Review of The Wolf Man (1941) by Erik J — 11 Jun 2010

The film opens with the meeting of two actors; veteran Claude Rains and relative newcomer Lon Chaney Jr. Already things feel a bit awkward as the two are supposed to be playing father and son and yet they don't seem to be anything like each other as Rains is at least a head shorter than Chaney, not to mention that Rains is acting circles around everyone and his co-star is no exception. Even though he is small in stature, every line Rains delivers has a commanding nature in contrast to the towering Chaney whose tone is rather moderate and sounds remarkably unsophisticated in comparison to his "father".

This is the first of many instances were things feel out of place. Other examples include Chaney trying to act charming, when he really doesn't have the charisma to be much more than an everyman. There's also the prominence of American accents despite the European setting. The music is over the top in the first two acts and is often distracting from the drama we are witnessing. Most damning of all is probably the lack of connection between Chaney's character of Larry Talbot and The Wolf Man himself. There is quite a bit of talk about how the transformation is all in his head, aided by the fact that there is no real transformation sequence so that when we finally see the Wolf Man in the end, it really doesn't click with the audience. While Chaney is able to show torment and anxiety in his long face, its nothing compared to the expressions of fear in Claude Rains strong acting chops during the confrontation with the Wolf Man in an exciting climax.