The Wolf Man (1941) on Netflix
Larry Talbot comes home to Llanwelly, Wales, after his brother's death. He buys a walking stick with a silver wolf's head from Gwen Conliffe, who tells him it stands for a werewolf.
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Trailer
Plot summary
Larry Talbot has come back to Llanwelly, Wales, for his brother's funeral and to repair the breach with his father, Sir John Talbot. He takes an interest in Gwen Conliffe, who keeps an antique shop, and buys from her a walking stick topped with a silver wolf's head as an excuse to talk with her. Gwen explains that the figure stands for a werewolf, a man who becomes a wolf at particular times of the year, and that the creature sees a pentagram on the palm of its next victim. The villagers have a poem they recite when werewolves come up. Gwen turns down his repeated requests for a date, yet meets him that night with her friend Jenny to have their fortunes told. The Romani Bela finds a pentagram on Jenny's palm and hurries her away.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Wolf Man (1941)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The wolf man makeup worn by Lon Chaney Jr. was first designed by Jack Pierce for Henry Hull in Werewolf of London (1935). Hull argued the disguise made no sense because his character had to be recognizable, so Pierce made a second version, then recycled the original design for The Wolf Man.
- Lon Chaney Jr. said he sat motionless for hours while the transformation scenes were shot frame by frame, was left sitting through the crew's lunch break, and claimed effects men drove tiny finishing nails into the sides of his hands so they stayed still in close-ups.
- Applying the werewolf makeup to Lon Chaney Jr. took five to six hours, and taking it off took another hour, making the transformation an all-day ordeal for the actor.
- The Wolf Man is the only Universal monster played by the same actor in all his 1940s appearances: Lon Chaney Jr., who proudly said in interviews that the Wolf Man was his "baby".
- The 1941 film never showed or mentioned a full moon. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) used one to explain Larry Talbot's resurrection and retconned the villagers' poem so its last line became "and the moon is full and bright".
- The werewolf poem in the film, with its line about wolfsbane blooming and the autumn moon, was not an ancient legend but an invention of screenwriter Curt Siodmak. It is repeated in every later film featuring the Wolf Man except House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
