Werewolf of London
Encyclopedia
Werewolf of London is a 1935 Horror
/werewolf
movie starring Henry Hull
and produced by Universal Pictures
. Jack Pierce's eerie werewolf make-up was simpler than his version six years later for Lon Chaney, Jr.
, in The Wolf Man but, according to film historians, remains strikingly effective as worn by Hull.
Werewolf of London was the first Hollywood mainstream
werewolf movie.
) is a wealthy and world-renowned English botanist who journeys to Tibet in 1935 in search of the elusive mariphasa plant. While there, he is attacked and bitten by a creature later revealed to be a werewolf, although he succeeds in acquiring a specimen of the mariphasa. Once back home in London he is approached by a fellow botanist, Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland
), who claims to have met him in Tibet while also seeking the mariphasa. Yogami warns Glendon that the bite of a werewolf would cause him to become a werewolf as well, adding that the mariphasa is a temporary antidote for the disease.
Glendon does not believe the mysterious Yogami. That is, not until he begins to experience the first pangs of lycanthropy, first when his hand grows fur beneath the rays of his moon lamp (which he is using in an effort to entice the mariphasa to bloom), and later that night during the first full moon. The first time, Glendon is able to use a blossom from the mariphasa to stop his transformation. His wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson
) is away at her aunt Ettie's party with her friend, former childhood sweetheart Paul Ames (Lester Matthews
, seventeen years older than his "childhood sweetheart"), allowing the swiftly transforming Glendon to make his way unhindered to his at-home laboratory, in the hopes of acquiring the mariphasa's flowers to quell his lycanthropy a second time. Unfortunately Dr. Yogami, who is also a werewolf, sneaks into the lab ahead of his rival and steals the only two blossoms. As the third has not bloomed, Glendon is out of luck.
Driven by an instinctive desire to hunt and kill, he dons his hat and coat and ventures out into the dark city, killing an innocent girl. Burdened by remorse, Glendon begins neglecting Lisa (more so than usual), and makes numerous futile attempts to lock himself up far away from home, including renting a room at an inn, or with Mrs. Whack and Mrs. Moncaster. However, whenever he transforms into the werewolf he escapes and kills again. After a time, the third blossum of the mariphasa finally blooms, but much to Glendon's horror, it is stolen by Yogami, sneaking into the lab while Glendon's back is turned. Catching Yogami in the act, Glendon finally realizes that Yogami was the werewolf that attacked him in Tibet. After turning into the werewolf yet again and slaying Yogami, Glendon goes to the house in search of Lisa, for the werewolf instinctively seeks to destroy that which it loves the most.
After attacking Paul on the front lawn of Glendon Manor, but not killing him, Glendon breaks into the house and corners Lisa on the staircase and is about to move in for the kill when Paul's uncle, Col. Sir Thomas Forsythe of Scotland Yard, arriving with several police officers in tow, shoots Glendon once. As he lies dying at the bottom of the stairs, Glendon, still in werewolf form, speaks: first to thank Col. Forsythe for the merciful bullet, then saying goodbye to Lisa, apologizing for not being a good husband to her. Glendon then dies, reverting back to his human form in death.
, but it was rejected in favor of a minimalist approach that was less obscuring to facial expressions. Hull was unwilling to spend hours having makeup applied. The werewolf's howl was an audio blend of Hull and a recording of an actual timber wolf
, an approach which was never duplicated in any subsequent werewolf film. Also, at the beginning of the film, the supposed "Tibetan
" spoken by villagers in the movie is actually Cantonese; Henry Hull is otherwise just muttering gibberish in his responses to them.
with Fredric March
, which had been released only three years before, and flopped at the box-office, but has been regarded by cinema historians as an imaginative classic. One striking similarity between the two films is that each time the man becomes a monster, the monster looks markedly more monstrous than the time before, a feature found in Robert Louis Stevenson
's novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as most of the movies based upon it.
