Werewolf Flicks: The Wolf Man (1941)

Along with seeing both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein for the first time, the best memory I have from that weekend before Halloween in 1998 is seeing this, yet another movie I read about extensively in school library books, such as the Crestwood House series. And while he unsuccessfully tried to pull me away from Bride of Frankenstein that Saturday afternoon, my cousin Mikey was interested in The Wolf Man. He and I tried to watch it late that night but he couldn't stay awake, although we did make it to the first time Larry transforms. Fortunately for me, it aired again the next day and I got to see it, more or less, in its entirety, and I've loved it ever since. Like the original Frankenstein, this is not only one of my favorite Universal films but one of my favorite horror movies period, as well as movies in general. In fact, if Frankenstein is number two on my list of favorite horror films, The Wolf Man is right behind it at number three. There are a lot of reasons for that, but a big one is the simple fact that I love werewolves and this is most definitely the werewolf movie to end them all. Not only is it the most influential, with just about every werewolf flick taking something from it, consciously or not, but it's also exactly how I've always imagined werewolf stories ever since I was a little kid, from the look of the Wolf Man himself to the foggy forests, the gypsies, the mythology, and so on (the fact that I saw Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man when I was very little added to that notion). Moreover, this happens to be the first classic Universal horror film I ever owned on VHS, with my mother buying it for me in November of '98, when were visiting relatives in Wisconsin. But it's not all nostalgia. Despite some admitted flaws and elements that haven't aged well, I think this is a genuinely well-made, well-written, and well-acted movie, with palpable themes of fate and tragedy, as well as an interesting parallel between the character of Larry Talbot and Lon Chaney Jr. himself.

After living in America for many years, Larry Talbot returns to his ancestry home in Wales upon hearing the news that his older brother has died in a hunting accident. Arriving at Talbot Castle, he manages to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot, whose relationship with his son had always suffered due to the attention Larry's brother received due to being next in line for the lordship. He helps his father install a telescope in the castle's observatory and, while using it to peer around the village, spots Gwen Conliffe, a lovely young woman who lives and works at an antique store. Instantly taken with her, Larry heads to the store and, while attempting to make conversation, buys a walking stick with a silver wolf's head, decorated with a star. Gwen tells him it represents the werewolf, that the star, a pentagram, is both the mark of the werewolf and that of his next victim. She also tells him of an old poem pertaining to the creature's nature. That night, Larry joins Gwen and her friend, Jenny Williams, on a visit to a camp of gypsies in the nearby forest. During a palm-reading session, the fortuneteller, Bela, suddenly becomes frightened and frantically sends Jenny away. She runs off into the forest, where she's attacked by a large wolf. Hearing her scream, Larry tries to save her and manages to beat the wolf to death with his cane, but is bitten in the chest in the process. Gwen and Maleva, an old gypsy woman, take him home. There, Paul Montford, chief constable, is told that Jenny has been murdered and, upon investigating the scene, also finds Bela, dead from a crushed skull, and with Larry's cane by the body. Larry is told of this the next morning but insists what he killed was a wolf. However, the bite mark on his chest has disappeared. Back at the gypsy camp that night, Maleva, Bela's mother, warns Larry that her son was a werewolf and that he will now become one himself. Larry, of course, doesn't believe her, at first. But when a gravedigger is killed by having his throat torn out and Larry finds muddy footprints leading into his room from the window sill, he begins to fear that she may actually be right.

When talking about The Wolf Man, there are two people on the creative side who can be credited with making it the movie it is. One is screenwriter Curt Siodmak who, at that time, had worked on the scripts for movies such as The Invisible Man Returns, Black Friday, and The Invisible Woman. When he was tasked with reviving this project that had been originally initiated by Robert Florey's screenplay in 1931, he threw out everything but the title and did his own thing, drawing a lot on his experiences of being a Jew in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. He also went for a more psychological approach in his original screenplay, leaving it ambiguous as to whether Larry Talbot actually was a werewolf or if he simply was under the delusion that he was, very much like the approach Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur took with Cat People the following year. Most significantly, Siodmak created many of the tropes that are now often associated with werewolves: the pentagram, silver being the only thing that can kill them (that had been used in some obscure folklore and literature but this was the first film to use and popularize it), and the famous poem, which many have thought was an actual gypsy rhyme. Although, as we'll see, some of the most famous parts of the mythology were either retained from Werewolf of London or, surprisingly, not featured in this original film at all. Regardless, the success of The Wolf Man led to Siodmak working on many other Universal horror films in the 40's, as well as writing and even directing such films for other studios on into the 1960's.

And then, of course, there's producer-director George Waggner, fresh off working with Lon Chaney Jr on Man Made Monster earlier in the year. As I said in that review, The Wolf Man is Waggner's most well-known film by far and, like with Man Made Monster, his direction, for the most part, isn't very elaborate but it's deft, to the point, and effective, making for a very entertaining movie. Most significantly, he decided to eschew Siodmak's more psychological take and make it very clear that Larry is a werewolf, while retaining a number of dialogue scenes discussing the psychological bent to the material, as well as the more subtle approach to the initial werewolf. And though there are a few hiccups, the film, as whole, still works very well, with the two approaches not clashing in the way you'd expect. After The Wolf Man, Waggner not only produced many more Universal Horrors of the 40's but continued to write and direct. He largely turned to television during the 50's and 60's, directing episodes of Wagon Train, Maverick, Cheyenne, The Green Hornet, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the Adam West Batman show (the latter three all being among his final credits). He died in 1984, at the age of 90. 

