NEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED!

The latest issue of CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN has just dropped and my article on Universal's WEREWOLF OF LONDON is included. Since its revival a few years ago or so it's developed into a very fine looking magazine and I recommend it, not only because my article is in it, but the rest of the features are well-worth taking a look if you aren't a regular reader already. Editor and publisher Don Smeraldi and his wife Vicki put together a fine publication.

You can find it at Barnes & Noble or order it direct HERE.

Here's a sample of my article:

Moon, Madness and Murder

A Look Back at Werewolf of London

By John M. Navroth

“We gave it all the shock and goosepimples

we could jam into it.”

 – Carl Laemmle on Werewolf of London

In 1935, actor Henry Hull said in a newspaper interview that he would never take a “pretty man” part. Instead, he wanted “strange” roles he “could sink his teeth into”. When Universal came calling in search of the lead for their newest picture, Werewolf of London, Hull literally got his wish.

Universal’s initial idea for a werewolf picture began in late 1931. A script with the working title The Wolf Man was completed and Robert Florey was slated to direct with Boris Karloff in the title role. An article in Hollywood Filmograph (January 23, 1932) broke the news: “Jack Pierce is creating a remarkable make-up for Boris Karloff, who will, in the very near future, appear as the star in ‘The Wolf Man’.  From what we learn, it is to be another character even greater than ‘Frankenstein’.” 

For some reason, the production was shelved and after having been unceremoniously removed as the director of Frankenstein in 1931, Florey would miss out on yet another chance at a career-booster.

The first known werewolf film was an 18-minute Canadian two-reeler released as The Werewolves in 1913. It is now considered lost after the only known print was destroyed in a fire at a storage facility in 1924. The second, Wolf Blood: A Tale of the Forest was a 68-minute feature released in 1925. Neither film bears any resemblance to what audiences recognize today as the werewolf legend. As a result, Werewolf of London has the distinction of being the first full-length feature film of its kind and the only werewolf film made in the 1930s.

Universal resurrected their idea that had been languishing on a shelf somewhere in the script morgue, gathering dust for over three years. John Balderston, the scriptwriter for Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy (as well as an unused script for The Invisible Man), was otherwise occupied with working on The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Bride of Frankenstein. With their veteran of horror films unavailable, Universal turned to a relatively unknown playwright.

Fresh off co-writing the screenplay for MGM’s box-office bomb, Laughing Boy, starring Ramon Navarro and Lupe Velez, John Colton was helped off the floor and hired to compose the new script for Werewolf of London for which he was paid the princely sum of $8,500. Never missing a promotional opportunity, and at least partly—if not entirely—made up, Universal printed a puff piece on Colton in the April 20, 1935 issue of their in-house magazine, Universal Weekly: “In making his preparation to do the script Colton spent a month in public and private libraries in research on the subject. He conferred with the psychiatrists and physiologists attached to Universal’s medical staff in order to build the screen character of Henry Hull for the werewolf part according to the latest scientific tenets. He studied hundreds of paintings by Goya and other masters on this mysterious subject before putting a line of dialogue or description on paper.”

As for casting the lead, Boris Karloff was already signed to star for the second time as Mary Shelley’s monster in The Bride of Frankenstein so it was not feasible for him to also play a werewolf, especially for the time it would take him to sit for both makeups.

Enter Henry Hull.

RARE WEREWOLF OF LONDON TEST MAKEUP?

I've had this image in my files for years and use it off and on for my "Headline News!" sidebar. I don't think I ever knew where the gag originated, but I suspect it was the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS.

However, it wasn't until I was recently researching an article on WEREWOLF OF LONDON for CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN (due to be published this year) that it dawned on me where the photo actually came from: it's been batted about the Internet for a long time as purporting to be Jack Pierce's first test makeup on a subject (presumably Henry Hull) for WEREWOLF OF LONDON.

The whole infamous drama between Pierce and Hull regarding this earliest of werewolf makeups has yielded only one photo which has been verified as a result of the same image being used in the popular syndicated "Seein' Stars" comic strip by cartoonist Feg Murray.

It doesn't take much to see that one is a month of full moons different from the other. I haven't been able to dig up enough information on the WWN image to conclusively verify if its authentic. If anybody has anything to add, I'd love to hear it.

And, hey -- don't laugh; when it comes to monster minutiae, leave no Mariphasa lupina lumina petal unturned, I say!

WARNER OLAND: A SOBERING STORY

 

Film star Warner Oland was born Johan Verner Ölund on October 3, 1879 in the seaport town of Umea, Sweden. When he was 10 years old, the family immigrated to the United States when his father tired of trying to make a living in the harsh climate. “Even at that age,” Oland said of himself in an interview in PHOTOPLAY (February 1918), “my ambitions were definitely formed—I decided to be an operatic star.” He went to Boston “where the music was” and soon found that “art must be sacrificed to appetite”.

