The Wolf Man is one of the great monsters of the classic Universal canon, no doubt about it. Unique among the classic movie monsters, the hirsute horror was portrayed throughout his existence by a single actor: Lon Chaney Jr. Chaney Jr. is generally held in lesser regard than many of his peers, but I maintain that, while he was not as versatile as Karloff, Lugosi, or his own father, he was a good deal better than he is normally given credit for. today we're taking a look at a selection of photos and film stills to demonstrate how the look of the Wolf Man changed over the years.
Naturally, 1941's The Wolf Man is the place to begin.
His look was basically unchanged for several years, as this shot from 1944's House of Frankenstein shows.
However, once master makeup artist Jack Pierce was replaced with Bud Westmore, the makeup process was altered in several ways to make it quicker and easier. This was the result, seen in 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
These photos of Chaney's appearance as the Wolf Man on the 1960s TV series Route 66 display the importance of someone like Pierce or Westmore, not to mention an adequate makeup budget.
As a bonus, here's a nice shot of The Wolf Man co-star Evelyn Ankers pitching in.
Creep on back tomorrow for more classic horror goodness!
Love this blog!
ReplyDeleteLon also played a mummy who, once unwrapped, revealed a werewolf underneath in Face of the Screaming Werewolf (a… we’ll generously call it a pastiche) comprised of a Mexican horror comedy thst included scenes with Lon Chaney Jr.
The make up quality in that film seems to fall somewhere between the Universal and Route 66 versions!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I haven't seen Face of the Screaming Werewolf, but it's on the list I made years ago of horrors I want to track down and watch at some point. From the screencaps I've seen from it, your assessment of the makeup is spot-on. Something about it makes him look more terrier-like than its Universa counterpart. I'll run down a copy and watch the whole thing one of these days!
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