The Wolf Man

Upon the death of his brother, Larry Talbot returns from America to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits a gypsy camp with village girl Jenny Williams, who is attacked by Bela, a gypsy who has turned into a werewolf. Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten during the fight. Bela's mother tells him that this will cause him to become a werewolf at each full moon. Larry confesses his plight to his unbelieving father, Sir John, who then joins the villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Larry, transformed by the full moon, heads for the forest and a fateful meeting with both Sir John and Gwen.

Cast

Movie Trivia

The Wolf Man was begun in 1931 as a vehicle for Boris Karloff.

French director Robert Florey, who was also the first choice to direct Frankenstein was the first director to develop the storyline.

The German Shepherd that Lon Chaney Jr. wrestles with actually was a former police dog who filled in for the too tame wolves brought in. The action got so heated, "Moose" bit down hard enough to break Chaney's thumb! Chaney fell immediately in love, purchased Moose from his trainer and the two lived happily ever after.

An earlier version of the script never featured shots of a werewolf. It was a psychological drama, more akin to Val Lewton's Cat People than The Wolf Man we know today

There are no shots of the full moon in The Wolf Man. In fact, at no point does anyone in the film even say "full moon." The closest it gets is "...and the autumn moon is bright." Larry Talbot's transformations were independent of the cycles of the moon.

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Lon Chaney Jr. portrayed the Wolfman in the 1941 horror classic.

Click to find out more about him.

"It isn't a wolf... it's a werewolf!"
~Larry