“ | Even a man who is pure in heart, |
„ |
~ The infamous poem regarding the Wolf Man. |
“ | I killed Bela. I killed Richardson. If I stay here any longer, you can't tell who'll be next! | „ |
~ Larry Talbot to Gwen confessing to his crimes, worrying about his curse corrupting him once more to take the lives of more people. |
Lawrence "Larry" Stewart Talbot, better known as The Wolf Man, is a major character in the Universal Monsters franchise. He made his debut as the titular main protagonist in the 1941 film of the same name and became a werewolf after he was attacked and bitten by one and now currently seeks to stop the other evil monsters and find some way to remove his curse.
He is played by the late Lon Chaney, Jr., who also played Frankenstein's Monster in Ghost of Frankenstein and Groton in Dracula vs. Frankenstein.
Biography[]
The Wolf Man[]
Larry Talbot was once a scientist specializing in astronomy. Following the death of his brother, he returns to Wales to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John. One day, he visits an antique shop and falls in love with its shopkeeper, Gwen Conliffe, purchasing a cane with a silver wolf's head just for an excuse to talk with her. She informs him that the cane represents a werewolf.
That night, Gwen's friend Jenny is attacked by a wolf, and Larry fights it off with his cane. He succeeds in killing the wolf, but is bitten in the process. He learns from the Gypsy fortune teller Maleva that the wolf is in fact a werewolf that had once been her son, Bela. She tells Larry that he is now infected with Bela's curse, and will transform into a wolf upon the next full moon. She then tells him that silver is the only thing that can kill a werewolf.
Sure enough, Larry becomes a werewolf with the rise of the full moon and runs amok, killing several villagers. He becomes human again in the morning, with no memory of his rampage. The recollection of his crimes gradually comes back to him, however, leaving him horrified and wracked with guilt. On the night of the following full moon, Larry begs his father to tie him to a chair to prevent him from hurting anyone else, but he nevertheless breaks free after transforming once again into a werewolf. When Larry attacks Gwen, his father puts him out of his misery by bludgeoning him over the head with the cane. Sir John and Gwen then watch in horror as the dead werewolf transforms into Larry's human corpse.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman[]
Four years later, Larry Talbot mysteriously returns from the dead, and is put a mental institution because of his "delusions" about being a werewolf. Longing for the release of death, he escapes and finds the gypsy women who first told him that he was a werewolf. She is at a loss for why he cannot die, but she knows to whom he can go for help - Dr. Frankenstein, an expert in the matters of life and death. Larry finds out that Frankenstein has died, but his records may be hidden in the ruins of his castle. He asks the owner of the land, a woman descended from Dr. Frankenstein, for permission to search the land. She initially refused him.
That night, Larry turns into the Wolf Man and goes on a rampage. The villagers chase him onto the Frankenstein property, where he falls into an underground ice chamber. The next morning, he wakes up and finds Frankenstein's Monster buried in ice. It had been trapped there years before, shortly after his original brain was replaced by that of the evil peasant Ygor.
The "Ygor Monster" befriends Larry, and on his request, leads him to Dr. Frankenstein's records. Larry now knows how to put himself and the monster out of their respective misery, but needs someone to help him carry out the procedure. That night an agent from the mental institution arrives to bring Larry back, but changes his mind upon seeing the monster, realizing that the creature is real and not a figment of Larry's imagination. The landowner and the man from the institution agree to help Larry and the monster, and strap them to two platforms.
It is then revealed that the monster does not in fact want to die, but has merely been using Larry as a means to regain his former power. He breaks free of the platform and grabs the woman. Larry turns into the Wolfman, breaks free of his platform, and attacks the monster. The man and the woman escape as the monsters fight. Finally, the villagers blow up the dam, resulting in the castle being flooded and the two monsters being swept away and imprisoned in an icy cave.