It's a cliche, I know, but Larry Talbot is the role Lon Chaney Jr. was born to play, in more ways than one. It's been written about many times how the role must've been a very personal one for Chaney: Larry has been away from home for eighteen years, feeling neglected and undervalued due to his older brother, as heir to their father's lordship, getting all the attention. In fact, he's only returned home because his brother has recently died in a hunting accident, making him the new heir, a fact that, as Sir John himself mentions, speaks volumes about their relationship, or lack thereof. However, Larry doesn't seem to bear a grudge against his father at all. He very happily greets him when he arrives at Talbot Castle, telling him he's glad to be there, and later tells him that he's kept up with him in the news and was proud of him for winning a coveted award for research. And even though he and his brother were probably more estranged, Larry seems genuinely sad about his death, as well as guilty about having been gone for so long and not being able to patch things up. The parallels with Chaney's real life, where he too was estranged from his father, and was only able to pursue his own dream of acting after his father, who forbid it, died, are quite striking. What's more, while he doesn't come out and say it, Larry does seem a bit uncomfortable with the idea of running his father's estate, which Sir John feels is a foregone conclusion. The same can be said of how studios assumed and even pressured Chaney into following in his father's footsteps, to the extent of making him change his name from Creighton to Lon Jr. (and even dropping the "Jr." altogether here), something he always very reticent about. But what's sad is that, while Larry and Sir John are able to put their differences aside, and even decide to be more open with each other, Chaney would never get the chance to do so with his actual father.

But besides thematic parallels, Chaney just gives a great performance. I've found that he often polarizes people with his acting, with some even finding performance here to be off-putting, but, for my money, while he did play some roles he probably shouldn't have, he's perfect as Larry Talbot. From the opening, where he's being driven to Talbot Castle, and is smiling while smoking a cigarette, he comes off as a likable, charming, and happy-go-lucky individual. Despite the emotional baggage of his brother's death and his estrangement

from his father, he's able to put it behind him and happily reconciles with Sir John. He is, however, a bit of a playboy, trying to gain Gwen Conliffe's affections after he sees her in her bedroom window through a telescope (I don't know if people thought about it back then or not, but that's more than a little creepy and has not aged well at all), coming to her shop and, after awkwardly asking to see the earrings she was wearing before, decides to buy a walking stick just as a pretense to talk with her. Despite her continuously blowing off his attempts

to arrange a date, he shows up outside her shop that night and joins her and Jenny Williams in visiting the gypsy camp to have their fortunes told. He's clearly disappointed that it's not just him and Gwen, but while Jenny is having her fortune told, he has Gwen walk off into the woods with him. She admits to being engaged but that doesn't stop Larry; when she says, "In fact, I really shouldn't be here," he comments, "Oh, but you are here." Like the telescope thing, that kind of aggressiveness

would not fly today, including when he later goes in for a kiss, despite now knowing of Gwen's engagement, but Larry never comes off as a potential rapist, either. He's also quite heroic, in several ways. When he hears Jenny scream and comes upon her being mauled by a wolf, he actually takes the wolf on with his bare hands, and beats him to death with his cane even after he jumps at him and bites into his chest. The following night, when Maleva tells him that he

himself is now a werewolf and gives him a charm that she says can break the spell, Larry, though skeptical, gives it to Gwen to protect her from him, just in case. And when he later sees the pentagram in her hand, signaling that she's to be his next victim, he runs away from her, telling her to stay away from him.

When first told of Bela the gypsy's death and his walking stick being found as the clear murder weapon, Larry is confused and distraught, insisting that he killed a wolf. Moreover, when he tries to prove it by showing them the bite mark, there's no sign of it. Soon, he finds this supposed murder has made him a pariah in the village, along with Gwen, who's accused of adultery. One really touching moment is when he goes to the church where Bela's body is taken to pay his respects. Overhearing Maleva speak one last time to her

dead son, Larry is overcome with grief when she leaves and breaks down in tears by the coffin. Going to the Conliffe store, Larry is enraged when several townswomen blame Gwen for Jenny's death and sends them fleeing out of the store. When talking to Gwen herself about it, Larry becomes frustrated when she suggests that maybe her telling him about werewolves made him only imagine there was a wolf. He then meets Frank Andrews, Gwen's fiancee, and is troubled when Frank ignores his offer for a handshake, instead

staring at his walking stick. He's further disturbed that night at the gypsy camp, when he and Frank play a carnival type shooter game and one of the targets is a cutout of a wolf, which he's unable to shoot. After that, he runs into Maleva, who tells him that Bela was a werewolf and offers him a charm that she says can break the spell. Having had it up to here with all this, Larry exclaims, "Evil spell. Pentagram, wolfbane! Oh, I'm sick of the whole thing! I'm gonna get out of here!", when

Maleva tells him, "Whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives becomes a werewolf himself." Larry lets her see the wound when she asks and she sends him out, telling him, "Go now, and heaven help you." Again, Larry, though not entirely convinced, has enough doubts to give Gwen the charm to protect her from him. And then, he sees that the gypsies are packing up and leaving. He asks one what's going on and, in a panic, he exclaims, "There's a werewolf in camp!"

