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Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Happy Howl-oween, as Famous Monsters editor Forrest J. Ackerman might say. Last week's unknown movie was the 1941 classic The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. Besides being a pluperfect choice for holiday viewing, it's also the very first horror movie ever seen by yours truly. (I was 5, and badgered my folks to let me stay up and watch it-- needless to say, I was up all night and so were they.)

By 1941, Universal Studios had been making their pioneering brand of atmospheric monster movies for over a decade, and The Wolf Man benefitted from the accumulated expertise of their crew of behind-the-scenes geniuses. Makeup wizard Jack Pierce, who had also created Karloff's Mummy and Frankenstein, outdid himself with Chaney's transformation from man to wolf (the stop-motion changeover still works beautifully). R.A. Gausman's set design is just as good, and the foggy, creepy forest scenes are forever burned in my memory. Even little things like the design of Chaney's wolf's-head walking stick were done perfectly.

As for the cast, it's filled with old pros: Claude Rains as Chaney's father, Bela Lugosi as the gypsy who passes on the werewolf gene to Lon, and, perhaps best of all, the nightmarish Maria Ouspenskaya (seen in last week's picture clue). It's a good thing they were there, too, because while Chaney Jr. was a good choice physically for the title role, his acting chops were never better than second rate, and it's hard to be frightened by a monster who constantly looks like he's about to bawl.

(In later years, when his alcoholism became worse, Chaney would tell his directors to get what they needed from him before lunch, and during the filming of his last picture-- Al Adamson's drive-in abomination Dracula vs. Frankenstein-- he was only shot from the waist up, because two crew members were crouched down by his legs, holding him upright.)

At 70 minutes, The Wolf Man is as short and sweet as a horror movie can be, and is one of the few films of its era that still holds up for kids today. For my money, it is to Halloween what It's a Wonderful Life is to Xmas.

Congratulations to the following monster-lovers for recognizing Maria and the film she rode in on: Wayne Palmer, Anne Chase, Hank Parmer, E. Yarber, Mark Bartel, Steve Perry, Mark Gisleson, and Joe Rosenberg. Thanks and a silver bullet to you all!

Posted by Steve Monaco at October 31, 2005 2:12 PM

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