- Angst? What Angst?: Larry and Sir John don't really seem all that upset about the fact that Larry's brother just died in a hunting accident right before the start of the film. In fact, it only receives one small mention at the beginning, and then is never brought up again. Somewhat acknowledged by Sir John saying that it's common in the family for fathers to be distant and aloof with their sons (which he regrets). As for Larry, he's been away for 18 years.
- Awesome Music: Even with the small orchestra that they had, Frank Skinner and Hans J. Salter still managed to create a tragic, haunting, suspenseful, and well-done score.
- Common Knowledge: Werewolves do not transform during the Full Moon. The full poem says autumn moon rather than Full Moon, and in the film Larry Talbot transforms several nights in a row which would be impossible if it were limited to the Full Moon. This was changed in the sequels. They also aren't only killed by silver bullets. Silver bullets can kill them, but it is the silver that is lethal, not the bullet necessarily. Indeed in the film, no werewolves are killed by bullets. They are killed by being clubbed by a silver-headed cane.
- Fair for Its Day: One of the more famous film versions of the Magical Romani, treating them with an 'otherness' and using the word 'gypsy' to refer to them. They however are presented as very honorable people, with Bela even appearing to be a Noble Demon. Maleva even gets a scene where a priest criticises her people's traditions, and she defends them as being just as valid as Christian ones, with the priest clearly meant to be in the wrong (which is quite radical, considering the Hays Code were very strict about the depictions of the clergy).
- First Installment Wins: While not without their fans, the subsequent sequels (and crossover's) starring Larry and the Wolfman in the Universal canon are all considered to be a Contested Sequel or Sequelitis to varying degrees, compared to the beloved original, which is widely seen as the best movie in the 40's Universal revival.
- Narm Charm: Larry's werewolf form never looked much like a wolf to begin with and yet... it works wonderfully, especially with the growls, fangs, and the physicality of Lon Chaney's lurching gait, that doesn't seem human.
- Newer Than They Think: Many people believe the famous poem quoted on the main page ("Even a man who is pure in heart...") to be an old saying. In reality, it was concocted by screenwriter Curt Siodmak for this movie.
- One-Scene Wonder:
- Bela Lugosi is in the movie for less than five minutes, but he delivers a great performance, giving his character a sense of both dignity and tragedy as he faces his next victim.
- Jenny is such a sweet Genki Girl in her short screen time, but it makes her death all the sadder.
- Questionable Casting: The rather burly, uncouth Lon Chaney Jr.. was never originally intended for the role of Lawrence Talbot; at first, Universal had planned the film as another vehicle for Boris Karloff (which wound up not panning out), and Dick Foran was set to star in the lead until he was suddenly fired a week before filming. In the original version, Chaney would've instead played the supporting role of a American engineer hired to fix the Talbots' telescope — instead, he was re-cast as Talbot, making him a very unlikely scion of Welsh gentry. note Nevertheless, few would now complain about the end results and Lon Chaney Jr.'s heartbreaking, yet savagely, sympathetic and iconic portrayal of the tormented Lawrence Talbot, which has gone on to be regarded as one of horror's best.
- Signature Scene: Larry attacking Gwen in werewolf form.
- Values Dissonance:
- Filmed during a simpler time, when a guy could walk up to a lady he has never talked to before and identify the jewelry she keeps in her bedroom, and she wouldn't freak out or call the cops. Although it's worth noting that Gwen initially assumes Larry had met her somewhere before and she's just forgotten (and she had been wearing the earrings then). Larry doesn't tell her the telescope thing until later, and she's indeed quite annoyed until he explains it was an accident.
- Larry also keeps asking Gwen on a date, even after multiple rejections, and playfully acts as though she had said yes when she hadn't. To the modern viewer, it would look like him pressuring her into a date. By 1940s standards however, a woman would be expected to put up several token protests to remain respectable and therefore not look too eager. This is why Gwen doesn't simply say she's engaged at first; she wants to meet Larry, and brings Jenny along to keep up the illusion of respectability.
- Visual Effects of Awesome:
- The iconic Wolf Man costume; which has gone on to inspire countless designs, as the endless costumes you'll see of him on Halloween will attest. In one of the most impressive makeup jobs Jack Pierce did, it's a furred extension of Lon Chaney Jr.'s face; made with all kinds of prosthetics to create the face of Universal's most transformed creature; allowing the actor to emote, snarl, and act like a frenzied animal; seamlessly transforming the human into a howling werewolf!
- An understated aspect is how atmospheric the Ominous Fog makes the movie; an impressive feat of special effects considering how big the sets were, and how much they needed to create the illusion of sleepy streets and dark woods were the wolfman prowls for his victims.
- The Woobie:
- Laurence Talbot, whose given a Trauma Conga Line of epic proportions. To wit, he was mostly ignored by his family growing up in childhood, becomes estranged from his father, loses his brother, and when things start looking up, the events of the movie happen: he's bitten by a werewolf defending (and failing) Jenny, is forced to kill Bela in self-defense (causing him immense guilt), he becomes the village recluse and is pretty much isolated by everyone, until he's driven practically mad by his curse, until he's finally put out of his misery by his own father. The sequels would eventually turn him into an Iron Woobie, and pile up the suffering even more.
- The ending makes his father John Talbot one, too. He loses both his sons within the span of a couple of weeks, and in Larry's case, is forced to do the deed himself.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/TheWolfMan1941
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