Fifty Years of Film in 50 Weeks, #21: The Wolf Man, 1941

"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."
Curt Siodmak, Screenwriter

The Wolf Man, 1941

Director: George Waggner
Writers: Curt Siodmak
Cinematographer: Joseph Valentine
Produced by: George Waggner and Jack J. Gross for Universal Studios
Starring: Claude Rains, Warren William, Evelyn Ankers, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles

Why I chose it
This blog series has made it through 20 years of cinema without a legitimate horror film...and there were plenty during those early years. Further, Universal Studios was lauded at that time for its output of classic 'monster' films, including Dracula, the Frankenstein series, The Invisible Man, and this one. I had not had the chance to see this one until now. Validating my choice were the voters in my Twitter poll, who chose it over It Started With Eve, Suspicion, and Swamp Water.

'No-spoiler' plot overview 
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns to his family estate in England after growing up in the U.S., and finds his father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains), grieved over the death of his eldest son so he decides to stay on a while. Larry meets and quickly becomes enamored of Gwen, who works at the antique shop in the small town. Unfortunately, things go downhill quickly. A friendly visit to a small contingent of gypsies in the country bordering the town turns to disaster when Gwen's friend Jenny is pursued and killed by a werewolf, who only minutes before was the fortune teller Bela (Bela Lugosi). Larry jumps to the rescue and kills the wolf (and also Bela) with his special silver wolf-headed cane he had just bought. Having barely escaped this incident, and with a pentagon-shaped wolf bite to prove it, Larry becomes terrified by the idea of becoming a werewolf, which he indeed does. Struggling with trying to get appropriate help from the coterie of his father's friends, who are largely in denial about what is happening, he fears that his happily-ever-after with Gwen is in serious jeopardy.

Production Background 
Classic film enthusiasts and scholars generally regard Universal Studios' monster films among the most compelling and trend-sitting in cinema. After a string of these in the 1930s, including the werewolf movie Werewolf of London (1935), output was spotty in the 1940s, with the production of lower-budget sequels and send-ups of the genre like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Occasionally a seminal picture like The Wolf Man sneaked out of the studio with a top cast and production values. 

English actor Claude Rains, so impactful in classics such as Now, Voyager and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, was no stranger to horror films: he made The Invisible Man in 1933 and Phantom of the Opera in 1941, both for Universal. Apparently, he won the lead role over Lon Chaney, Jr. in Phantom, but here supports Chaney, the son of the famous 'Man of A Thousand Faces' (see my write-up on He Who Gets Slapped here). Chaney got his first role in horror with this but had a second one the same year with director George Waggner. Dracula star Bela Lugosi had also hoped to play the lead, but was relegated to the small role of the gypsy/werewolf.

According to TCM, Chaney was not the most popular man on set, as he complained about his heavy 'wolf' make-up, but also played practical jokes on co-star Evelyn Ankers, until she was completely fed up. The entire cast struggled with the noxious fog fumes in the outdoor scenes, and Ankers passed out at one point. 

Some other notable film-related events in 1941 (from Filmsite.org):

• 24-year-old Orson Welles, called America's "boy wonder" or wunderkind, directed and acted in Citizen Kane (1941), a movie about a powerful newspaper publisher named Charles Foster Kane (modeled after William Randolph Hearst). "Boy genius" Welles was the first to ever receive simultaneous nominations in four categories: as producer, actor, director, and writer. 
• Reclusive Swedish actress Greta Garbo retired early at age 36, after the release of her disastrous comedy, the box-office flop Two-Faced Woman (1941). She announced that she was quitting the film business, left Hollywood, and remained out of the spotlight until her death of natural causes in 1990.
• Approximately 500 animators and artists at the Walt Disney Studios conducted a five-week strike backed by the Screen Cartoonists' Guild, during the making of the animated film Dumbo (1941). The Disney workers demanded pay raises and the right to unionize, which they won when the strike was settled by federal mediation. 
• The first, generally acknowledged film noir was released, John Huston's directorial debut film The Maltese Falcon (1941). It was the first detective film to use the shadowy, nihilistic noir style in a definitive way. The mystery classic was the pivotal work of novice director John Huston, and also starred former screen heavy Humphrey Bogart. 

