	Sir John Talbot
Ralph Bellamy	...	Col. Montford
Warren William	...	Dr. Lloyd
Patric Knowles	...	Frank Andrews
Bela Lugosi	...	Bela
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Maleva
Evelyn Ankers	...	Gwen Conliffe
Fay Helm	...	Jenny Williams
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Charles Conliffe
Forrester Harvey	...	Twiddle

Storyline

Upon the death of his brother, Larry Talbot returns from America to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits a gypsy camp with village girl Jenny Williams, who is attacked by Bela, a gypsy who has turned into a werewolf. Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten during the fight. Bela's mother tells him that this will cause him to become a werewolf at each full moon. Larry confesses his plight to his unbelieving father, Sir John, who then joins the villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Larry, transformed by the full moon, heads for the forest and a fateful meeting with both Sir John and Gwen.

---

Plot Keywords:

werewolf | wolf | full moon | gypsy | wolf man | 

---

Taglines:

"His hideous howl a dirge of death!"

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Destiny

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$180,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this movie, we're told that a werewolf is "a human being who becomes a wolf at certain times of the year ... 'when the wolf-bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright,'" and the moon is never depicted in the film. This is the only one of the Universal series of Wolf Man films in which the full moon is never shown. In the sequel, the folklore is changed to "when the moon is full and bright."

---

Goofs

Talbot refers to Captain Montford, when the credits show him as Colonel Montford.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Chauffeur: Talbot Castle, Mr. Larry.

---

Connections

Featured in Beethoven (1992)

User Reviews

All things to make this an horror classic are present here.

Horror films mainly in the '30's and 40's needed 3 good things to make it a successful one. A good story, a good 'monster' and good actors. "The Wolf Man" truly is a movie that has all those ingredients present.

"The Wolf Man" is written by one of the best writers of the genre in that period; Curt Siodmak. It also has the 'luck' that it stars Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. Three of the biggest names of that period. Let's face it people, Lon Chaney Jr. isn't that much good of an actor but he still is some sort of an icon with a kind of cult status which makes him extremely good for playing 'monster' parts in movies like this. Lugosi's role is extremely limited and in the few scene's he's in he's terribly overacting. Fans of him will be terrible disappointing by this. Also a legendary person in this is Maria Ouspenskaya. She might not be terribly legendary as an actress but she surely is as an acting teacher. One of her students was Lee Strasberg who later became the teacher of actors such as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. He is probably still best know for portraying Hyman Roth in "The Godfather Part II" for which he also received an Oscar nomination but lost to his own protégé De Niro (Also for "The Godfather Part II".). Another protégé of her was Stella Adler who became the mentor of Marlon Brando. This all to just indicate how legendary Maria Ouspenskaya was.

As for this movie itself; it has a fantastic atmosphere and simple but very effective story with some nice moments in it. The Wolf Man himself has grown into one of the legendary movie monsters and this is the one role that Lon Chaney Jr. will always be remembered for. He later reprise his role as Larry Talbot/Wolf Man in "Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein", "House of Dracula", "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" and "House of Frankenstein".

For the fans of classic horror movies this is a must see. Most other 'normal' people will probably just shrug while watching this movie but they should still be able to appreciate the atmosphere and the fine actors and story.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/