|
|
"THE WOLF MAN" - 1941
Director: George Waggner.
Starring:
Lon Chaney, Jr
Here's a switch! In this column, I'm constantly
saying that the original version of any given film is
the best but there are always exceptions to that rule.
The Wolf Man is not a true remake of The Werewolf of
London (1935) but the concept of lycanthropy (man
turning into werewolf when the moon is full) is the
same.
The Werewolf of London got the full studio buildup
and treatment in 1935. It starred Henry Hull who was
a Broadway favorite and Warner Oland, the very popular
original Oriental detective character, Charlie Chan.
So, it should have been sensational, right? Wrong!
In this case, Universal blew it and virtually
guaranteed that this film would never hold a place of
honor in any true horror fan's heart. Hull was a
talented actor, both on Broadway and in film. In
fact, he was great in Hitchcock's, Lifeboat and the
screen adaption of the Ayn Rand novel, The
Fountainhead. But a horror actor, he wasn't. He
seems cranky, overblown and seems to be trying to
project his raw emotions to the back of the house.
Oland fares a bit better as his adversary, Dr. Yogami.
He manages to make us feel some empathy for
condition. By the way - not incidentally - both of
these gentlemen are werewolves. Now if they would
have cast Karloff as the werewolf and Lugosi as the
doctor what a movie that would have been!
Fast forward to 1941 when Universal righted the
wrong. The Wolf Man is an exquisite 70-minute film
with no weak acting or flaws of any kind. The title
role was played by Lon Chaney, Jr., the son of the
top 1920's horror star, Lon Chaney, Sr. Chaney Jr.'s
birth name was Creighton Tull Chaney and the studios
forced him to change it to Lon Chaney, Jr. so that
they could capitalize on his father's box office
appeal. The younger Chaney was a limited actor who
often did his best work in non-horror roles, notably
in, Of Mice and Men and High Noon, but no one can take
the glory of The Wolf Man away from him.
Chaney is Larry Talbot, son of the formidable Sir
John Talbot, played by the always excellent Claude
Rains. Larry returns to the ancestral estate after
his older brother's death to assume his rightful
place. Soon after, the young heir falls hard for a
local girl, Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) who is
already engaged to someone else. Larry escorts Gwen
and her girlfriend, Jenny, to a gypsy festival. Jenny
has her palm read by Bela (Bela Lugosi in a perfect
cameo) who sees the five-pointed pentagram in her
hand, marking her as the werewolf's next victim.
Bela
is the werewolf and kills Jenny (off camera.) Her
screams bring Larry and Gwen running. Larry beats the
beast to death but not before he himself is bitten.
When Bela dies, he changes back into himself. Larry
cannot understand how he could have killed Bela by
mistake when he was sure that he used his silver
headed cane on a mad wolf. Bela's mother, Maleva (the
incredible Russian actress, Maria Ouspenskaya)
explains to Larry that "the wolf was Bela." Ms.
Ouspenskaya also is the first to utter the immortal
line, "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." She then tries
to protect Larry as she had taken care of her own son,
Bela.
Tragically, Larry cannot overcome the
supernatural curse of lycanthropy and is eventually
killed by his own father using his son's silver headed
cane.
Underscored throughout by effective background music
composed by Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner, this
film is one you should make the effort to see if you
haven't already. The actors could not be better.
Each one delivers a multifaceted character that is
real and sympathetic. Jack Pierce's makeup, including
yak hair and very sharp teeth, is topnotch and took
four hours to apply. Mr. Pierce was Universal's
makeup genius throughout the thirties and early
forties. A former boxer, Pierce created the classic
character makeups in: The Mummy, Frankenstein (and its
sequels) ,The Wolf Man and many others. Special
effect's wizard, John P. Fulton, grips us with a man
into beast sequence that is amazing given that these
were not the days of computer generated gimmicks. George Waggner's
direction, while not inspired, is workmanlike and
allows his actors to shine.
Two spin-offs appeared in 1981, An American Werewolf
in London and The Howling. The former is blood, gore
and more and is best avoided unless you like that sort
of stuff. Whereas the latter film is okay for one
viewing. But if you like gypsy curses, mysterious fog
and a story that will make you weep - pounce on The
Wolf Man.
|
|
|
