The Wolf Man (series)
MEMORIES:
BuckBrann02 remembers...I remember when I kid, checking out all the classic monster books out of the school library. Seeing all the ... More »
Posted on 07/02/08
PHOTOS:
Cast:
Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man... Lon Chaney Jr.
Sir John Talbot ... Claude Rains
Doctor Lloyd... Warren William
Colonel Montford ... Ralph Bellamy
Frank Andrews... Patric Knowles
Bela... Bela Lugosi
Maleva ... Maria Ouspenskaya
Gwen Conliffe ... Evelyn Ankers
Charles Conliffe ... J.M. Kerrigan
Jenny Williams... Fay Helm
Victor Twiddle... Forrester Harvey
Gypsy Woman... Jessie Arnold
Woman... Caroline Cooke
Wykes... Harry Cording
Woman... Margaret Fealy
Villager... Gibson Gowland
Kendall... Leyland Hodgson
Villager... Olaf Hytten
Gypsy With Bear... Kurt Katch
Gypsy Dancer... La Riana
Mrs. Wykes... Connie Leon
Mrs. Williams... Doris Lloyd
Mrs. Bally... Ottola Nesmith
Churchgoer... Eddie Polo
Phillips... Ernie Stanton
Richardson... Tom Stevenson
Reverend Norman... Harry Stubbs
Chauffeur... Eric Wilton
Sir John Talbot ... Claude Rains
Doctor Lloyd... Warren William
Colonel Montford ... Ralph Bellamy
Frank Andrews... Patric Knowles
Bela... Bela Lugosi
Maleva ... Maria Ouspenskaya
Gwen Conliffe ... Evelyn Ankers
Charles Conliffe ... J.M. Kerrigan
Jenny Williams... Fay Helm
Victor Twiddle... Forrester Harvey
Gypsy Woman... Jessie Arnold
Woman... Caroline Cooke
Wykes... Harry Cording
Woman... Margaret Fealy
Villager... Gibson Gowland
Kendall... Leyland Hodgson
Villager... Olaf Hytten
Gypsy With Bear... Kurt Katch
Gypsy Dancer... La Riana
Mrs. Wykes... Connie Leon
Mrs. Williams... Doris Lloyd
Mrs. Bally... Ottola Nesmith
Churchgoer... Eddie Polo
Phillips... Ernie Stanton
Richardson... Tom Stevenson
Reverend Norman... Harry Stubbs
Chauffeur... Eric Wilton
Studio:
Universal
Release History:
1941 - The Wolf Man
1943 - Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1944 - House of Frankenstein
1945 - House of Dracula
1943 - Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1944 - House of Frankenstein
1945 - House of Dracula
Although Universal had released Werewolf of London in 1935, it was 1941's The Wolf Man that added werewolves to the studio’s creepy roster. The film starred Lon Chaney Jr., the son of the star of the equally creepy Phantom of the Opera, along with screen stars Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy and Bela Lugosi. The result was a movie about a man/beast that was guaranteed to keep you up at night.
Chaney stars as Larry Talbot, son of the London astronomer Sir John Talbot. Larry is looking through his dad’s telescope and spies Gwen Conliffe (not looking up at the stars, are we Larry?). Larry is smitten and walks over to her father’s antique shop to make her acquaintance, but on his way he buys a silver cane with a wolf’s head, inscribed with a pentagram. He’s told it’s the sign of the werewolf.
Larry doesn’t believe in that sort of nonsense, and asks Gwen to accompany him to a traveling gypsy carnival. Gwen’s friend Jenny comes with them. When Larry and Gwen are on a romantic walk through the moors, they suddenly hear Jenny scream. They rush over to her and find a terrible wolf, which suddenly jumps at Larry and bites him on the chest. Larry responds by beating the wolf to death with his cane, but his wounds are severe and he passes out.
When he comes to, Larry discovers that Jenny is dead, and instead of a dead wolf at the scene, there is only a gypsy fortune teller with his head bashed in. The mother of the gypsy boy reveals that her son was a werewolf, and now that Larry’s been bitten by him, he’s a werewolf as well. Neither Larry nor his father can believe such a story, but they realize it’s true when the full moon next comes up and Larry becomes a hairy murderer.
Ten years after Universal entered the horror genre with Dracula, The Wolf Man became heir apparent to the creepy movie cycle. The film was a huge hit, and the studio continued to scare audiences with a series of sequels.
1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was the first movie that teamed up two successful monsters. In this film, Larry Talbot is still the Wolf Man, and he goes to Dr. Frankenstein to see if the doctor can kill him, not realizing that the doctor himself is now dead. Larry finds the Monster instead, lying in a frozen tomb. Larry attempts to transfer his life force into the Monster, but the plan goes awry, and the result is a climatic fight between two famous monsters. The movie was a success, even though co-star Bela Lugosi’s (who played the Monster) health was suffering and his performance was heavily edited. But Universal was on a roll, and followed up with two more films, 1944's House of Frankenstein and 1945's House of Dracula.
House of Frankenstein stars Boris Karloff, the original Frankenstein star, as the mad scientist, Dr. Gustav Niemann. He’s crazed with revenge, and looks to Dracula to carry out his plans. But Dracula can’t work during the day – all that pesky sunlight – so that doesn’t work too well. Nieman then recruits the Wolf Man, vowing to cure him if he helps him out. The doctor plans to take the brains from his victims to cure Talbot, as well as bring back the Monster, but nothing quite works out as planned.
The curing theme held over in House of Dracula. Count Dracula and Lawrence Talbot ask psychiatrist Dr. Edelman to help cure them. He attempts to do so, while simultaneously working on reviving Frankenstein's Monster. All that monster work becomes too much for our fragile doctor, and mayhem erupts.
Universal ended their long line of horror movies after House of Dracula, but the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula all made another appearance in the 1948 comedy classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The werewolf has become an innate part of horror/pop culture, appearing again in films like the teenage flicks I Was a Teenage Werewolf and Teen Wolf, along with genuine horror movies like The Howling. Good monsters are hard to come by, and when you’ve found one, he tends to stick around.