A young Werner Oland.

Next, he turned to the stage where acting was a more suitable fit than a singing career—and besides, the money was better. He played numerous villains during this period and was often cast as an Asian because of his vaguely similar features (With a very few exceptions, Asians were still a long way from starring or supporting roles). During this period he met the woman who would be his future wife: a distinguished portrait painter named Edith Gardener Shearn, who notice him at a play and began to visit him during rehearsals, after which they were married.

Werner Oland as Charlie Chan.

Werner Oland and Charlie Chan cast members.

With Rita Hayworth in Charlie Chan in Egypt.

Oland’s next move was screen acting, and he found himself demand for many of the same types of characters he played on stage. He is best known for his roles as Fu Manchu and especially the wise American-Chinese Honolulu detective Charlie Chan in a series of hugely successful films for Fox based on the five novels by Earl Derr Biggers. Compared with Universal’s early horror pictures, Oland’s Chan films brought in enough box office earnings to keep Fox out of financial trouble during the first unstable years of the Great Depression. It is estimated that he earned a total of $640,000 over the course of 16 feature films.

One Sheet theatrical poster.

Oland stars with Boris Karloff.

Oland stars with Bela Lugosi.

  Oland and his wife lived well and spent the money he earned, sharing their time between a bungalow in Beverly Hills when he was making pictures in Hollywood, a beach house in Carpinteria, California, an old farmhouse outside Boston and a 7,000-acre island off Mexico. Oland is also noted for translating with his wife, the Swedish author August Strindberg’s works into English.

With Henry Hull in Werewolf of London.

Despite his popularity and fortune, Oland had an Achilles heel: like so many other Hollywood actors, he was a chronic alcoholic. After years of heavy drinking and smoking, he became unpredictable and irrational to the point where, among other humiliating incidents, he unceremoniously walked off the set of his last Chan film. This eventually led to an acrimonious divorce on April 2, 1938 after 30 years of a seemingly otherwise happy marriage.

A physical wreck, after the divorce he returned to Sweden where his health quickly worsened. He contracted bronchial pneumonia and died in a Swedish hospital on August 6, 1938 at the age of 58.

His ex-wife Edith survived him by 30 years.

MOVIE MIRROR (November 1935):

PHOTOPLAY (January 1918):

PHOTOPLAY (January 1936):

Who's Who on the Screen (1920):

WEREWOLF OF LONDON: WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

Today, WEREWOLF OF LONDON gets a pretty bad rap from horror film historians -- everything from Henry Hull's acting to a plodding pace often get cited.

Admittedly, it's not the best of the bunch from 1935, the pinnacle of 30's horror movies. The cast and crew did their best with the script and Stuart Walker's direction. Karloff, Balderston and Whale and company were all busy with THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN around the same time, and I don't think John Colton was a good choice for what ended up being a chatty screenplay.

Still, I don't feel the same as the critics, and while it appears a little antiquated, WEREWOLF OF LONDON still offers a lot of excellent cinematography, special effects and of course, Jack Pierce's make up innovation of turning a man into a wolf on two legs.

Back when it was originally playing in theaters, reviewers largely favored the first werewolf film. There were two earlier werewolf movies made in Hollywood and Canada, but neither were close to what we know of the werewolf legend today).

Following are a few examples from trade journals and fan magazines:

Film Bulletin.

Motion Picture Daily.

Motion Picture Studio Insider.

Motion Picture Reviews.

The Philadelphia Exhibitor.

Picture Play.

WEREWOLF OF LONDON FILMBOOK

Continuing our celebration of the 90th anniversary of Universal's WEREWOLF OF LONDON, shown here today is the filmbook for the movie from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #41 (November 1966).

WEREWOLF OF LONDON AD CAMPAIGN

This year marks the 90th anniversary of Universal's WEREWOLF OF LONDON. Released on May 13, 1935, it is notable as being the first and only werewolf feature film of the 1930's. It starred Henry Hull (as the titular character), Werner Oland (as his nemesis, Dr. Yogami),Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, Lawrence Grant and Spring Byington.

Character actor Egon Brecher played an uncredited bit part. Brecher also appeared in the genre films THE BLACK CAT (1934) MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935), THE BLACK ROOM (1935) and THE DEVIL DOLL (1936). Reginald Barlow was also cast in a bit part and had small roles in KING KONG (1933), BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), TOWER OF LONDON (1939) and THE MAD MONSTER (1942).

Despite it's title, WEREWOLF OF LONDON was filmed entirely in California. The interiors were shot on the backlot of Universal Studios and the opening sequence exteriors at Vasquez Rocks less than an hour's drive away (maybe longer these days with traffic!).

Tibet camp exterior shot at Vasquez Rocks.

Largely a result of Henry Hull's cachet, Universal heavily promoted this picture and dedicated nearly a full issue of their in-house publication, UNIVERSAL WEEKLY to it.