The Wolf Man (1941)
Even a man who is pure at heart/And says his prayers by night/May become a wolf when the wolf-bane blooms/And the moon is full and bright. Upon first hearing these words, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) dismisses them as childish federal. After all, this is the 20th Century; how can a human being turn into a werewolf? Talbot soon learns how when he attempts to rescue Jenny Williams (Fay Helm) from a nocturnal attack by a wolf. Collapsing, Talbot discovers upon reviving that Jenny is dead-and, lying by her side, is not the body of a beast, but of a gypsy named Bela (Bela Lugosi). The son of fortune teller Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), Bela was a Lycanthrope, or "wolf man." And now that he has been bitten by Bela, Talbot is cursed to suffer the torments of the damned whenever the moon is full.
Night monster with the blood lust of a savage beast!
Jenny Williams: Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.
Larry Talbot: [after hearing it twice already] You know that one too ah?
Court of Miracles, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA
(Werewolf 's loud howl awakens local villagers after grave digger is killed)
Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA
(Studio)
The "wolf" that Larry Talbot fights with was Lon Chaney Jr.'s own German Shepherd.
In Curt Siodmak's original script for the film, whether or not Lawrence Talbot really underwent a physical transformation to a werewolf or if the transformation simply occurred in his mind was left ambiguous. The Wolf Man was never to appear onscreen. Ultimately, the studio determined that Talbot's literal transformation into a werewolf would be more appealing to the audience and, thus, more profitable. The script was revised accordingly. The remake of the film starring Benicio Del Toro leaned into this idea, having its version of Lawrence Talbot be admitted to an asylum for "delusions" of lycanthropy.
Bela Lugosi actively campaigned for the lead role and ended up playing a minor supporting role.
The Wolf Man battled a bear in one scene, but unfortunately the bear ran away during filming. What few scenes were filmed were put into the theatrical trailer.
Evelyn Ankers suffered a bad scare when a 600-pound bear (His sequence in the film was later cut.) escaped its trainer and chased the actress up a ladder, where she was pulled to safety by an electrician.
Continuity
Bela the Gypsy transforms into an actual wolf, not a wolf/man. When his body is discovered, his feet are bare but he is wearing a shirt and trousers. The wolf killed by Larry Talbot was not wearing any clothing.
When Maleva, the Gypsy woman, asks to see Larry Talbot's wound from the wolf bite, he unbuttons and spreads his shirt front (with his bared chest outside the camera's view). Talbot then proceeds directly home where he begins to change clothes. He removes his shirt to reveal that he is wearing a tank-style undershirt underneath.
During the climactic scenes in the forest, the same log (resembling an open alligator's mouth) is seen in different sections of the forest at the same time.
At Larry's home, the butler opens the door and Larry stumbles in his arms, while Gwen and the gypsy are behind him. It jumps back to the butler just opening the door to reveal Gwen holding Larry's right arm, and the butler taking his left arm.
Talbot refers to Captain Montford at least twice during the film, while the credits show him as Colonel Montford.