When Larry awakens in his room the night after the first transformation, he not only sees the pentagram on his chest but finds muddy, animal-like prints leading from the window sill to his bed. Between that and learning that Richardson, a local gravedigger, was killed by an apparent wolf the night before, and despite what local psychiatrist Dr. Lloyd suggests, Larry is now quite sure that he is indeed a werewolf. Any lingering doubt he might have is evaporated when, as the Wolf Man, he steps into a steel trap in the woods and awakens there

later as a normal man. With Maleva's help, he escapes and goes to Gwen, telling her that he's leaving. He also tells her that he's a murderer when she tries to go with him, and when he sees the pentagram in the palm of her hand, he panics and runs out of the store, telling her to stay away from him. When confronted by his father, Larry tries to make Sir John understand that he's a werewolf, even showing him the pentagram, but he believes his son is simply deluded. He also refuses to let his

son run away and, before the moon rises next, straps him to a chair in a room where the windows are locked and the door is bolted as a way to prove that the werewolf exists only in his imagination. Learning that Sir John is going to leave him by himself, Larry insists that his father take his cane with him, which he does. In this, the last time we see Larry himself alive, he's accepted his fate and given his father the weapon necessary to kill him, as well as to save Gwen when he attacks her. 

The movie makes you wait until 42 minutes in before you see the Wolf Man himself, and even then, he's only in three scenes total, but that doesn't stop him from instantly becoming one of the greatest classic movie monsters ever. Everything about him is just cool, from his design and costume to Lon Chaney Jr.'s great physical performance, be it when he's stalking the woods to how aggressive and frantic he gets when he steps into the metal trap, thrashing around wildly while trying to free himself. He may not be as much of a character as past monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Imhotep, the Invisible Man, or even Wilfred Glendon's werewolf, as he's just a savage beast who attacks anyone he sees, but that doesn't make him any less effective. As cool as he is, it is truly tragic to know that a nice guy like Larry has been cursed to periodically become this monster for the rest of his life. Also, his savagery is truly horrific, like how, when he attacks Richardson, the gravedigger, he lunges at him, grabs him, bites into his jugular, and forces him to the ground, and also how ferocious and rough he is when he attacks Gwen during the climax. His dog-like snarls and growls make him all the more intimidating, and I wish they'd kept them in the later movies, instead of going for more typical monster vocals. And his offscreen howls are pretty bone-chilling. Honestly, my only gripe about him is how he never got a sequel all to himself, as the rest of the movies he appeared in were monster mashes. In my opinion, he deserved at least one more solo movie before they went that route.

Six years after it was rejected for Werewolf of London, Jack Pierce finally got to make use of the makeup he designed for the initial version of The Wolf Man back in the early 30's. The result was a character just as iconic as Frankenstein's monster and the Bride, and for many years, was the popular image of a werewolf: bipedal humanoid form, hairy hands with claws, fur all over the body, and a face with vaguely canine features, like fangs and a dog nose. Said nose was a rubber piece that not only covered Chaney's own nose but also his upper

lip, went up and covered his brow, went down his cheeks, and reached under his lower lip. The hair was, as with other makeups, yak hair that was glued to his face in layers with spirit gum, and Pierce would then singe it with a curling iron to make it look more wild. Like Henry Hull before him, Chaney only wore a set of lower teeth with sharp canines. The hands were hairy, clawed gloves and the feet were hard, rubber boots. This was most definitely the beginning of Chaney and Pierce's love/hate relationship, as Chaney found the makeup really uncomfortable and itchy, and he hated Pierce's meticulous application process, as well as the three hours it would take to remove the makeup.

Although Werewolf of London made use of the lap dissolve transformation technique, with film of various stages of makeup application overlapping, this and the other films featuring the Wolf Man are what popularized it and made it the norm for werewolf transformations for decades. However, in this first film, you don't get the expected shot of Larry's face as he changes; instead, the one and only onscreen man-to-wolf transformation focuses on his bare feet and lower legs, with more and more hair developing and his toes and feet turning

wolf-like. You see them change back the second time, when the Wolf Man is caught up in the trap, and when he's killed at the end, you see him go from the Wolf Man back to Larry (it's believed that, in this last instance, Pierce made Chaney up in the usual manner but printed the film in reverse). It wouldn't be until Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man a couple of years later that we would finally get to see Larry's face as he changed, a sign of how visual effects man John P. Fulton improved the technique as the movies went on.

As Sir John Talbot, Claude Rains comes across as something of a stern father figure but also sympathetic, eager to reconnect with his son and regretting his part in why he left home eighteen years ago. Not only does he admit that it's become a sad tradition for the younger Talbot sons to grow frustrated with their brothers' attention and leave, he adds, "The whole business is probably my fault. You see, the tradition also insists that the Talbots be the stiff-necked, undemonstrative type, and frequently this has been carried to very unhappy extremes." With that, he has them shake hands, declaring, "Let's decide, you and I, that, between us, there shall be no more such reserve." Following that, Sir John is amazed when Larry shows off his mechanical skills by adjusting the observatory telescope's opticals, and later encourages him to get to know the villagers, since, as he says, "They're your people." (He seems to also encourage him to continue seeing Gwen Conliffe, even though, since Frank Andrews is the game warden for his estate, he should know of their engagement.) When Larry is suspected of murder following the deaths of Jenny and Bela, Sir John sticks up for his son, refusing to believe he's a killer. He decides Larry and Bela came to Jenny's rescue when she was attacked and Bela was killed in the chaos. He also explains away Larry's disappeared wound by saying he just imagined that the wolf bit him when he jumped at him. And when he sees how Larry struggles at the shooting stand when a wolf cutout pops up, he just says, "He's high strung." 

