Synopsis
Friendly and mild-mannered Larry Talbot (Chaney Jr.) is bitten by a werewolf (Lugosi), who passes the curse onto him. A man during the day, Talbot transforms into a werewolf under the full moon, prowling the countryside and killing anyone he encounters. The constable and local citizens hunt him. Horror and tragedy combine in the fates of both Talbot and his father Sir John (Rains), a skeptic who does not believe in the werewolf until he is forced to strike it down with his silver-headed cane. Sir John then watches in anguish as the dead werewolf transforms back into his son.
Discussion
The Wolf Man introduces Universal Pictures' final major horror character until The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). As played by Lon Chaney Jr., the Wolf Man is a pitiable character whose transformations and homicidal acts are completely involuntarily. He is distraught because he cannot prevent the killings.
TCM Film Festival, 2012
The Wolf Man was screened as part of the
Universal's Legacy of Horror
theme at the TCM Classic Film Festival in
2012. Makeup artist Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London,
Hellboy) discussed the film and makeup artist Jack Pierce. Pierce
created Chaney's werewolf makeup and Boris Karloff's makeup for
Frankenstein. Pierce built facial features out of cotton, liquid
plastic and putty. He glued yak hair to Chaney's face and head. Applying and
removing the makeup was a slow and tedious process that took hours of work.
Although Pierce got on well with Karloff, he had a poor relationship with Chaney.
New types of makeup, including molded latex appliances that were faster and easier
to apply, and more comfortable for actors, were introduced in the 1940s. Pierce
found it hard to adapt to the newer methods and was reluctant to use the latex
appliances, and his career declined as a result. He worked mostly in television
during the 1950s. His final position was makeup artist for the
Mr. Ed television series in the early 1960s.
Further Reading