House of Frankenstein[]
The two iconic monsters reappear as two criminal prison escapees where Dr. Gustav Niemann (brother of Dr. Frankenstein's assistant), and his hunchbacked servant, Daniel, free the two of them from the icy waters that imprisoned them, intending to bring Frankenstein's monster back to life and use him to get revenge on the ones that sent him to jail. Though disappointed at them releasing the monster within him, Larry eventually helps Dr. Niemann find Dr. Frankenstein's records when he offers to help him free him of the werewolf curse in return. While travelling with them, a gypsy woman, Ilonka, meets Larry and falls in love with him, though he insists that she stay away from him, believing himself to be dangerous to her.
After finding and rebuilding an old lab, Niemann's crew begin working on reviving the monster. Larry grows worried as the moon is due to be full one night. He confronts Niemann about it, but Neimann tells him to be patient. Later that night, Larry turns into the Wolfman and stalks off into the woods, where he kills a man named Braun.
The next morning, Ilonka visits Larry, having learned from a jealous Daniel about his condition. She wants to help him, but he replies that there is no hope for him, and that he wants to die. She reluctantly makes a silver bullet out of her necklace and places it in a revolver. Meanwhile, Larry violently confronts Niemann that night, telling him that the moon will be full again, but Niemann still won't help him. Realizing now that he can no longer trust Niemann, Larry leaves.
Later, Ilonka waits outside of Larry's room and aims the revolver with the silver bullet loaded at him while his back is turned, but cannot bring herself to pull the trigger. Suddenly, the full moon rises again and he turns into the Wolf Man. He stalks off again, but notices Ilonka and kills her, but not before she manages to shoot him in the process. Both of them die in each other's arms.
House of Dracula[]
Somehow, Larry Talbot is revived and seeks the help of Dr. Edlemann to remove his monster side. But Edlemann was unavailable at that point so Talbot leaves in panic saying that "there isn't time", knowing that the moon will be full that same night. Under his insistence, the police have him securely locked up. Edlemann has finished the transfusion by then, and arrives with Milizia and Talbot explains to him his condition. At first, Edlemann doesn't believe him but, when the full moon rises and Talbot transforms, Edlemann realizes how serious the situation is and has Talbot transferred to his care the next morning. Edlemann tells him that Talbot's transformations are not triggered by the moonlight, but by pressure on the brain. He believes he can relieve the pressure, but Talbot must wait for him to gather more mold from his flowers. Unable to stand another night as a beast, Lawrence runs to the cliffs behind the mansion, and in a suicidal attempt, throws himself off.
Edlemann goes after him in the caves down below that night, where the Wolfman attacks him, but before he can kill or wound him, the moon sets and Talbot transforms back into human. While in the cave, they discover the Frankenstein monster trapped in the mud, still clutching the skeleton of Dr. Niemann. He is alive, but yet again in a catatonic state. They also discover that the damp humidity in the caves, are perfect for growing more of the plants needed for Talbot's operation, and that the caves connect to a large room underneath Edlemann's home. Dr. Edlemann takes the monster back to his lab and considers reviving him, for the sake of science, but decides that it would be too dangerous after being convinced by Talbot and Nina.
That night, Milizia is playing the piano in the living room, and Dracula appears. The Count tries to seduce her to become a vampire like himself but Milizia brandishes a crucifix before he can bite her. Edlemann interrupts the hypnosis, and explains that he has found strange antibodies in the Count's blood. They decide to have another transfusion the next day. Meanwhile, Nina is following Milizia, who is getting weak because of Dracula's influence. She catches her talking to the Count by a hall mirror and sees that the Count casts no reflection.
Meanwhile, Nina warns Edlemann of the vampire's intentions to make Milizia his undead bride. He prepares for a transfusion that will destroy the vampire and has Dracula come to the lab. During the transfusion, Dracula uses his hypnotic powers to send both Edlemann and Nina to sleep and reverses the flow of the transfusion, sending his own blood into the doctor's veins. When the doctor and his assistant awaken, Dracula is preparing to take Milizia away. They wake up Talbot, and fight Dracula off with a crucifix, who returns to his coffin as the sun is beginning to rise. Edlemann follows him, and drags his opened coffin into a spot of sunlight, and Dracula is destroyed, leaving only his skeleton in the coffin.