The morning after his first night as the Wolf Man, Larry asks his father about his opinion on legends involving werewolves and Sir John tells him that, to him, it's a way of explaining away the good and evil in every human being, as well as how different people view the issue of right and wrong. Having mentioned the mental illness of lycanthropy, he tells Larry that, while he doesn't believe someone can actually change into a wolf, "I do believe that most anything can happen to a man in his own mind." Later, when Larry talks with Dr. Lloyd

about how someone could hypnotize themselves into thinking they're a werewolf, Sir John argues with Lloyd about what's best for him. Though Lloyd suggests sending Larry away, Sir John won't have it, as he believes the best way for him to be cured is to prove his innocence. As Dr. Lloyd suggests, he may care a little too much about the reputation of his family's name. The following evening, when Larry insists that he's a werewolf and that he needs to leave, Sir John becomes angered, believing that Maleva has filled his mind

with nonsense that has led to this "delusion." As a type of shock treatment, he straps Larry to a chair to prove to him that it is all in his mind, before leaving to join the hunt for the wolf. To placate his son, he takes his silver-tipped cane with him. But later on, as they wait for the wolf to appear, Sir John slips away from the group, when he runs into Maleva. He confronts her about what he feels she's done to Larry, but she then asks him, "Why aren't you back there, at the shooting stand?... Were you

hurrying back to the castle? Did you have a moment's doubt? Were you hurrying to make sure he's all right?" He admits he was going back to be with Larry, when he hears the distant sounds of gunshots. Rushing back, he eventually comes across the Wolf Man attacking Gwen. When the werewolf lunges at him, Sir John uses the cane to defend himself, unknowingly bludgeoning his own son to death. The look of shock, horror, and utter grief on his face when he realizes what he's done

and that his son was right all along is genuinely gut-wrenching, especially when you remember that Sir John has now lost both of his sons. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man later makes it even sadder, as you learn that Sir John died of a broken heart not long afterward.

As Gwen Conliffe, Evelyn Ankers plays a typical horror leading lady in every respect except that, despite being something of a love interest for Larry Talbot, she's betrothed to another man. In their first scene together in the antique shop, they have a playful, flirtatious relationship (considering that Ankers and Chaney basically hated each other, it's amazing how great their chemistry is), although Gwen finds Larry's knowledge about her own personal earrings, as well as his persistent proposals for a date, off-putting. Significantly, she's the first one to tell him the legend of the werewolf, the pentagram, and the ancient poem. Still rejecting his advances, Gwen does allow Larry to accompany her and her friend, Jenny, to the gypsy camp to have their fortunes told. While walking alone in the woods with Larry, she admits to him that she's engaged and that she really shouldn't be there with him. This comes back to haunt her as, not only is Jenny savagely killed, but Gwen, along with Larry, becomes a town pariah, as she's accused of adultery. She's further disturbed by Frank Andrews' attitude towards Larry, whom he describes as "tragic" and warns her to be careful about him. This may or may not be the source of a quarrel the two of them have at the gypsy camp that night, leading her to run into Larry by herself. Telling her what Maleva said about his being a werewolf, he gives Gwen the charm to protect her, just in case. Gwen tries to give him a penny in return but Larry says, "It isn't enough," and the two of them kiss. Ashamed of this, Gwen runs off when Larry is momentarily distracted by the gypsies suddenly leaving. 

Once he knows for sure that he's a werewolf, Larry comes to see Gwen late at night and tells her that he's leaving. Wanting desperately to help him, she even asks to come with him, even after he warns her that he's a killer and she could be next. He's then horrified when he sees the pentagram appear in the palm of her hand and frantically runs out of the store, telling her to stay away. Regardless of this, on the night of the hunt, Gwen risks her life by going out into the woods to try to find Larry and help him, only to run into the Wolf Man. He

attacks and very nearly kills her, but Sir John arrives in time to save her. Having fainted during the attack and only coming to after the Wolf Man has been killed and turned back into Larry, she never learns that it was him. Like everyone else, she believes he was killed by the wolf while trying to save her.

While we're talking about Gwen, I'd like to briefly mention her father, Charles Conliffe. Significantly, he's played by J.M. Kerrigan, who played Hawkins in Werewolf of London, making him the only actor to appear in both movies. There's not much to the character, as he's only in a couple of scenes, but he comes across as a loving and protective father, one who won't stand for the townswomen saying nasty things about her. He's about ready to throw them out when they're defaming her, but then Larry shows up and does it for him.

Aside from Larry Talbot and the Wolf Man himself, the most well known character in the film is likely Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), the gypsy woman. She knows all too well about the legends of werewolves, as it turns out that her own son, Bela, is one. After he transforms and attacks Jenny and Larry, Maleva, while searching the woods, comes upon Gwen, who tells him that Larry was bitten. The look on her face when she hears this says it all, but for now, she knows there's nothing that can be done and merely helps Gwen get Larry back to his home. The next day, she makes arrangements for Bela's burial, telling the reverend, who objects to her doing so without prayer and for holding a "pagan ceremony," "For a thousand years we gypsies have buried our dead like that. I couldn't break the custom, even if I wanted to." When the reverend leaves her, she opens Bela's coffin and says her own prayer, or soliloquy: "The way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own. But as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end. Your suffering is over, Bela, my son. Now you will find peace." But despite her grief, Maleva takes it upon herself to now look after Larry, knowing the terrible fate that awaits him. When Larry visits the small fair they've set up, she tells him that Bela was a werewolf and, warning Larry that he is now a werewolf himself, offers him a charm that she says can break the spell. Despite his skepticism and aggravation, Larry does take the charm and Maleva asks him to show her the wound. Larry opens his shirt and, after looking, she sends him away, knowing he will soon change. She then warns the other gypsies that there's a werewolf among them, prompting them to pack up and leave. 