's 1978 hit song, "Werewolves of London
"; the 1981 film, An American Werewolf in London
and the 1987 video game Werewolves of London
.
was considered for the role of Dr. Yogami. Spring Byington
, the star of the 1950s sitcom December Bride
, played the role of Aunt Ettie. Three years earlier she had also portrayed Marmee, the mother in Little Woman with Katharine Hepburn
. Some consider Miss Byington's performance to be the best in the film. Her comedic abilities created a more up-beat ambience which led to some reviews describing the movie as "delightful" rather than "horrific".
Valerie Hobson
, who played Hull's character's wife, also played Dr. Henry Frankenstein's kidnapped wife that same year in The Bride of Frankenstein, replacing Mae Clarke
, who had a similarly extraordinary year in 1931 playing both Henry Frankenstein's fiancee and having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney
in The Public Enemy
.
Lester Matthews plays Paul Ames, who is supposed to be five years older than Valerie Hobson's character. During filming Matthews was 35, and Hobson was 18.
novel written under the pseudonym
"Carl Dreadstone" (now confirmed as Walter Harris) as part of a short-lived series of books based on the classic Universal horror films. The novel is told from the point of view of Wilfred Glendon (whose first name is now inexplicably spelled "Wilfrid") and thus follows an almost entirely different story structure than the film. In particular it has a different ending. Rather than turning into a werewolf, killing Yogami, and then being shot by Sir Thomas, Glendon decides to cooperate with Yogami and they both attempt to control their transformations through hypnotism. However the plan fails, the hypnotist is killed, and Glendon and Yogami both transform and fight to the death. Glendon wins, killing Yogami, and returns to human form afterwards. The novel then ends with Glendon, alive, contemplating using the hypnotist's gun to commit suicide
rather than go on living as a werewolf.
The second time was in 1985, as part of Crestwood House's hardcover
Movie Monsters series, again based on the old Universal films. This time, the author was Carl Green, and was considerably shorter, followed the plot of the film more closely, and was illustrated extensively with still photos from the movie.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
/werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
movie starring Henry Hull
Henry Hull
Henry Watterson Hull was an American character actor with a unique voice, most noted for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's Werewolf of London .-Life and career:Hull was born in Louisville, Kentucky...
and produced by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
. Jack Pierce's eerie werewolf make-up was simpler than his version six years later for Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
, in The Wolf Man but, according to film historians, remains strikingly effective as worn by Hull.
Werewolf of London was the first Hollywood mainstream
Classical Hollywood cinema
Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative, are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between roughly the 1910s and the early 1960s.Classical style is...
werewolf movie.
Plot
Wilfred Glendon (Henry HullHenry Hull
Henry Watterson Hull was an American character actor with a unique voice, most noted for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's Werewolf of London .-Life and career:Hull was born in Louisville, Kentucky...
) is a wealthy and world-renowned English botanist who journeys to Tibet in 1935 in search of the elusive mariphasa plant. While there, he is attacked and bitten by a creature later revealed to be a werewolf, although he succeeds in acquiring a specimen of the mariphasa. Once back home in London he is approached by a fellow botanist, Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland
Warner Oland
Warner Oland was a Swedish American actor most remembered for his screen role as the detective Charlie Chan.-Biography:He was born Johan Verner Ölund in the village of Nyby, Bjurholm Municipality,...
), who claims to have met him in Tibet while also seeking the mariphasa. Yogami warns Glendon that the bite of a werewolf would cause him to become a werewolf as well, adding that the mariphasa is a temporary antidote for the disease.
Glendon does not believe the mysterious Yogami. That is, not until he begins to experience the first pangs of lycanthropy, first when his hand grows fur beneath the rays of his moon lamp (which he is using in an effort to entice the mariphasa to bloom), and later that night during the first full moon. The first time, Glendon is able to use a blossom from the mariphasa to stop his transformation. His wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson was a British actress who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s...
) is away at her aunt Ettie's party with her friend, former childhood sweetheart Paul Ames (Lester Matthews
Lester Matthews
Lester Matthews was an English actor born in Nottingham, England, UK. In his career, he made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was on occasion erroneously credited as Lester Mathews and especially in later years was sometimes known as Les Matthews. He died on the 6 June 1975...