My Random Observations

• It's always a pleasure to learn that a film you plan to watch is, well, short. This one clocks in at 70 minutes and covers a lot of ground in that time. Kudos to Universal Studios and the production machine. 
• The opening credits introduce all the main characters in short clips in pre-code Warner Bros. fashion! There is no mystery here about who is going to end up terrorizing the locals (see Screenshots section below). I have to remember, though, that in 80 years since this film was made, the general public has reaped the benefit of decades of 'Wolf Man' and 'Werewolf' movies and programs; I expect film-goers in 1941 found perhaps a bit more suspense in their experience watching this. For me, it was beautiful to watch but not the least bit suspenseful. 
• I had to google "lycanthropy" -- the term introduced in the movie as related to Werewolfism (is that a word?). The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as follows:
  
• 1: a delusion that one has become a wolf
• 2: the assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held to be possible by witchcraft or magic. 
  

            My goal will be to use it in a sentence this week.

• It seems that Lon Chaney, Jr. is not thought of as the film's best actor by reviewers. He loves to grin widely, as seen in the early part of the movie before his fate encroaches. I found him more convincing when he was distraught over his transformation into a killer. As the real tragedy of the story is a young man's life being torn from him and he having no power to take the necessary control, I felt Chaney conveyed this tragedy through his face and body.
• Of course, the fact that two innocents lost their lives bears mentioning here. I couldn't help but think of the infamous Star Trek "red shirts" - those peripheral characters that appeared in an episode only to serve the function of meeting a brutal end, after which our main characters would need to jump into action.



Meme from screenrant.com here.

• The rest of the male cast is populated with A-listers: Claude Rains, of course, and the always interesting Warren William, to start. I had to read up on Evelyn Ankers, as she was new to me. Not surprising, because she made her primary career in 1940s Univeral horror films (a segment I haven't explored yet).
  
  

Screenshots

This is the friendliest-looking werewolf I've ever seen.

The Talbot estate looks like nothing Larry had seen in the U.S.!

Larry (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains) negotiate
 the terms of their relationship.

Larry inadvertently becomes a peeping Tom when he
catches sight of Gwen (Evelyn Ankers) using his Dad's telescope.

Larry is thrilled with his new silver-wolf-head cane
he bought from Gwen.

Gypsy fortune teller (Bela) prepares to entertain his 
client Jenny (Fay Helm), before he bites her.

If the English countryside is enshrouded in fog, beware!

Dr. Lloyd (Warren William) and family lawyer Colonel Montford
(Ralph Bellamy) discuss what to do about the problem that is Larry Talbot.

A country show adds a bit of fun before the unrelenting
doom to come.

Gypsy Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) warns Larry he has a 99.9%
chance of becoming a werewolf.

Extra hair begins to grow on poor Larry's ankles -- and this 
is just the start!

Werewolf seeks his prey in (where else?) the fog.

Suspicious townspeople rotate their heads to watch
Larry Talbot enter Sunday services.

I swear there were wolf paws in this trap just a moment ago!

Larry warns Gwen that both of them may be in
serious trouble.

Somehow I doubt that those straps will keep Wolf Man
from escaping when he gets hungry.

"What have I done? Why do I have this cane in my hand?"
-Sir John Talbot

Where to Watch
The film can be streamed from archive.org here, and also is available on DVD in several collections.

Further Reading
The excellent blogger and fellow CMBA member Aurora posted a piece on the film here. And in case you missed the link above, a useful production summary piece is on TCM's website here.

Selections from my October Film Diary + Terrific new Streaming Service

Exploring the realm of the macabre and supernatural in film during October seems to be a ritual among classic movie fans.  It was great fun to join in this year, and while the horror genre is not my favorite, I'm highlighting some of my discoveries that span six-plus decades of film.

