The Wolf Man (1941)

Upon the death of his brother, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns from America to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits a gypsy camp with Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) and Jenny Williams, who is attacked by Bela (Bela Lugosi), 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 (Claude Rains), 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. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The first transformation takes place with Talbot in an undershirt (although he is fully dressed in a dark shirt once on the prowl). Only the feet transform on screen in six lapse dissolves. In the second transformation there are eleven shots -- again of feet only. The third transformation features 17 face shots in a continuous dissolve. "Even a man who is pure at heart, and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." This quote has been listed in some sources as an authentic Gypsy or Eastern European folk saying. Writer Curt Siodmak admits that he simply made it up. Nonetheless, the rhyme would be recited in every future Universal film appearance of the Wolf Man, and would also be quoted in Van Helsing (2004). (Albeit, slightly modified, "The moon is shining bright." rather than "The autumn moon is bright.") Larry's silver wolf-headed cane, the only known surviving prop from the movie, currently resides in the personal collection of genre film archivist Bob Burns. Burns, who was a schoolboy at the time, was given the cane head by the man who made it for the film, prop-maker Ellis Burman. The silver top of Larry's wolf-head cane was made of vulcanized rubber so none of the actors or stunt doubles would get injured if they were accidentally hit by it.

Another day, another horror classic. (Why do I seem to thing about horror after I watch Houston Texans games?) This movie really impressed me because of Lon Chaney. He is very good in his scenes as Talbot, a man who is afflicted with a condition that he knows will mean people die and you can really see the conflict in his acting. As in Dracula, where you don't see the fangs and The Mummy where you only see glimpses of the wrapping, in the Wolf Man you never see a werewolf movie staple. You never see the Moon.