Ma💙llory, Michael, and Jason Blum. Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror. Revised and updated edition. Universe, 2021.

Staff. ““Wolf Man Horrific Tale – Possibly Too Much So For Present Day.” The Hollywood Reporter, 10 December 1941, //variety.cthe om/1931/film/re🥂views/frankenstein-2-1200410509/. Accessed 10 September 2024.

"NOTHING IS MORE NATURAL TO ME THAN HORROR."

Lon Chaney Jr.

Featuring a snarling Lon Chaney Jr. in Larry Talbot’s wolf form looming over a languishing Evelyn Ankers as Gwen—the cursed creature’s love interest, the present lot is a half sheet poster for Universal’s 1941 Gothic horror, The Wolf Man.

Measuring approximately half the size of a standard one sheet, half sheets are an archival poster format printed on cardstock, making them more versatile and durable than other paper materials sent to theaters for display. This fine half sheet is printed in a limited color scheme of green and blue, allowing the stark yellow title and the ill-fated couple spotlighted beneath to stand in stark contrast.

The Wolf Man was the first property in Universal’s horror cycle to be based entirely on an original screenplay rather than an existing piece of literature. Curt Siodmak turned centuries old legend and folklore into a dark fairy tale fresh for the screen. Director George Waggner’s “keen directorial perspective” shone in collaboration with Siodmak’s script, both of which were only further complimented by the “strangely beautiful” cinematography ofJoseph Valentine and Jack Otterson, as well as Robert Boyle’s fog-filled, sumptuous art direction, according to The Hollywood Reporter in 1941.

Chief Universal makeup artist and horror cycle veteran Jack Pierce was given free rein to create Lon Chaney Jr.’s look in The Wolf Man. Out of an amalgam of yak hair and greasepaint applied to a rubber snout, gloves, and slippers, Chaney was transformed from man to beast in a process that took three to four hours each shooting day. On the da✃y the production shot Talbot’s on screen transformation, Chaney’s makeup was applied in approximately 20 stages, with Chaney going to and from set to be filmed in still poses until the werewolf finally appeared.

With a box office gross of just under $1 million, The Wolf Man’s popularity lead Universal to contract Chaney for four sequels, with Chaney reprising his coveted role each time. Holding the honor of being th💞e only Universal Monster to never be recast, Chaney would ever after refer to the legendary werewolf as his “baby.”