Pure at Heart: Lessons from The Wolfman

Many people know what a fan I am of the old classic “horror” movies, but of course, those of us most familiar with them know that they weren’t horror at all. They were love stories. Stories of drama, tragedy, and heroism. Tales of loneliness and abandonment, and hope and salvation. But we’ll get into that more deeply another time.

For now, on the occasion of what would have been Lon Chaney Jr.’s 110^th birthday, I’d like to briefly honor this iconic actor with a brief recap of what I learned from him.

Son of silent film superstar, Lon Chaney Sr., who was known as the man of 1000 faces for his amazingly creative make-up techniques, Lon Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps. He was the only actor to have ever portrayed all four of the traditional iconic movie “monsters” of the 1930s and 40s. He played Dracula in Son of Dracula, the Frankenstein monster in Ghost of Frankenstein, and wrapped up in bandages to be the Mummy in the final three movies of that series.

But the role he is most popular for is the Wolfman. 

 Chaney was the ONLY actor to portray this role in any movie of that era. Because of the pathos he brought to the character, Universal Studios and the fans wouldn’t even consider another actor for role.

The persona of Larry Talbot is a warm, likeable tradesman unaffected by being the son of an aristocrat. Trying to save the life of a young woman being attacked by a wolf, Talbot is bitten and ultimately falls victim to the curse of the werewolf.

“Even a man who is pure at heart

and says his prayer by night,

May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms

and the Autumn moon is bright.”

On each and every night of the full moon, no matter what he does to prevent it, Talbot transforms into an uncontrollable half-man, half-beast with a vicious instinct to kill. Each and every time, his remorse is palpable. His human self is mortified and horrified by his ferocity and savagery in his werewolf form. He spends his every human moment seeking a cure, or even his own death so as to put an end to the horror.    

 

I grew up watching these movies on late night TV as a kid in the 60s. While I loved all the monsters, the Wolfman held a special attraction.  As a matter of fact, my first Halloween memory is as a four year old insisting to my mother and father that I wanted to dress as the Wolfman and that it wasn’t too scary for me.  I put the costume on, ran down the hall to scare my mother and in doing so ran past the mirror and scared my own self.

What drew me to the Wolfman was Larry Talbot’s honesty, gentleness and sense of responsibility. He reinforced the same lessons that I was learning from my father – to always strive to do whatever is right.

Talbot was a tradesman who was good with his hands, and able to do many things. And he was always seeking to learn something new. Again, these lessons were exactly what I was learning from dad. By the way, my dad had a bit of a resemblance to Chaney in body shape and facial structure – at least to my child’s eyes. Chaney and my father represented all the good things a man should be.

Fortunately, my father was not a werewolf.  After all, I had seen him during a full moon and although we Italian men are perpetually in need of a shave, dad never got hairier or grew fangs and bit people’s jugular veins. I was comforted by the knowledge that there were no wolves in Brooklyn, so dad would likely never get bitten by one.  

Instead of being afraid of the Wolfman, I felt sorry for him. Had he not been bitten, he too could have had a happy family like ours.

So I learned compassion for those less fortunate, and I also learned the importance of trust.

Of course I knew the Wolfman wasn’t real. I read about it in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. To become the Wolfman, Chaney sat through nine grueling hours of having someone glue real yak hair onto his face. That is dedication! Yet another lesson about devoting yourself to whatever you are passionate about.  

So Happy Birthday, Mr. Chaney. And thank you for teaching me some of the most important lessons I learned in life.