, seventeen years older than his "childhood sweetheart"), allowing the swiftly transforming Glendon to make his way unhindered to his at-home laboratory, in the hopes of acquiring the mariphasa's flowers to quell his lycanthropy a second time. Unfortunately Dr. Yogami, who is also a werewolf, sneaks into the lab ahead of his rival and steals the only two blossoms. As the third has not bloomed, Glendon is out of luck.
Driven by an instinctive desire to hunt and kill, he dons his hat and coat and ventures out into the dark city, killing an innocent girl. Burdened by remorse, Glendon begins neglecting Lisa (more so than usual), and makes numerous futile attempts to lock himself up far away from home, including renting a room at an inn, or with Mrs. Whack and Mrs. Moncaster. However, whenever he transforms into the werewolf he escapes and kills again. After a time, the third blossum of the mariphasa finally blooms, but much to Glendon's horror, it is stolen by Yogami, sneaking into the lab while Glendon's back is turned. Catching Yogami in the act, Glendon finally realizes that Yogami was the werewolf that attacked him in Tibet. After turning into the werewolf yet again and slaying Yogami, Glendon goes to the house in search of Lisa, for the werewolf instinctively seeks to destroy that which it loves the most.
After attacking Paul on the front lawn of Glendon Manor, but not killing him, Glendon breaks into the house and corners Lisa on the staircase and is about to move in for the kill when Paul's uncle, Col. Sir Thomas Forsythe of Scotland Yard, arriving with several police officers in tow, shoots Glendon once. As he lies dying at the bottom of the stairs, Glendon, still in werewolf form, speaks: first to thank Col. Forsythe for the merciful bullet, then saying goodbye to Lisa, apologizing for not being a good husband to her. Glendon then dies, reverting back to his human form in death.
Sound and make-up
Jack Pierce's original werewolf design for Henry Hull was identical to the one used later for Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf ManThe Wolf Man
The Wolf Man is a 1941 American Werewolf Horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man, featuring Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya...
, but it was rejected in favor of a minimalist approach that was less obscuring to facial expressions. Hull was unwilling to spend hours having makeup applied. The werewolf's howl was an audio blend of Hull and a recording of an actual timber wolf
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
, an approach which was never duplicated in any subsequent werewolf film. Also, at the beginning of the film, the supposed "Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
" spoken by villagers in the movie is actually Cantonese; Henry Hull is otherwise just muttering gibberish in his responses to them.
Reaction
The movie was regarded at the time as too similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March. The film is an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of...
with Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
, which had been released only three years before, and flopped at the box-office, but has been regarded by cinema historians as an imaginative classic. One striking similarity between the two films is that each time the man becomes a monster, the monster looks markedly more monstrous than the time before, a feature found in Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
's novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as most of the movies based upon it.
Legacy
The film's title inspired at least three other pop culture entries: Warren ZevonWarren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
's 1978 hit song, "Werewolves of London
Werewolves of London
"Werewolves of London" is a rock song composed by LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, and Warren Zevon and performed by Zevon. Included on Zevon's 1978 album Excitable Boy, it featured accompaniment by bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac.The single was released by Asylum as...
"; the 1981 film, An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne....
and the 1987 video game Werewolves of London
Werewolves of London (video game)
For the song, see Werewolves of London.Viz Design's Werewolves Of London is a home computer video game releasing in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and the Amstrad CPC. It was released on cassette which has the Amstrad version on one side and the Spectrum version on the other...
.
