Classic Movies - Universal Studios Monsters: The Wolf Man

Today, let’s talk “Universal” Monster Classics of Lon Chaney, Jr. Although this marvelous actor first made a name for himself playing film “heavies” followed by his dramatic portrayal of the mentally-challenged, Lennie Small, in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1939), Lon Chaney, Jr. will always be best remembered for his Classic Monster characters of Universal Studios. In the 1940s, he played all four of the top monsters at Universal, in one form or another. From "the Frankenstein monster" in Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), to a vampire in Son of Dracula (1943), to the mummy in The Mummy’s Tomb (1942), The Mummy’s Ghost (1944), and The Mummy’s Curse (1944), Chaney, Jr. was constantly changing his appearance, much as his famous father had in the silent film era. In case you don’t know or live on another planet, Lon Chaney, Sr. was a superstar of his time and known as “The Man with a Thousand Faces”. He was a master of makeup and disguise and created such classic silent film characterizations as The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to name only two. Chaney, Jr. had some mighty big shoes to fill and, though he was never quite able to step out of his father’s shadow, he made his own mark with a character that he stamped as his own and is our personal choice as the scariest of all the Universal monsters-the werewolf in 1941's The Wolf Man.

Who will ever forget Lon Chaney, Jr. as Lawrence (Larry) Talbot and his lycanthropic alter-ego,"the wolf man"? After eighteen years of estrangement, the unsuspecting, good-natured Larry returns home to his father’s European estate, only to be bitten by a wolf soon after his arrival. It was not just any wolf, mind you, but a werewolf and, once bitten, the victim himself will also become a werewolf. The nightmarish life of blood-lust and horrific transformation thus begins for poor Larry Talbot with each full (autumn) moon. As we are reminded several times throughout The Wolf Man: "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". (Sequels would change the last line to "and the moon is full and bright”, but the original "autumn moon" indicates that the werewolf only transforms in the fall and not with every full moon of the year, thereby receiving a respite from his wolfish pursuits.)

How we thrilled as Lon Chaney, Jr. changed from man to wolf in this film as well as in the sequels. With his sharp teeth and furry face, we thought he was terrifying as he ran through the mist, sneaking up on his next victim. Whether or not his transformation compares to the technically advanced transformations that appear on the screen today is irrelevant to us. We much prefer The Wolf Man of old, with legendary Lon Chaney, Jr in the “monster” role that was solely his throughout the 40s (Henry Hull had portrayed a similar character in Universal’s The Werewolf of London in the 30s, but it never achieved the popularity of the 1941 version). With a stellar cast that includes Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Evelyn Ankers, Warren William, Maria Ouspenskaya, and Bela Lugosi, The Wolf Man is definitely a horror classic and one of the all-time favorites of that genre.

Lon Chaney, Jr. went on to reprise his werewolf character in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), and House of Dracula (1945). Although he played the character for laughs in Universal’s Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein (1948), we’ve read that it was “the wolf man” that was nearest and dearest to his heart (he absolutely despised playing “the mummy” due to the makeup and bandage wraps). Chaney, Jr. appeared in many diverse roles in the 50s and 60s and also did some television plays. One of his finest dramatic, non-horror film appearances was as the aged, arthritic ex-lawman in 1952’s High Noon with Gary Cooper.

Lon Chaney, Jr. died of heart failure in 1973 at the age of 67. It is somewhat ironic that the actor, who had once played scientifically man-made monsters, had his body donated to medical research. He, just as Karloff and Lugosi, will always be most fondly remembered for the creatures he portrayed in the Monster Classics of Universal Studios. Although Lon, Sr. did not want his son to pursue a film career, Lon, Jr. definitely followed in his father’s footsteps. He could quite easily be called “The Other Man with a Thousand Faces”. We think it is a well-deserved title for an actor who strove to carve a name for himself in motion picture history. He accomplished that goal in the legendary horror, dramatic, and comedy classics to which he lent his considerable talent.

**Trivia Question for Today: Who created Lon Chaney Jr.’s transforming makeup in The Wolf Man?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: In The Wolf Man, Bela Lugosi plays the small, but pivotal role of Bela, the gypsy fortune teller/werewolf that bites Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.), marking him as a werewolf, too.