Director: George Waggner
Writer: Curt Siodmak (original screenplay)
Stars: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr.
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Synopsis
Larry arrives at Talbot Castle. His father introduces Larry to Paul, who is now the local constable. Larry’s older brother, John, died recently in a hunting accident, and now Larry is the new heir. Larry helps set up a huge telescope, as his father is heavily into astronomy. Through the telescope, he sees a girl in town.
He goes to town and stops in the shop where he saw the girl. He uses a super creepy pickup line about seeing her in her bedroom and the earrings in her room. He buys a heavy cane with a silver wolf’s head. It’s not just a wolf, it’s also got the pentagram on it, so it represents a werewolf. She recites the famous poem:
Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the moon is pure and bright.
As he leaves the shop, the gypsies come to town. He and Gwen, along with Jenny, go to get their fortunes told that night. While they wait for their turn, they go for a walk in the fog. Bela the gypsy reads Jenny’s fortune, but he starts acting strangely. He sees the pentagram in her hand. He tells her to run home.
Jenny runs out and is killed by a wolf in the woods. Larry runs to help and beats the “dog” to death with his new cane. He was bitten in the attack. Later, they find Bela in the woods with his head crushed by a heavy instrument, and they also find Larry’s cane laying on the ground next to him. The next morning, the bite mark on Larry is gone. His story is starting to look sketchy to the constable.
Larry’s father explains it all away to the police, and his story make sense, more or less. Larry and Bela went to Jenny’s aid, and it was dark– accidents happen. Larry watches from the shadows as Maleva, the old gypsy mother, comes to talk to Bela’s body. Larry feels terrible about killing a man. He’s starting to doubt even to himself that it was a wolf.
Gwen’s boyfriend, Frank, comes in, and his dog takes an immediate dislike to Larry. Later that night, all the gypsies from miles around convene to throw a funeral party for Bela. Larry finally meets up with the old gypsy woman, who explains things to Larry. She offers him a pentagram amulet to ward off the curse. He claims that he doesn’t believe her, but it looks like deep down, he knows the truth already.
He tells Gwen all about it and gives her the pentagram for protection. He thinks it’ll protect her from him… just in case. The gypsies, meanwhile, are all freaking out and leaving town. Larry runs home and starts examining himself as he gets hairier and hairier.
The wolf man goes out to the cemetery and kills the gravedigger. Paul, the policeman, tracks the footprints to Larry’s bedroom window, were Larry wakes up the next morning. He tells everyone that it’s a werewolf, not a regular wolf as the police think. The doctor tells Sir John that there’s something wrong with Larry, something psychological, and he should leave town for a while.
That night, the wolf man gets caught in an animal trap. The gypsy woman reverses the curse for a few moments to help him get out of the trap. He gets out of the trap just in time to avoid the hounds. He goes to see Gwen, and he sees the sign of the pentagram in her hand. He runs out.
Larry tells all to Sir John, who ties him to a chair that night. Sir John has to go hunt with the men, but Larry tells him to take the silver-handled cane with him. Sir John confronts the gypsy woman, who fills him with doubt. The old lady tries to save Gwen, but Gwen won’t listen. Gwen runs right into the wolf man, who attacks her. Sir John intercepts the attack and kills the monster with the cane. As the beast lays beneath the trees in the foggy woods, he reverts back to Larry as Sir John and the Gypsy woman look on. Sir John already has a cover story ready to go, “The wolf must have attacked her and Larry came to the rescue.”
Commentary
The iconic foggy woods scene is nearly as well known as the story itself. Claude Rains is completely reasonable and sensible throughout, offsetting Larry’s whiny crybaby attitude. If I were a werewolf, I’d let him watch my back!
Larry basically tells everyone that he’s a werewolf, but no one believes him but the gypsy. Since he’s aware of what’s going on, you’d think he would try chaining himself up or locking himself in a cage, but no, he just lets it happen. Also, since he attacks Gwen anyway, that little medallion must not have any effect.
It’s a good film. I like it better than the 2010 remake, even though the effects are somewhat limited.