Cast
Claude Rains Sir John Talbot
Warren William Doctor Lloyd
Ralph Bellamy Col. Paul Montford, Chief Constable
Patric Knowles Frank Andrews, Talbot Gamekeeper
Bela Lugosi Bela
Maria Ouspenskaya Maleva, Bela's Mother
Evelyn Ankers Gwen Conliffe
J.M. Kerrigan Charles Conliffe
Fay Helm Jenny Williams
Lon Chaney Jr. Larry Talbot/Wolf Man
Forrester Harvey Victor Twiddle, Monford's Assistant
Jessie Arnold Gypsy Woman
Harry Cording Wykes
Gibson Gowland Villager
Leyland Hodgson Kendall, Talbot Butler
Olaf Hytten Villager
Kurt Katch Gypsy With Bear
La Riana Gypsy Dancer
Connie Leon Mrs. Wykes
Doris Lloyd Mrs. Williams, Jenny's Mother
Ottola Nesmith Mrs. Bally
Tom Stevenson Richardson the Gravedigger
Harry Stubbs Reverend Norman
Executive producer, Jack J. Gross; Produced by George Waggner; Directed by
George Waggner; Screenplay by Curt Siodmak; Original music by Charles
Previn, Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner; Cinematography by Joseph
Valentine; Film Edited by Ted Kent; Art Direction by Jack Otterson;
Set Decoration by R. A. Gausman; Costume Design by Vera West (gowns);
Wolf Man Makeup by Jack P. Pierce; Assistant Director, Vernon Keays;
Associate Art Director, Robert Boyle; Sound director, Bernard B. Brown;
Sound technician, Joe Lapis; Special Effects by John P. Fulton.
Production dates: September 8 -- November 25, 1941; Release date:
December 12, 1941.
The Story:
Sir John Talbot welcomes his son Larry when the latter returns to
ancient Talbot castle after an 18 year absence.
Larry takes Gwen Conliffe and her girlfriend Jenny to a gypsy carnival.
While Bela the gypsy fortune-teller reads Jenny's palm, Larry and Gwen
wander off together.
Jenny's screams attract Larry, who returns in time to see a giant wolf
making his kill. Larry beats the wolf to death with his cane, but is
badly bitten.
Next day Larry finds himself recovered except for the faint mark of a
wolf's head and pentagram over his heart. According to the legend, this
is the sign of a werewolf's victim.
Capt. Montford and Dr. Lloyd insist that there hasn't been a wolf in
the vicinity for years. And villagers find the body of Bela ---not that
of an animal.
When Larry finds that Gwen is engaged to Frank Andrews, he decideds
not to intrude. But he sees Gwen after she has quarreled with Frank, and
Larry and Gwen are strangely drawn toward one another.
Maleva, Bela's mother, tells Larry that having been bitten by a
werewolf, he has become one himself. Larry scoffs feebly, but the
turbulence within him grows when he awakens and finds the tracks in
his room, and learns that there has been another murder.
He decides to leave, but in saying goodbye to Gwen he sees the
werewolf sign upon her. In desperation, Larry confesses everything to
Sir John. The latter dismisses it as all in Larry's mind, but he straps
Larry to a chair before going to join the villagers in a hunt for the
four-footed killer.
A wolf-cry pierces the night, and Sir John finds the beast about to
make Gwen his victim. Sir John kills the wolf with Larry's cane, and
Maleva arrives to repeat gypsy ministrations over the body. The werewolf
reassumes human shape, and villagers see that it was Larry Talbot.
