History FilM / TheWolfMan1941

* TheNoseKnows: This is how Larry is his werewolf form finds his first victim.

Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night -- a whole bunch of them, in fact. Larry has recently returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father, Sir John Talbot (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing shopkeeper Gwen Conliffe (Ankers) after she sells him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head -- which, she says, represents a werewolf. In the course of trying to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from Roma fortune-teller Maleva (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. It seems that Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"The way you walked was thorny, though no fault of your own. But as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the\\
sea, so tears run to a predestined end. Now you will have\\
peace for eternity."'']]

->''"Even a man who is pure in heart\\

And the autumn moon is bright."''

Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night -- a whole bunch of them, in fact. Larry has recently returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father, Sir John Talbot (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing shopkeeper Gwen Conliffe (Ankers) after she sells him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head -- which, she says, represents a werewolf. In the course of trying to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from Roma fortune-teller Malvena (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. It seems that Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.

Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night -- or several of them, actually. Larry has recently returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father, Sir John Talbot (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing shopkeeper Gwen Conliffe (Ankers) after she sells him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head -- which, she says, represents a werewolf. In the course of trying to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from Roma fortune-teller Malvena (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. It seems that Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.

[[caption-width-right:350:"The way you walked was thorny though no fault of your own, but as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end. Now you will have peace for eternity."]]

Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night. Larry has recently returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing shopkeeper Gwen Conliffe (Ankers) after she sells him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head--which she says represents a werewolf. In the course of trying to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from a Roma fortune-teller (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. It seems that Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.

When the next full moon rises, Larry transforms into a ravening Wolf Man, and prowls the night, tallying up a victim count of his own. Larry must now grapple with his curse and keep his loved ones safe at all costs.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Franchise/ScoobyDoo "Ruh-roh!"]]]]

Can Larry overcome this curse? Are his friends and family safe from the roaming beast? Will anyone take a werewolf named Larry seriously? [[note]]The answer to all these questions is no.[[/note]]

* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the film. Larry Talbot's ultimate destiny ([[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] by his purchase of the silver wolf's-head cane early on) is sealed beyond hope from the moment he gets bitten.

* StalkerWithACrush: Larry comes off as this initially, although it becomes less stalker-ish as the movie goes on. Gwen is initially perturbed by his attentions, because she's already engaged to another man and she's uncomfortable at the thought of Larry being able to peer into her window. In fact, for most of the movie she seems to clearly be struggling to ''not'' be attracted to him, making her a very unusual case of a "love interest" in a film like this.

''The Wolf Man'' is a 1941 Franchise/UniversalHorror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner, starring Creator/LonChaneyJr, Creator/ClaudeRains, Evelyn Ankers, Creator/RalphBellamy, Patric Knowles, Maria Ouspenskaya, and Creator/BelaLugosi. The title character has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood's depictions of the legend of the werewolf. The film is the second Universal werewolf movie, preceded six years earlier by the less commercially successful ''Film/WerewolfOfLondon''.

Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night. He's just returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing Gwen Conliffe (Ankers), a shopkeeper who sold him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head (which she says represents a werewolf). In the course of trying to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from a fortuneteller (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.

* CheerfulFuneral: A Christian priest finds it utterly alien that gypsies would mourn the passing of Bela, a fellow gypsy, with celebrations and even a whole [[UpToEleven carnival]]. The movie implies that they were celebrating the fact that Bela is now [[spoiler: freed from being a werewolf. But he has passed the curse on to Lawrence Talbot.]]

Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night. He's just returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing Gwen Conliffe (Ankers), a shopkeeper who sold him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head (which she says represents a werewolf). In the course of trying to rescue Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from a gypsy fortuneteller (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Maleva outlives her son Bela.
** Also applies to Sir John, who in the end outlives both his sons.

* TropeCodifier / TropeMaker: For the werewolf movie. Also for popular werewolf fiction in general, as there's no lycanthrope's equivalent of ''{{Dracula}}''.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo "Ruh-roh!"]]]]

* StalkerWithACrush: Larry. At least, he comes off as this for the first ten minutes of the movie, although it becomes less stalker-ish as the movie goes on. Gwen is initially perturbed by his attentions, because she's already engaged to another man and she's uncomfortable at the thought of Larry being able to peer into her window. In fact, for most of the movie she seems to clearly be struggling to ''not'' be attracted to him, making her a very unusual case of a "love interest" in a film like this.

* StalkerWithACrush: Larry. At least, he comes off as this for the first ten minutes of the movie, because it becomes less stalker-ish as the movie goes on. Gwen is initially perturbed because she's already engaged to another man and she's uncomfortable at the thought of Larry being able to peer into her window. For most of the movie, she seems to clearly be struggling to ''not'' be attracted to him, making her a very unusual case of a "love interest" in a film like this.

* YouCantFightFate: One of the main themes of the film. Larry Talbot's ultimate destiny ([[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] by his purchase of the silver wolf's-head cane early on) is sealed once he gets bitten.

* ThisWasHisTrueForm: This causes some problems for Larry - he beat a wolf to death with a cane, and is very confused as to why everyone keeps asking him why he killed a human.

* {{Uberwald}}: The setting is nominally 1940s Wales, but with gypsies, black forests, half-timbered cottages, and the old nobility residing in the ancestral castle, Llanwelly is sort of a British branch of Überwald.

* {{Uberwald}}: The setting is nominally 1940s Wales, but with gypsies, black forests, half-timbered cottages, and the old nobility residing in the ancestral castle, it's sort of a British branch of Überwald.

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* {{Uberwald}} The setting is nominally Wales, but with gypsies, black forests, half-timbered cottages, and the old nobility over the castle, it's sort of the British branch of Uberwald.

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Lawrence "Larry" Talbot (Chaney) is about to have a really bad night. He's just returned to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, to reconcile with his father (Rains). While there, he meets and starts pursuing Gwen Conliffe (Ankers), a shopkeeper who sold him a walking stick adorned with a silver wolf's head (which she says represents a werewolf). In the course of rescuing Gwen's friend Jenny from an apparent wolf attack, Larry is bitten. He soon learns from a gypsy fortuneteller (Ouspenskaya) that the wolf in question was actually a werewolf, specifically her son Bela (Lugosi) roaming the countryside in the form of a wolf. Bela had been a werewolf for years, and has now passed on the curse to Larry.