Review of The Wolf Man (1941) by Byron B — 29 Mar 2010
This was not all that great, despite the fact I really wanted to like this classic. The anachronisms of English mansions, European gypsy bands, horse and carriage on one hand with the car, telescope, 1940's suits, and American Lon Chaney Jr.
were hard to get past. Claude Rains doesn't make any sense as Lon Chaney Jr.'s father. "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.
" This quote is repeated way too much. "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night...", is a load of crap. Lawrence Talbot is a creepy voyeuristic stalker. The movie is inconsistent when Larry Talbot kills Bela as a werewolf, since the creature just appears to be a plain ordinary wolf.
You could assume that as someone remains under the curse of Lycanthropy longer they lose their human physical attributes, which of course has been borrowed for other werewolf movies. In fact Curt Siodmak freely created this story without much being borrowed from any earlier legend, so the silver bullet, silver knife, or stick with silver handle, everything is new.
It is being created as they go and not consistently. The metamorphosis is not very impressive here and the movie relies on melodrama in the extreme.
This review of The Wolf Man (1941) was written by Byron B on 29 Mar 2010.
The Wolf Man has generally received positive reviews.
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