The next time Maleva sees Larry, it's in his werewolf form. Coming upon him after he's fallen asleep with his foot in the trap, her compassionate, maternal side comes through, as she says the same prayer she said to Bela, telling him, "Find peace for a moment, my son." This appears to act as some sort of spell that counteracts the curse, as the Wolf Man turns back into Larry, and Maleva helps him escape. Near the end of the movie, Maleva comes upon Sir John as he tries to sneak back to Talbot Castle to be with Larry. Though Sir John accuses

her of filling Larry's head with nonsense about werewolves, leading to his "delusion," Maleva challenges him, asking him why he isn't back with the hunters if he doesn't believe Larry, suggesting he may have had a moment's doubt. They then hear gunshots in the distance and Sir John heads back, Maleva telling him to hurry. She then comes upon Gwen, warning her about the hunt and that Larry isn't safe to be around. Knowing all along that Larry would eventually be killed, when he is, she comes upon the scene and says that same prayer one last time, telling him, "Now, you will find peace for eternity."

Bela Lugosi is said to have lobbied role for the title role but, while he didn't get it, he not only was cast in the film but, despite his role being very small, it's a very significant one. Sharing his actor's name, Bela the fortuneteller has Lugosi's trademark class and elegance about him. When they first meet him and Jenny asks if he can really tell the future, he confidently says, "I will not disappoint you, my lady. Would you step inside, please?" But later, when he sees the wolfsbane that Jenny picked earlier, he tosses it to the floor and rubs his head. We then see why, as a pentagram appears on his right temple. He asks Jenny for her hands, saying her right hand shows her future. Looking at her palm, he sees the pentagram appear. Horrified, he warns Jenny to run away but, shortly after she does, he changes into a werewolf, hunts her down, and attacks her (one has to wonder why he was open for business, despite having to know this was one of his werewolf nights). Not only does he maul Jenny to death but, when Larry tries to save her, he bites him, passing the curse onto him, before Larry manages to bludgeon him to death.

The supporting cast is made up of some notable actors of the time. Ralph Bellamy, who would appear in a couple of John Landis' movies decades later, plays Colonel Paul Montford, the chief constable. He's a childhood friend of Larry's and is a pretty likable fellow all-around. Like everyone else, he doesn't believe in the idea that there's a werewolf prowling the countryside, and he even jokes about killing the monster and having it stuffed, much to Larry's frustration, as he has to be held back by his father. That said, he does take his

job seriously and is all business about it. Following Bela's death, Montford is intent on questioning Larry, later telling Sir John that, while he doesn't think Larry is a murderer, he has to investigate every detail. Psychiatrist Dr. Lloyd (Warren William) also doesn't believe in werewolves, per se, but feels people with disturbed minds can certainly imagine they are. Recognizing how troubled Larry is, he believes him to be mentally disturbed and does what he can to help him, even

suggesting that Sir John send him away in order to get well. He argues with Sir John about how he seems more worried about his family's reputation than his son, and also warns him that Larry is too disturbed for any kind of shock treatment. Frank Andrews (Patric Knowles), Gwen's fiancee and gamekeeper of the Talbot estate, senses that there's something not right about Larry and warns Gwen not to get too close to him, adding, "I'm sure that nothing but harm will come to you through him." It could possibly be jealousy, as well as belief that Gwen and Larry shouldn't be friends since Larry is from a wealthy family, unlike her. However, it doesn't seem that way, as Frank doesn't come across as all that jealous, and even joins Larry at the fair, along with Gwen.

While Gwen's friend, Jenny Williams (Fay Helm), doesn't last long before she's killed, she's pretty cute and comes off as likable. There's also a real sadness about how, just a few minutes before he becomes a werewolf and kills her, she asks Bela if he can tell her when she's going to be married. One last character I have to mention is the jittery Mr. Twiddle (Forrester Harvey), who's forced to write down the gruesome details of Jenny and Bela's deaths. The looks of revulsion on his face as Dr. Lloyd describes how Jenny's, "Jugular was severed by the bite of powerful teeth. The cause of death internal hemorrhaging," and Bela's, "Skull was crushed by heavy blows with a sharp instrument," as well as his overly nervous nature, are pretty funny. Clearly, he needs to find a new line of work.

While The Wolf Man may have been produced as a B-movie, with a low budget of $180,000, you certainly can't say that about its production values, as it's one of the most beautifully photographed and well-designed movies in the classic Universal era. The black-and-white cinematography by Joseph Valentine is absolutely gorgeous, making most of the daytime scenes look brightly sunny and cheerful, while the many nighttime scenes are dark, gloomy, and eerie, especially with the fog that's

constantly flowing through the exteriors. I really like how spooky it looks when Larry goes to the church where Bela's body is kept, and the foggy shots of the town at night, as well as the forest, are just incredible and as atmospheric as you can get, as well as very fairy tale-like. Speaking of the forest, it was a very impressive interior set, one of the largest Universal had up to that point, and is definitely the setting that comes to mind when I think of the film. Besides being great environments for the Wolf Man to stalk his prey, the scenes at the

gypsy camp are able to give the impression that they really have temporarily set up in the middle of the woods. As had been the case many times before, some of the sets were recycled from Lon Chaney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, including the Court of Miracles for a shot of the village square, as well as the exteriors of Notre Dame Cathedral itself, used for the exterior of the church Sir John and Larry attend. (Much publicity was made of the fact that Lon Chaney Jr. was now making movies on the very sets his father once worked on.) The interior of that church is also very impressive in its scale.