Cast
- Henry HullHenry HullHenry Watterson Hull was an American character actor with a unique voice, most noted for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's Werewolf of London .-Life and career:Hull was born in Louisville, Kentucky...
as Dr. Glendon - Warner OlandWarner OlandWarner Oland was a Swedish American actor most remembered for his screen role as the detective Charlie Chan.-Biography:He was born Johan Verner Ölund in the village of Nyby, Bjurholm Municipality,...
as Dr. Yogami - Valerie HobsonValerie HobsonValerie Hobson was a British actress who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s...
as Lisa Glendon - Lester MatthewsLester MatthewsLester Matthews was an English actor born in Nottingham, England, UK. In his career, he made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was on occasion erroneously credited as Lester Mathews and especially in later years was sometimes known as Les Matthews. He died on the 6 June 1975...
as Paul Ames - Lawrence GrantLawrence GrantPercy Reginald Lawrence-Grant was an English actor known for his supporting roles in films such as The Living Ghost, I'll Tell the World, The Mask of Fu Manchu, and Son of Frankenstein...
as Sir Thomas Forsythe - Spring ByingtonSpring ByingtonSpring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
as Miss Ettie Coombes - Clark WilliamsClark WilliamsMyron Clark Williams was an American banker and politician.-Life:...
as Hugh Renwick - J.M. Kerrigan as Hawkins
- Charlotte Granville as Lady Forsythe
- Ethel GriffiesEthel GriffiesEthel Griffies was an English actress of stage, screen, and television....
as Mrs. Whack - Zeffie TilburyZeffie TilburyZeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury was an English actress-Career:Born in Paddington, Middlesex, England Tilbury was known first on the London stage and later for playing wise or evil older characters in films, such as the distinguished lady gambler at dinner with Garbo in The Single Standard, as Grandma...
as Mrs. Moncaster - Jeanne Bartlett as Daisy
Casting notes
Regarding the cast, Bela LugosiBéla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
was considered for the role of Dr. Yogami. Spring Byington
Spring Byington
Spring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
, the star of the 1950s sitcom December Bride
December Bride
December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:...
, played the role of Aunt Ettie. Three years earlier she had also portrayed Marmee, the mother in Little Woman with Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
. Some consider Miss Byington's performance to be the best in the film. Her comedic abilities created a more up-beat ambience which led to some reviews describing the movie as "delightful" rather than "horrific".
Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson was a British actress who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s...
, who played Hull's character's wife, also played Dr. Henry Frankenstein's kidnapped wife that same year in The Bride of Frankenstein, replacing Mae Clarke
Mae Clarke
Mae Clarke was an American actress most noted for playing Frankenstein's bride, chased by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, and having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney in The Public Enemy, both released in 1931.-Early life and career:Clarke was born Violet Mary Klotz in...
, who had a similarly extraordinary year in 1931 playing both Henry Frankenstein's fiancee and having a grapefruit smashed into her face by James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
in The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America...
.
Lester Matthews plays Paul Ames, who is supposed to be five years older than Valerie Hobson's character. During filming Matthews was 35, and Hobson was 18.
Novelizations
The story has been novelized twice. The first time was in 1977, a paperbackPaperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
novel written under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Carl Dreadstone" (now confirmed as Walter Harris) as part of a short-lived series of books based on the classic Universal horror films. The novel is told from the point of view of Wilfred Glendon (whose first name is now inexplicably spelled "Wilfrid") and thus follows an almost entirely different story structure than the film. In particular it has a different ending. Rather than turning into a werewolf, killing Yogami, and then being shot by Sir Thomas, Glendon decides to cooperate with Yogami and they both attempt to control their transformations through hypnotism. However the plan fails, the hypnotist is killed, and Glendon and Yogami both transform and fight to the death. Glendon wins, killing Yogami, and returns to human form afterwards. The novel then ends with Glendon, alive, contemplating using the hypnotist's gun to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
rather than go on living as a werewolf.
The second time was in 1985, as part of Crestwood House's hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
Movie Monsters series, again based on the old Universal films. This time, the author was Carl Green, and was considerably shorter, followed the plot of the film more closely, and was illustrated extensively with still photos from the movie.
See also
- Universal MonstersUniversal MonstersUniversal Monsters or Universal Horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960...
- The Wolf ManThe Wolf ManThe Wolf Man is a 1941 American Werewolf Horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man, featuring Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya...
- She-Wolf of LondonShe-Wolf of London (film)She-Wolf of London is a 1946 horror film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring June Lockhart and Don Porter. The title evokes the earlier Werewolf of London , although, unlike its forebear, it is concerned more with mystery and suspense than supernatural horror...