In his film The Wolf Man, director George Waggner presents a challenging series of thought-provoking images around a simplistic Jeckyll-and-Hydian tale of a man who becomes a werewolf when a full moon appears while remaining a human during the interim. Yet, interestingly, the brunt of the film focuses upon a minority plight during the second World War (taking place at the time of the film’s production) and the perplexing ethical conditions which surround it.
Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns to his native Yorkshire after eighteen years abroad as an engineer in California upon receiving the news from his father, Sir John Talbot Sr. (Claude Rains), that Larry’s elder brother, John Jr., has died in a recent hunting accident. As a consequence, he is now the heir to the Talbot castle, where his father lives. Incidentally, as Larry attempts to regain his English roots while seeking companionship in the company of a local antique dealer’s daughter, Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), he is bitten by and becomes a werewolf.
As with every one of Universal’s monsters in the 1930’s and ’40’s, the film brings to light many issues. However, for the first time, we are witness to a character who loathes being a monster instead of reveling in his plight. This is epitomized by the folk verse, uttered many times during the course of the film, “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.” As such, Waggner creates a purely sympathetic character which, laid beside the overriding metaphor in the film, adds provocative convolutions to his tale.
Early in the film, Bela, a fortune-telling Gypsy, peers into the palm of Gwen’s friend, Jenny Williams (Fay Helm), and forewarns her of imminent danger. His prophecy has nothing to do with his divination but because he is werewolf. In Waggner’s telling of the folk tale, a werewolf “sees” who his next victim will be because the image of a pentagram will appear on the person. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak allegorized his experiences and subsequent flight from Nazi Germany by transforming the Jewish Star of David into a thematically adherent pentagram. A Nazi solider would know who his enemy was by the religious insignia the Jews were forced to wear. Likewise, the werewolf’s victims are similarly labeled. To add dimension to this premise, John suggests that his son’s recently acquired Lycanthropy is just that, a clinical condition, thus is a state of mind and is symptomatic of recent events in his son’s life and, once addressed, will dissipate over time. This issue is further complicated in that it is implied by the paternal care which John lavishes on his son, even though Larry is rather uncouth in his father’s eyes, that John is aware of the seriousness of his son’s predicament (perhaps John Jr. was shot because he was in werewolf form at the time of his death) even though he veils his protectiveness behind the cloak of Larry being the sole remaining heir to the Talbot estate.
This does not mean to imply that the Siodmak or Waggner were Nazi sympathizers in their coalesce of the two themes. Rather, like Oskar Schindler, Larry is aware that he is unable to change his circumstance and attempts to deal with it in the most ethical manner possible. As did his predecessor Bela, Larry endeavors to forewarn those whom he knows–via the pentagram which has recently appeared–that the person is in mortal danger. By the climax of the film, after watching Larry’s efforts to thwart his inherit evil (he was bitten by Bela trying to save Jenny), the viewer comes to respect and sympathize wholeheartedly with the character.
Yet, in lieu of its narrative weight, the film does host some cinematic problems. Waggner presents the werewolf too early in the film atop having the monster appear outside the veil of mystery via shadows or fog. Thus, the tension of the impending monster is prematurely relieved. Lon Chaney Jr. is cast well as the stout woodsmen-esque man who, once metamorphosed, provokes a sense of threat and peril. However, Chaney fails to give the werewolf (or the character of Larry for that matter) any dimension. Also, though set in Yorkshire, none the actors host a regional accent (Larry being except due to his estrangement from his homeland). Lastly, but playfully, the werewolf that is Bela as he attacks Jenny is a German Shepherd without apology (named Moose). It is hard for me to concede to the idea that Universal couldn’t have sprung a little more money if necessary in order to procure a trained wolf for the part.
Overall, of all of the conical monsters in Universal’s repertoire, The Wolf Man stands steadfastly behind its precursors, Frankenstein and Dracula. The work offers much to reflect upon and stands as a respectable statement upon its time and the philosophies and mindset contained therein.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