The most notable interiors are those of Talbot Castle which, while definitely the home of a lord, with everything you'd expect, like the big foyer with the large staircase, the sitting room with the large fireplace, above which is a portrait of Larry's deceased brother, and floor candelabras on either side of it, and a comfortable-looking bedroom for Larry, there's something Gothic and unsettling about the way it looks, mostly because of its paint scheme, consisting seemingly of dark browns and

grays. As Sir John mentions, this is the way it's looked for 300 years, but it does have a few modern conveniences, specifically the attic, which has been converted into an observatory, with a telescope atop a tall platform and a collection of books down below. Several notable scenes are also set in the Conliffe antique store, which is small and quaint but charming, with an apartment above it where Gwen lives with her father, as well as a parlor in the back of the store itself. And in addition to the recycled sets specifically from Hunchback, I'm confident that other shots of the village are of the same European village sets we've been seeing since Frankenstein.

Speaking of Frankenstein, the filmmakers seemed to have taken a note from James Whale and decided to make it vague as to what time and place the film is set in. Since Larry is chauffeured to Talbot Castle by car in the opening, and most of the townspeople wear 40's era day suits, you can assume it's, at least, set in the year it was filmed, but the horse-drawn wagons of the gypsies call back to earlier times (although I can't see gypsies driving around in cars). What's more, not only is

Talbot Castle itself virtually unchanged since it was built centuries before, but Sir John himself admits, "In a great many ways, we are a backward people," suggesting that the village itself is far behind the current times. This is one of the reasons why he looks forward to Larry taking over the lordship, as he believes his experiences in America will help turn things around. Also, I have to mention how, even though this is supposed to be Wales, no one here has a Welsh accent; instead, everyone is either English, Romanian, in the case of the gypsies, or

even American. Though people have always criticized how Larry has a prominent American accent, despite supposedly being the sound of a Welsh lord, I always attributed it to his being in America for nearly twenty years, but everyone else... yeah, it doesn't add up, especially the gypsies. They're far off from Romania, that's for sure. Like many of Universal's classic horror films, The Wolf Man does seem to take place in its own little world, with a fairy tale feel that I've always enjoyed since I was a little kid. 

In his direction, George Waggner proves that, while he certainly wasn't an auteur, he knew how to craft a well-done, entertaining movie, keeping the pace moving and never being too showy with it. I especially like the way he handles the first transformation. After Larry's first scene with Maleva, he runs back home and goes up to his room, where he appears to feel a strange sensation on his arm. He takes off his suit-jacket, rolls up his left sleeve, then removes his shirt and, now down 

to a tank-top, looks at himself in the mirror. Seeing that there's nothing unusual about his arms and face, he breathes a sigh of relief, only to feel something down on his leg. He sits down, removes his shoe and sock, and sees that his foot and leg are covered with hair. He removes his other shoe and sock and we see that both legs and feet are unnaturally hairy. Following a reaction shot, we get the transformation, which may not be as visually spectacular as what we saw in Werewolf of London,

but it's still ominous, as we can guess that Larry has totally become the Wolf Man once his feet have changed into hairy, clawed wolf's feet. The camera continues focusing on his feet as he gets up and walks out of frame, presumably to the window. When the scene transitions, the camera is still on the Wolf Man's feet as he stalks through the woods, slowly panning up as he moves behind some trees, before finally revealing him in all his glory, with our first clear look at his face being when he comes around a tree and pauses there. (Of course, we now get into the little plothole of why he's wearing completely different clothes from when he transformed. This would recur throughout the movies, almost as if these clothes come with the transformation.)

Waggner also does a good job of visualizing the alienation that Larry, as a virtual stranger to the village and now a suspected killer, feels over the course of the movie. After he kills Bela, you see some women gossiping when they see him standing off to the side as the carriage containing the body rolls by, saying, "It's just the gypsy fortuneteller." "And the man that killed him." When he then follows the carriage, the women walk off, aghast at the thought. Following that, you

have the scene where a group of townswomen, among them Jenny's mother, enter the antique store and berate Charles Conliffe about Gwen's role in Jenny's death, as well as accuse her of adultery. Then, Larry storms into the shop and the women slink away, the once aggressive Mrs. Williams exclaiming, "Don't you dare touch me!", before threatening Conliffe and Gwen. But the best example occurs when, the morning after the Wolf Man kills Richardson, Larry and Sir John arrive at church. Right before they do, Mrs. Williams says

she believes that, rather than a random wild animal on the prowl, that Larry is the murderer, telling one man who accuses her of slander, "You should've seen the way he looked at me in Conliffe's shop: like a wild animal, with murder in his eyes." (Of course, she's far from wrong, as are those who believe it's an animal.) And then, when they do pull up and head inside, Larry loiters in the back of the church while everyone else is seated. Row by row, everybody in the pews turns around and stares accusingly at him, with Sir John, Gwen, Conliffe,

Paul Montford, and Dr. Lloyd being among the last to notice this and come off as concerned, intrigued, and confused by. Larry, realizing that now virtually the whole village is accusing him, ducks out the back door and walks away.