Island of Lost Souls (1932, D. Erle C. Kenton).  This is the first film version of the H.G. Wells story about a semi-mad scientist holed up on a remote island conducting experiments that turn animals into half-human hybrids.  (It was remade as The Island of Dr. Moreau twice in the later part of the 20th century.  Alas I've not seen either of these, but neither are considered classics.)  However, this earlier film is a fascinating early 'talkie' offering in the horror genre.   Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams star as the protagonists, and Bela Lugosi shows up in a small unrecognizable part after coming off his box office success as Dracula, but the major star, and the main reason one should watch this film, is Charles Laughton.  A terrific actor (and one-time director), he is deliciously diabolical as Dr. Moreau, but retains a human edge.  To my taste he doesn't overplay it. His dark hair and goatee really suit him.  I will say this one is decidedly not suitable for those sensitive to racist or sexist elements in their movie choices.  There is a detailed and fun review of this one at Pre-code.com here (although Danny does not share my enthusiasm for Laughton's performance).  The DVD is on the Criterion Collection label.  The trailer is here:

The first appearance of 'the man' portrayed by
director Herk Harvey himself.

Carnival of Souls (1962, D. Herk Harvey).  Sticking with the 'souls' theme, a completely different film made three decades later, is a low-budget masterpiece.  I had not seen this until this past month, but learned that it's now a cult classic.  Made by Centron, a small outfit in my former hometown of Lawrence, KS. known primarily for industrial and educational productions, this was the director's and writer John Clifford's pet project while on vacation. They shot on a budget of some $30,000, and used location settings in and around Lawrence, including an organ factory I vaguely recall visiting as a child.  Harvey & company also resurrected a real abandoned carnival pavilion "Saltair" at the edge of the Great Salt Lake in Utah -- thus giving the film its name.   Also available in a gorgeous blu-ray by Criterion, it's fantastically eerie and unsettling, kind of a cross between the Twilight Zone TV series and Night of the Living Dead.  It has a surreal air about it and all the characters are just a bit 'off.'  It appears most of the budget was spent on cinematography -- it's so beautiful and creative.  A great choice was the use of a single organ score to accompany the film.

The main character is Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss), who survives a car that drove off a bridge, and decides to start a new life as a church organist in Utah.  Mysterious live and undead people pop into her life and make it very uncomfortable, for her and for us.  For the moment, you can watch the entire film on YouTube:

The Vanishing (aka Spoorloos), (1988, D. George Sluizer).  This is the first, Dutch/French, version of the story that George Sluizer directed, based on the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbe. It was remade in an American version in 1993 with Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and Sandra Bullock. I've not seen that one.  But I've read enough about it that I doubt I will anytime soon.  The original version is considered to be superior, and yes, it's fantastic.  A young Dutch couple, Rex and Saskia, (Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege), are on vacation in France, driving through the countryside, when Saskia disappears at a gas station in broad daylight.  Her boyfriend, Rex, embarks on a three-year journey to find her, or at least find out what happened, when he encounters the perpetrator, Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), a seemingly normal family man with an extraordinarily macabre side.  This film plays with us almost from the beginning, with the jumps back and forth in time, and the fact that we know who the villain is, we just don't know Saskia's exact fate.  Rex and Raymond are on a collision course through most of the film's running time until the unsettling ending.  The thrills are mostly psychological, and its symbolism, both visually and in the script, make it required repeat viewing.  Be warned, though, if you are sensitive to disturbing depictions of the dark side of humanity, you may want to skip it.

Saskia and Rex, happily unaware what's to come.

Raymond, with Saskia in his sights.

The latter two of films were originally brought to my attention by the podcast 'Criterion Close-up', in which film aficionados Aaron West and Mark Hurne discuss films that are released on the Criterion home cinema label.  Criterion is a favorite of cinephiles for their high quality productions of the best films, and their packaging of the films along with unusually generous extras.  And this leads me to endorse a brand new streaming film service called 'Filmstruck'.  (Not a paid commercial endorsement here, but one out of enthusiasm for this service!)  It collects films from Criterion, along with those provided by Turner Classic Movies, into a smorgasbord of offerings of classic, modern, foreign, and arthouse films, along with commentary videos.  Take a look!  I've given up my Netflix membership in favor of this, as I choose to watch film in my spare time, and not episodic series, despite the quality of Netflix offerings in that space.  I was a beta-tester for Filmstruck, and am pleased to have a complimentary membership to the end of the year.  I will definitely renew.