(So, my anxiety got particularly bad since writing the last one, I was unable to write the planned entries I had intended, or see the films. It's been hard and its almost October. Thus, I've decided to just skip to the last three major films in this franchise to finish off. I may get to the sequels and spin-offs in later entries. With that...)
This film was based on the experiences of its screenwriter Curt Siodmak. A minor writer and filmmaker in Germany, he was forced to flee when the Nazis came to power due to his Jewish heritage. He channeled the shock of this sudden chaos into a story about a relatively normal man who becomes a werewolf. Siodmak invented many werewolf myths for the film, including the poem cited in the film and was the first to depict a relatively uncommon myth about the werewolf being affected by a silver bullet. Directing the film was actor-turned-director George Waggner. The role of the werewolf (with make-up once again by Jack P. Pierce, reusing the unused make-up from Werewolf of London) was considered for stars Bela Lugosi (who ultimately appears in the film as "Bela", which must've been hard for him to remember) and Boris Karloff before going to Lon Chaney, Jr. Born Creighton Chaney, he was the son of Lon Chaney, Universal's silent era star, who, both directly and indirectly helped pave the way for the Universal Monsters. Chaney resented the name change, forced on him by Universal, commenting that he was proud of the name "Lon Chaney", but not "Lon Chaney, Jr." Chaney would have difficulties in the production of this film, corraling with lead actress Evelyn Ankers and suffering through a long make-up sequence. However, with the major success of the film (one of the biggest films of 1941), Chaney would go on to portray the character six more times, the only actor to portray the same character in all his appearances.
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) returns to his father John's (Claude Rains) estate after the death of his brother. Talbot, an engineer, soon becomes acquainted with Gwen (Evelyn Ankers), owner of an antiques shop. Gwen tells Talbot of a very interesting poem about the werewolf: "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". Sure enough, when Larry, Gwen, and Gwen's friend Jenny (Fay Helm) go for a forest jaunt, they find an old Gypsy woman (Maria Ouspenskaya) and her son Bela (Bela... Lugosi), and are attacked by a strange wolf creature. Larry is bitten attempting to save Jenny (who is killed). When the police investigate, the gypsy woman suddenly claims that the Wolf was in fact Bela, and that Larry might have... urges.
The make-up in the film is better than the last film. Definitely looks like a human-wolf hybrid, and there is a certain menace to the character. Lon Chaney, Jr. doesn't necessarily do well when he has to be Larry Talbot, but when he's the wolfman, his physicality and viciousness help sell that particular character. The mysticism and tension in the film helps keep the film at least somewhat interesting throughout. Overall, the kills are better done, especially with the ambiguity of it.
As said before, Lon Chaney, Jr. doesn't really do well when in human form. He has this forced normal affectation to him that's a bit distracting and he looks like an extra and not the lead of the film. Perhaps his other appearances fix this, but he struggles in this role. The second act tends to drag and despite being 70 minutes, it does feel very long.
I enjoyed this more than London. Definitely worth a watch for the tensions and the origins of many current werewolf myths and legends, and just for the fun of seeing effectively a Code-era slasher film (so, no blood). It's not my favorite, but it was definitely a lot of fun.
So, yeah, I'm just going to skip forward into the last technical Universal Monster with Creature from the Black Lagoon.
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