Right before the transformation, there's a very memorable moment where Larry, after Gwen runs off after their kiss, and a gypsy tells him they're packing up and leaving because there's a werewolf in the camp, turns around and rests his arms on a tree branch, not sure what to believe anymore. The camera zooms towards him, he looks right at it, and then, we get a flurry of images that race through his mind: a distorted image of Maleva, a shot of Bela, a wolf's head appearing in front of a

pentagram, the face of a woman who may be Jenny, a shot of a terrified Gwen, a sped-up shot of him clubbing the wolf, multiple images of his cane's head shaking back and forth in front of another, distorted image of Gwen looking frightened, wolfsbane in front of a crystal ball, and a shot of Maleva from when they first went to the camp. Obviously, it's meant to represent how everything he's been told and experienced is all jumbled together in his mind, but it's unlike

anything else in the movie and is really unexpected. I can remember Mikey and I being quite surprised and not sure what to make of it when we saw it that night on TCM. I thought he was transforming but realized that wasn't the case when the camera pulled back out of his mind to reveal he's still a normal man. One bit that I don't think was necessary, though, is this opening where someone pulls out an encyclopedia and looks up "lycanthropy." Though it establishes the setting of Talbot Castle and the village, as well as that the

events of this story have become part of folklore and legends, the way it lays everything out, right down to the notion of "werewolfism" being a mental disease, as well as a true supernatural curse, is superfluous since all the points in this passage are addressed in the film itself. Still, the last line, "There is a small village near Talbot Castle which still claims to have had gruesome experiences with this supernatural creature," combined with the creepy last bit of the opening title theme, is effective.

Though the Wolf Man makeup and the transformation scenes are the effects work that get all the accolades, they're not the only instances of visual effects in the movie. In fact, there are several such shots right in the opening, like a rear-projection shot of Larry being driven to the castle, which hasn't aged that well, and a miniature of the castle, which holds up quite well. The aforementioned montage of images in Larry's mind definitely counts as well, given how furiously they fly by and how well they're superimposed over each other.

Though some of it was carried over from Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man, being the more well-known one, is the film credited with creating many of the werewolf tropes that have permeated movies and popular culture ever since. The idea of the curse being passed down through a bite is what was specifically carried over from Werewolf of London (as well as animals being able to sense the beast within; here Frank Andrews' dog barks incessantly at Larry the moment he's in his

presence), but others, like the pentagram being the mark of both the werewolf and its next victim, the creatures being vulnerable to silver (though the iconic silver bullet is mentioned, the Wolf Man wouldn't be shot with one until House of Frankenstein), and wolfsbane being tied into it, vis a vie the poem, were all either completely made up by Curt Siodmak or popularized by him. The oft-repeated poem, "Even a man who is pure at heart/and says his prayers by night/may become a

wolf when the wolfbane blooms/and the autumn moon is bright," is something else that Siodmak invented and yet, it's sometimes been listed as an actual piece of folklore. What's most surprising, though, is that, for the quintessential werewolf movie, it doesn't feature the trope most associated with them: the full moon. You never once see a shot of a full moon, and the poem alludes to the transformation being tied more with a specific time of year, mentioning the blooming of wolfsbane and the autumn moon. Even Gwen initially describes a

werewolf as, "A human being who, at certain times of the year, changes into a wolf." It wouldn't be until Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man that the full moon would become the trigger for the transformation, with the last stanza of the poem being modified to, "And the moon is full and bright," which is how it stays from then on. Finally, like the mariphasa plant in Werewolf of London, it's suggested that there is a way to counteract the curse, though it's, conveniently, never used. Maleva offers Larry a charm which she says can break the

spell if he wears it over his heart but he, instead, gives it to Gwen, thinking it may protect her from him just in case. You'd think once Larry realized he was werewolf, he would ask for it back from Gwen, especially when he sees the pentagram in her hand. Eh, maybe it doesn't work after the first transformation. And Maleva's soliloquy appears to have its own purifying effect, changing the Wolf Man back into Larry when he's caught in the trap. One wonders why she doesn't use that spell all the time, specifically for Bela. Again, maybe there's a limit to how many times it can be used.

In writing the film, Siodmak drew a lot of inspiration from his experiences of being born a Jew in Germany and then having to flee in the 30's when the Nazis began to take power. The basic plot of Larry Talbot's life suddenly going from a pleasant existence to a waking nightmare is based on how Siodmak felt when the nice life he was living in Germany was thrown into chaos. Moreover, just as Larry's actions as the Wolf Man make him a virtual fugitive late in the film,

Siodmak was one himself, leaving Germany for England and then finally emigrating to the United States in 1937. The Wolf Man is also meant as meant as a metaphor for the Nazis, who started out as good people but, through their joining the regime or, even worse, being shaped into it, became bloodthirsty monsters. And just like the Wolf Man, they knew who their next victims were due to their being marked by a pentagram.

A working title for the film during Siodmak's writing process was Destiny, and you can see why when you watch it, as there are numerous signs that Larry can't escape his fate. Shortly after he returns home, he buys his wolf-head cane and is first told of the werewolf, as well as the poem, by Gwen; he goes back home and has his father confirm that the pentagram is the mark of the werewolf; he, Gwen, and Jenny come upon a batch of wolfsbane on the way to the gypsy camp; he just happens to have his

silver-tipped cane with him, allowing him to kill the wolf that attacks Jenny, only to be bitten in the process; the next morning, he's told that he seemingly clubbed Bela to death rather than a wolf; at the church, he overhears Maleva give Bela a soliloquy that she will eventually give Larry himself; when playing a carnival-type shooting game with Frank Andrews, a cutout of a wolf pops up; afterward, Larry is told of his eventual fate by Maleva; and just as Gwen told him during their first meeting, Larry later sees the pentagram in her

hand. Speaking of which, Larry's romantic interest in Gwen was always doomed, one, because she's already engaged, and two, because he becomes a beast that preys on her. But the saddest act of fate involves Larry and Sir John. Just as Larry did with Bela, Sir John clubs his son to death with the very same cane, and like at the beginning of the movie, he's now mourning the loss of a child.

