Mariposa's Musings

"You don't understand. Every night when the moon is full, I turn into a wolf."  Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) "You and twenty million other guys"  Wilbur (Lou Costello) Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948 Today, I'll be chatting about Howl at The Snarkology .  Hope to see you there!

“…his hideous howl a dirge of death.” Tagline from The Wolf Man (1941) Even with its debut following the attack on Pearl Harbor, The Wolf Man became Universal Picutres’ largest grossing movies of the season. The script had the working title of Destiny. While fate was key to the plot, audiences were captivated by romantic tension between the nobleman, Larry Talbot and Gwen Conliffe, an antique dealer’s daughter The Wolf Man established much of the werewolf lore that would appear in later novels and movies such as: · Transformation triggered by the full moon · A werewolf bite dooms the victim to become a werewolf · Werewolves can only be killed by silver · Werewolves revert to human form upon death Due to the popularity of the Wolf Man, Universal had Lon Chaney Jr. portray Larry Talbot in four more films, including Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1943) Fun Facts The “wolf” Larry Talbot fights was Lon Cha...

In 1906 Creighton Chaney arrived in the world nearly stillborn after a difficult delivery. His father, Lon Chaney, revived him by plunging him into the frigid waters of Belle Isle Lake. Young Chaney later made his debut at the age of six months as a prop in his father’s stage act. Chaney worked as a stunt man and extra under his given name. When he realized studios were more receptive to him as the son of Lon Chaney, he used the name Lon Chaney Jr. professionally. As the Wolf Man, Chaney Jr.’s transformation was an arduous four-hour process while the gradual changes in his make-up were made and filmed. The removal of the layers of yak hair and make-up took a painful 45 minutes. Though Chaney Jr.’s character perishes at the end of The Wolf Man, the popularity of the character caused Universal to resurrect the werewolf to live again in four more movies. With a career that spanned nearly four decades and included more than 150 film credits, Chaney J...