We’ve reached the end of our cinematic journey of Universal Classic Monsters. As we focused on Universal Pictures’ transition into sound production films and their successes in the genre of horror, we finish appropriately enough at the end of the Laemmle empire. Even with the financial and critical success of SHOW BOAT (1936), the too many flops and debts from over-spending added up. Carl Laemmle and his son Carl Jr. were forced out, via a hostile takeover in 1936. It was the end of an unforgettable era… of gods and monsters.
We’ll close out with Stuart Walker’s WEREWOLF of LONDON (1935). Is it generally considered the most popular of the were wolf films? Not really. Most mainstream fans think of Lon Chaney, Jr.’s version that came along six years later. So, why did I include this film in our collection? As with the other Universal monsters that we’ve studied, this werewolf tale is the pioneering film of its genre.
WEREWOLF OF LONDON is not the first lycanthropic motion picture. THE WEREWOLF (1913) was an 18-minute short that focused more on the Native American lore of lycanthropy. Sadly, this is considered a lost film. Then, in 1925, WOLFBLOOD was a silent film based on a logger receiving a blood transfusion of wolves’ blood who is blamed for mysterious murders in the area. But WOL was the first full-length film in sound whose main character was featured in this beastly folktale, with so much groundbreaking detail. This film set the stage, and many of the “rules,” for others to follow.
WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935) created a new werewolf mythology almost entirely from scratch. Up until this film, from folklore, becoming a werewolf was a choice, a deliberate act, performed by witchcraft. Starting with this film, we see that a man changes into a werewolf under a full moon, that one turns into a werewolf if bitten by one, and this is an equal hybrid of the worst traits of wolf and man. These werewolf essentials persisted, with a few variations (like a silver bullet), for decades across dozens of films.
Both Boris Karloff (for Dr. Wilfred Glendon) and Bela Lugosi (for Dr. Yogami) were considered originally in the casting. Lugosi had a scheduling conflict as he was starring in MARK of the VAMPIRE (1935). Karloff was busy that year with BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE BLACK ROOM, and THE RAVEN (also with Lugosi). Henry Hull was a stage and film actor recognized for his classic training and distinctive voice. You’ll notice him in films like GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1934), Hitchcock’s LIFEBOAT (1944), or many westerns; but this film is considered his most memorable.
Valerie Hobson was seventeen years old during principal filming and turned eighteen years old a month prior to the national release. Hobson and Hull portray a married couple in WEREWOLF OF LONDON, yet Hull was 27 years her senior. (Not dissimilar to Hobson and Clive as an onscreen married couple in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN where he was 17 years her senior, but also within two years of his death.) She worked steadily under Universal contract but never garnered the name recognition like her male co-stars. She was married twice. Her second husband, then British Sect. for State of War John Profumo, was central to the Profumo sex scandal of 1963 which rocked the British government. Despite the intense controversy, Hobson remained married to him until her death in November of 1998.
Director Stuart Walker was a reliable producer/director who was very active in the 1930s. He was well known for directing films such as THE EAGLE and the HAWK (1933) (starring Cary Grant, Frederic March, and Carole Lombard) and THE MYSTERY of EDWIN DROOD (1935) (starring an opium addicted Claude Rains); and producing seven of the popular Bulldog Drummond films. He died in March of 1941 of a heart attack.
Universal paid Henry Hull $2,750 a week for this project. Whereas Karloff was paid $2,500 a week for his work in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (which was considerably more successful.) Warner Oland, who was a bigger name at this time, received $12,000 for his role. According to biographer Greg Mank’s “Lugosi and Karloff,” the studio additionally paid Hull’s agent another $82.50 a week, plus another $1375 for the ‘trick shots.’
To get an idea of just how popular this hairy myth in film has been across the years and decades, I discovered this recent ‘list article’ of werewolf films, “31 Best Werewolf Movies to Watch for a Howling Good Time at Halloween or Whenever!” published this month. And yes, tonight’s film is their #1 pick: (https://parade.com/1271684/jessicasager/werewolf-movies/ ) If this list of over thirty films is just one example of someone’s ‘best of,’ we know this is a topic with keen interest, but it all started here.