Though George Waggner and the studio went against Siodmak's original psychological approach, elements of it are still present in the final film. A good example is the scene where Bela becomes a werewolf: we never see him change but we see a nearby horse's frightened reaction and then hear Bela howl once he's fully transformed, which is quite eerie. This original approach could also explain why Bela becomes a four-legged creature akin to an actual wolf, while Larry becomes a wolf

man: if Larry were attacked by a humanoid wolf monster, it wouldn't be much of a mystery as to whether he's now a werewolf. Moreover, even though in the movie as it is, we know going in that werewolves are real and Larry is eventually going to become one, there would be no reason for him to remain as skeptical as he is for much of it. (In context of the mythology, I've always rationalized that, when first cursed as a werewolf, you look like the Wolf Man, but the longer you're cursed, and Bela appeared to have been so for a long time, the

more wolf-like you become. Though, that doesn't explain why, when they find Bela's human body, he's fully dressed, even though the wolf had no clothes whatsoever. And yet, they make a point about how his feet are bare.)

As Dark Corners Reviews on YouTube pointed out in their excellent video, Destiny: Lon Chaney Jr. and the Universal Wolf Man Films, Siodmak's original approach also lives on in the simple fact that Larry Talbot is the focus of the story, not the Wolf Man himself. That's why I spent so much time earlier talking about Larry, as the movie is all about him questioning whether or not he's losing his mind, as well as coming to terms with the truth that, while he doesn't remember it, he does become

a killer at night. And there are still a lot of psychological discussions about Larry's mindset and what the legend of the werewolf means in this context. Sir John talks about how there are many legends akin to it all over the world, describing it as, "Probably an ancient explanation of the dual personality in each of us." He later mentions lycanthropy, telling Larry, "It's a technical expression for something very simple: the good and evil in every man's soul. In this case, evil takes

the shape of an animal." He further explains, "To some people, life is very simple. They decide that this is good, that is bad. This is wrong, that's right. There's no right in wrong, no good in bad. No shadings and grays, all blacks and whites... Now others of us find that good, bad, right, wrong, are many-sided, complex things. We try to see every side, but the more we see, the less sure we are." Later, Larry talks with Dr. Lloyd, asking him how somebody could delude themselves with something they're not even thinking about or have no interest

in learning of, to which he answers, "It could be a case of mental suggestion, plus mass hypnotism." Finally, as Dark Corners also mentioned, while this psychological approach likely would've worked, especially since Cat People shows how it can be done, we all would've been robbed of an awesome monster and an excellent film that has spawned and influenced so many others.

The music is the combined work of three men: Charles Previn, Frank Skinner, and Hans J. Salter, and it's just as classic as the movie itself. Some of Salter's music for Man Made Monster is reused, mostly in the form of the low-key music heard when Larry is looking through the telescope and the more poignant, sympathetic notes heard when he first sees Gwen. The main title theme, particularly the Wolf Man's distinctive leitmotif, is probably the most recognizable piece of music from all of Universal Horror, as it would be reused and re-orchestrated numerous times throughout the 40's. However, it would never sound better than it does here, hitting you immediately with those three notes, then going through a gambit of different tones: frantic, tragic, mysterious, sympathetic, and finally, a bit that initially sounds innocuous but ends on a very eerie note as the camera lingers on the encyclopedia entry on lycanthropy. Bits of this main title theme are reused throughout the film, with the frantic and rousing bit used when Larry fights the wolf off of Jenny and, fittingly, when Sir John attacks the Wolf Man at the end. Also fittingly, both of these instances transition into the tragedy theme for Larry stumbling through the forest after he's been bitten and when it's clear that Sir John is unknowingly killing his son. Another piece of music I often identify with this film is this odd-sounding, rolling one that you first hear when Larry awakens in his bedroom the morning after the attack and also the morning after his first transformation. 

There are many other great pieces of music, such as a very eerie, dirge-like theme that plays when Larry visits Bela's crypt; the otherworldly sound you hear when Larry is faced with the wolf cutout during the shooting game; the crazy, manic music that plays when the imagery flies through Larry's head; and the distressed music that plays when he then rushes to his room and feels himself slowly changing into the Wolf Man, as well as when he sees the pentagram in Gwen's palm. I also really like the piece for Larry's first transformation, which grows more and more menacing as it goes on, and is repeated when he awakens the next morning and finds the muddy tracks in his bedroom, as well as the rousing, thrilling piece you hear when the Wolf Man stalks and then attacks Gwen during the climax. And finally, I have to mention the sad, downbeat string piece that plays each time Maleva says her soliloquy. It's especially effective at the end of the movie, getting across how utterly tragic the situation is, and transitioning into a sad orchestral theme for the ending credits.

It may not be flawless, but that doesn't change the fact that The Wolf Man is truly a classic. It has a great cast, with Lon Chaney Jr. especially giving an inspired and personal performance; an iconic monster, especially in his makeup design; a wonderful setting, dripping with atmosphere, and beautiful cinematography; effective themes of fate and destiny; a great music score; and, above all else, it's the movie that created the popular image and lore of the werewolf. Other than some moments and attitudes that haven't aged well, as well as some little goofs and anachronisms here and there, it's everything you could want in a classic horror movie. It's one of my favorite classic Universal horror films, along with James Whale's Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, one of my favorite horror films and flat-out films period, and for me, the best werewolf movie there is. I absolutely love it and, if you haven't seen it, it's a wrong you seriously need to correct.