When I was a kid, I would watch The Wolf Man whenever it came on Creature Feature on local television in Nashville. I loved those old Universal monster movies, although I probably shouldn’t have been watching some of them at my age. I always had more sympathy for the Wolf Man and Frankenstein; they didn’t ask for this.
This one scared me. The funny thing is that I was also pulling for the Wolf Man. I felt sorry for him in much the same way I felt sorry for Frankenstein’s monster. Larry Talbot wasn’t an evil man. Something terrible happened to him, and he couldn’t stop it. Even as a kid, that made the movie different to me.
The Wolf Man was released by Universal in 1941 and starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot. Chaney had a pretty big shadow hanging over him before he ever put on the makeup. His father was Lon Chaney, the legendary silent-film star known as the Man of a Thousand Faces.
With the Wolf Man, the younger Chaney found the character that would forever be associated with him.
Larry returns to his family home in Wales after the death of his brother and tries to reconnect with his father, Sir John Talbot, played by Claude Rains. He meets Gwen Conliffe, played by Evelyn Ankers, and buys a silver-headed walking stick from her father’s shop. Then things start going badly.
Larry tries to rescue Gwen’s friend Jenny from what appears to be a wolf. He kills the animal with the silver walking stick but is bitten during the attack. The wolf was actually Bela, a werewolf played by Bela Lugosi. Larry has inherited the curse.
That’s what makes the story work for me. Larry doesn’t ask for any of this. He doesn’t want the power that comes with becoming the Wolf Man. He doesn’t enjoy what happens to him. He is frightened by it and spends much of the movie trying to understand what is happening.
There is also a sadness to Lon Chaney’s performance that makes you care about Larry Talbot. You know where the story is going and so does he.
The supporting cast is incredible. Claude Rains had already appeared in The Invisible Man. Bela Lugosi was forever connected with Dracula. Maria Ouspenskaya plays Maleva, the woman who understands exactly what has happened to Larry and tries to help him.
The movie was written by Curt Siodmak and directed by George Waggner. One of Siodmak’s smartest additions was the little werewolf poem repeated throughout the movie. It sounds like something handed down through European folklore, but Siodmak invented it for the film.
Even a man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright
Jack Pierce created the Wolf Man makeup. Pierce was already responsible for some of Universal’s most famous monster makeup, including Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein monster. The Wolf Man became another one of his creations that became part of popular culture.
What amazes me now is how short the movie is. It runs only about 70 minutes. There isn’t much wasted time. Larry comes home, meets Gwen, encounters the werewolf, and his life begins falling apart. The fog, the woods, and the old Universal sets do the rest. Watching it today, you can see that much of what frightened me as a kid was atmosphere.
And maybe that’s why these movies worked so well on television. You didn’t need blood flying everywhere. Give me a dark room, an old black-and-white television, some fog rolling through the woods, and the Wolf Man walking between the trees. My imagination would handle the rest!
The movie was successful enough that Chaney returned as Larry Talbot several more times. He played him in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and finally Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
But this is the one I remember. There were monsters I was simply afraid of when I was a kid. Larry Talbot was different. I was afraid of the Wolf Man. But I felt sorry for the man.
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Good stuff! Yes, that poem is really cool. I’ve seen the film a couple of times on Universal Monsters recently.
Thanks! I had to include that poem in here. I just watched this one and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
My go-to horror movies while growing up in Germany were Dracula and Frankenstein. I don’t recall whether they showed Wolfman there.
BTW, initially, I read the title of your post as “The Wolf Maahn” and was like, ‘why would Max write about a German rock artist singing in German?’ Funny what your brain can do – perhaps it’s lack of caffeine!🤣
I went and checked my spelling really quick when I first read your comment lol. Yes I’ve done that before as well. I love Dracula and Frankenstein as well! These three were the ones I watched and Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Sorry, Max, didn’t mean to spook you, though in this particular case, it kind of would have been appropriate! 😆
LOL…it fit in this post! Whenever it’s on again…give it a watch Christian…if you like the others…you would like this.
I never realised the movie was that old
That surprised me as well…although I know it well, I never thought about when it was made.
The movie that always reminds me of The Wolf Man is the 1959 horror film The Manster, where the main character Larry Stanford goes on a violent killing spree after being injected with a mysterious experimental drug by a mad scientist. It is the same thing, as it was not his fault he turned into a killer.
https://youtu.be/Ev_DeeuQbuo
The Manster! I’ll have to remember that. It looks like they didnt’ want to use Wolfman and used Manster…it does remind me of this.
I think I saw him drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s. His hair was perfect…
I’ve never seen it but I get your point about feeling sorry for the creature.
