The Wolf Man is a 1941 American drama horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as a werewolf named "The Wolf Man" and features Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya in supporting roles. 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).
Lon Chaney, Jr. would reprise his classic role in four sequels, beginning with Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man in 1943.
Plot[]
Production[]
The poem, contrary to popular belief, was not an ancient legend, but was in fact an invention of screenwriter Siodmak. The poem is repeated in every subsequent film in which Talbot/The Wolf Man appears, with the exception of House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and is also quoted in the later film Van Helsing, although many later films change the last line of the poem to "And the moon is full and bright". In episode 944 of Dark Shadows, Christopher Pennock (as Jeb Hawkes) recites this version of the poem.
The original Wolf Man film does not make use of the idea that a werewolf is transformed under a full moon. Gwen's description and the poem imply that it happens when the wolfbane blooms in autumn. The first sequel, though, made explicit use of the full moon both visually and in the dialog, and also changed the poem to specify when the moon is full and bright. Presumably this is what popularized the full-moon connection in the 20th century. The sequel visually implies that the transformation occurs as a result of direct exposure to light from the full moon. Other fiction has assumed the transformation is an inescapable monthly occurrence and does not examine whether it is caused by light, tidal effects, or some cycle that happens to coincide with the moon's phass.
Special effects[]
In the original film, Chaney did not undergo an on-screen transformation from man to wolf, as featured in all the sequels as well. The lap-dissolve progressive make-ups were seen only in the final ten minutes, and then discretely: Talbot removes his shoes and socks, and it is his feet which are seen to grow hairy and transform into huge paws (courtesy of uncomfortable "boots" made of hard rubber, covered in yak hair). In the final scene, the werewolf does gradually become Larry Talbot through the standard technique.
The transformation of Chaney from man into monster was laborious. The makeup by Jack Pierce had been designed originally for Henry Hull in the film Werewolf of London but it was uncomfortable to wear and difficult to apply and Hull refused to wear it. Chaney adopted it as his own. Chaney claimed he was forced to sit motionless for hours as the scenes were shot frame by frame. At times he claimed he was to remain sitting even while the crew broke for lunch and was not even allowed to use the bathroom. Chaney even went as far as saying special effects men drove tiny finishing nails into the skin on the sides of his hands so they would remain motionless during close ups. However there may be some exaggeration involved - studio logs indicate during the filming of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) the entire crew, including Chaney took a two hour break during the filming of a transformation and filmed the rest of the scene later that day (though the makeup for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein had been greatly redesigned and streamlined by Bud Westmore over the original Jack Pierce makeup). What really happened was a plaster mold was made to hold his head absolutely still as his image was photographed and his outline drawn on panes of glass in front of the camera. Chaney then went to makeup man Jack Pierce's office, where Pierce, using grease paint, a rubber snout appliance and a series of wigs, glued layers of yak hair to Chaney's face. Then Chaney would return to the set, line himself up using the panes of glass as reference and several feet of film were shot. Then the make-up was removed and a new layer was applied, showing the transformation further along. This was done about a half-dozen times. Talbot’s lap dissolve transformation on screen only took seconds, while Chaney’s took almost ten hours.
According to ballyhoo from Universal's publicity department, World War II was responsible for the brevity of Chaney's hirsute appearance in the last serious sequel, House of Dracula (1945). According to a small blurb in that film's press book, a nationwide lack of yak hair from the Orient prevented the character from appearing in more scenes. The Wolf Man appears with bare, non-hairy hands in one shot of House of Frankenstein (1944), but this was an on-set gaffe.
Reception[]
The film has received universal acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes reports a rating of 94% "Fresh" with the site's consensus reading: "A handsomely told tale with an affecting performance from Lon Chaney, Jr., The Wolf Man remains one of the classics of the Universal horror stable."