{"id":5175,"date":"2008-01-23T17:35:40","date_gmt":"2008-01-24T00:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5175"},"modified":"2022-07-28T11:21:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-28T18:21:44","slug":"wolf-man-the-1941","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5175","title":{"rendered":"Wolf Man, The (1941)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Wolf-Man-Poster-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Wolf-Man-Poster-1-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Wolf-Man-Poster-1-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Wolf-Man-Poster-1-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Wolf-Man-Poster-1-173x270.jpg 173w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Wolf-Man-Poster-1.jpg 485w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nUpon returning to his ancestral home in Wales, the estranged son (Lon Chaney, Jr.) of a local nobleman (Claude Rains) visits a gypsy camp with a beautiful young woman (Evelyn Ankers) and her friend Jenny (Fay Helm). When Jenny is attacked by a wolf, Chaney comes to her rescue and is bitten; soon he starts to suspect that he may have been bitten by a werewolf, and fears that he will begin harming others.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bela Lugosi Films<\/li>\n<li>Claude Rains Films<\/li>\n<li>Horror<\/li>\n<li>Lon Chaney, Jr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Ralph Bellamy Films<\/li>\n<li>Warren William Films<\/li>\n<li>Werewolves<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary heaps enormous praise upon this beloved Universal horror flick, referring to it as both &#8220;intelligent&#8221; and &#8220;literate&#8221;, and noting that it provides an effective variation on not only the &#8220;within-every-man-there-is-a-beast&#8221; theme, but also that of the &#8220;familiar forties doomed hero &#8212; an innocent man who suddenly finds himself trapped and tortured by Fate.&#8221; Indeed, while Chaney is no great actor, he&#8217;s perfectly cast here as a prodigal son <em>misfit<\/em> who stands out &#8212; both literally and figuratively &#8212; as different and strange in his own hometown: hulking Chaney and diminutive Rains make for an extremely unlikely father\/son pairing, and Chaney&#8217;s broad American accent is in stark contrast to that of the townsfolk. It&#8217;s no wonder he quickly finds himself subsumed into the tragic fate of traveling gypsies (also &#8220;strangers&#8221; in the town). <\/p>\n<p>Although Peary finds Jack Pierce&#8217;s makeup &#8220;convincing&#8221; and the transformation scenes &#8220;effective&#8221;, most today would disagree; particularly egregious (and puzzling even to Peary) is why Chaney &#8220;retains his human form and walks on two furry feet, while [Bela] Lugosi&#8221; (the original werewolf; his role is miniscule) &#8220;was a full-fledged wolf.&#8221; With that said, <em>The Wolf Man<\/em> relies on atmospheric sets and internal tension rather than make-up and fancy special effects to provide its chills &#8212; and in this sense, it succeeds. Of special note is Maria Ouspenskaya in perhaps her most iconic role, as the gypsy woman who informs Chaney what has happened to him; her gentle, maternal chants (&#8220;The way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own&#8221;) elevate the film to a higher level altogether.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Effectively atmospheric, fog-drenched sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/wolf-man-fog.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/wolf-man-fog.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5173\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Maria Ouspenskaya as a wise gypsy woman who takes Chaney under her wing<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/wolf-man-tragic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/wolf-man-tragic.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5174\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its importance in horror film history. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0034398\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1941\/12\/22\/archives\/the-screen.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classic-horror.com\/reviews\/wolf_man_1941\">Classic Horror Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1199wolf.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/96098\/the-wolf-man#articles-reviews?articleId=60061\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7qf_PCbc8eQ\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.&#8221; Synopsis: Upon returning to his ancestral home in Wales, the estranged son (Lon Chaney, Jr.) of a local nobleman (Claude Rains) visits a gypsy camp with a beautiful young woman (Evelyn Ankers) and her friend Jenny (Fay Helm). When Jenny is attacked by a wolf, Chaney comes to her rescue and is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5175\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5175"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85892,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175\/revisions\/85892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}