Yes you did! And I’d like to meet his tailor!
OH Dave…you never saw this? I thought most people our age would see it on the late late movie or some local horror movie show back then. I also like An American Werewolf in London.
the only one of the genre I think I’ve seen was Stephen King’s ‘Silver Bullet’, which I remember quite liking, but that was many a moon ago.
You would like An American Werewolf in London as well I think.
Lol. Many a moon ago!? Give that guy stuffed toy!
What a great post. I love your comments about atmosphere. Yes, the Universal horror movies were full of atmosphere, and it was the atmosphere that reached out and got you.
Great stuff.
Thanks Arthur. I remember now being a kid and watching these Universal movies…I had a small black and white television in my room…I would be glued to it with all of the fog and the moors.
That distinction between fearing the monster but feeling deeply for the man is exactly why Larry Talbot remains so timeless! Late-night black-and-white TV with fog rolling through the trees really did let our imaginations do all the heavy lifting. Such a fantastic trip down memory lane, Max!
Thank you for reading! This movie brings back so many memories…I loved when he was walking through the moors…great atmosphere.
The atmosphere in those foggy moor scenes is unmatched! 🐺 Such a classic film. Hope you have a wonderful and relaxing weekend ahead, Max! 😊
Thank you! You as well!
😊
I’ve seen it but it’s been awhile. Monsters like the werewolf fascinate as they are a perfect metaphor for what real people go through, so often through no fault of their own. We are fascinated to watch their struggles. Like you said you know what they are doing is wrong, but you understand they didn’t ask for it but still have to deal with it. With the wolfman trope it’s especially unfortunate because the innocent is often trying to do a good deed and gets rewarded with a curse, as you said.
Maybe that is the reason I always found these Universal “monsters” so interesting. They are not just out destroy. The Creature from the Black Lagoon I always felt the same as well.
There is that strange quality black and white adds as far as mystery goes. It was done on a film cost basis but these older classic films benefit from all those grey/black dark shadows. It doesn’t need gouts of technicolour blood to make the point. I think when you’re a pre-teen you’re primed for that slow bladder-straining build up of dread those old atmospheric films induce in you.
I’ll add a six word summary if I may? ‘Wolf bites man. Wait a bit…’
I also really like ‘Creature From The Black Lagoon.’ (I first saw it when on holiday with my then recently married wife. She doesn’t usually like Horror that much but she liked this one.)
The black and white…it does make some films better. Even some tv shows…the Twilight Zone works partly because of that. Star Trek…would not have worked as well at all. Yes…they do build up and get you with the atmosphere. I remember exactly how I felt when I saw these movies.
It was a coin flip today….Creature from the Black Lagoon or this. I covered that so many years ago when I didn’t have readers…so I’ll probably cover it soon. It seems not as many women I’ve known…likes horror.
Yes, I guess it was a boo-boo on my part taking Lou out to see ‘Alien.’
Well…you are forgiven lol…great film!
obb check out a doc on Val Lewton “The Man Of Shadows”
Thanks CB, I’ll check it out. (Sorry, only found your comment now!)
I left a comment last night but I guess it didnt take. Anyways I revisit this often. It’s good. Lon carries it with class. You are right about the supporting cast. Will bust it out when the Great Pumpkin makes his visit.
Yes!
I love the old Universal Studios monster movies!
The bear trap scene is kinda funny. Cool movie.
This post is in the Freshly Pressed section of WP!!!
Congrats!!! 🎉🎉🙂
OH cool! Thank you…I didn’t know!
The line that stayed with me is the split between fearing the Wolf Man and pitying Larry Talbot. It makes the film feel less like a simple monster story and more like a tragedy about losing agency. Your point about the 70-minute runtime is sharp, too: the economy leaves room for atmosphere instead of explanation. Do you think the film would retain that sympathy if it showed more of the violence rather than keeping so much in shadow?
I don’t think it would have retained as much of the sympathy if they would have showed it…like say American Werewolf in London. I like that one as well…but this one I do feel for much more.
I remember watching it on my black and white television in my room as a kid… the fog, moors, and the rest of the atmosphere was wonderful. Thank you for commenting.
That makes sense—the restraint is what preserves Larry’s tragedy. Once the violence becomes the spectacle, attention shifts from what is happening to him to what he is doing. The fog and moors do almost as much emotional work as Chaney.
I think it will be great!
Great movie – thanks for posting
Thanks for reading!
Awesome poem
Yes it is! I had to include that. Thanks for reading.
Interesting plot 🤔 I will start with the trailer. Thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks for reading!
wonderful post
I can picture now how amazing this would be in a chilly autumn night in the bed of my truck, tucked in with the family and some snacks at the drive in!