After these events, Edlemann paces inside his room. He starts feeling sick. He sees his cat hiss at him and run away. He looks at himself in the mirror. His blood cannot handle Dracula's vampire blood and becomes a deformed Hyde-like side of himself. After these horrific events are done and he changes back to himself, he begins the operation on Talbot, yet one night, he changes into his Hyde-side again and kills his gardener, Siegfried. After escaping, he finishes Talbot's operation and they eventually see that it was a success, but Edlemann changes back into his Hyde-side again and sneaks off.
He revives the monster and kills Nina. Talbot confronts and shoots him dead with grief. He then proceeds to burn the castle down with the monster inside while he and everyone else escapes as flames consume the monster.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein[]
Lawrence Talbot makes his last appearance in this 1948 horror comedy film which gives no explanation as to how Larry is inflected with the curse again, though it's possible the film isn't canon, as it makes no explanation as to how Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster are alive either. Lawrence is on to Count Dracula's plans to bring the Frankenstein monster back to life for his own evil plans. He makes a call to Florida from London to contact a railway station where Chick Young (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello) work at, regarding the two crates that contain Dracula and the Monster. Lawrence manages to call Wilbur and tries to warn him before they take the crates to the wax museum, "McDougal's House of Horrors". But before he can explain, the moon rises and he transforms into a wolf, leading Wilbur to believe his dog was on the phone.
After Dracula has succeeded in reviving the Monster and they escape, Talbot meets with Chick and Wilbur at their apartment. He tells them he was the man who called and requests that Wilbur lock him in his room, as the moon is about to rise. Wilbur does so beforehand, but realizes Talbot forgot his briefcase, so he brings it into his room and is nearly killed by the Wolf man, though oblivious to the fact that he was in any danger. The next day Wilbur and Chick check on Talbot, who tells them about himself, but they don't believe him. They later go to Wilbur's girlfriend, Sandra Mornay's (who is secretly working with Dracula to transplant Wilbur's brain into the monster) castle to pick her up for the masquerade ball. Talbot calls them on a telephone and warns them that they are in the "House of Dracula".
Talbot arrives later that night at the ball where he confronts Dracula (going under the alias Dr. Lajos) and accuses him of being the count, though Dracula dismisses these claims. Sandra meets with Wilbur and tries to bite him (as she was sired by Dracula earlier) but is stopped by Chick and Talbot. They go searching for Joan, another woman who has a romantic interest in Wilbur, but Talbot transforms and begins stalking Wilbur. Wilbur thinks Chick is wearing a wolf mask and begins poking at him and kicking him, nearly getting himself killed before the Wolfman starts attacking him, and he runs off. Wilbur and Joan are kidnapped by Dracula. The next day, Chick meets with Talbot and finally believes that he is a werewolf, telling him they must rescue Joan and Wilbur.
The following night, before Sandra can cut open Wilbur's skull for the operation, Talbot and Chick arrive. Talbot fights her off ad attempts to untie Wilbur. However, the moon rises and he transforms into the werewolf. Dracula returns and the two monsters engage in a fight. The Monster throws Sandra out a window and attacks Wilbur and Chick. they escape onto a boat and the monster is burnt alive on the dock by Professor Stevens. Dracula transforms into a bat and attempts to fly off a balcony to escape the Wolfman, but Talbot grabs at his wings as he flies off and the two monsters fall into the rocky seas below, killing both of them in the process.
Appearances in Other Media[]
- Main article: The Wolf Man (Alvin and the Chipmunks: Meet the Wolfman)
- Main article: The Wolf Man (remake)
- Main article: Velkan Valerious
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to writer: Curt Siodmak on the documentary "Monster by Moonlight", Larry was originally an American engineer and wasn't Sir John Talbot's son. In the early version of the script, he came to fix John's telescope before he ends up getting trapped in the Werewolf curse.
- Originally, the transformations were supposed to be kept a mystery as to rather Larry was turning into a werewolf or if it was all in his head. However, Universal felt they couldn't have a monster movie without a monster, so the werewolf became visible.
- In "Beethoven", the title dog is watching the transformation scene and the wolfman going out before George came downstairs and turn off the TV.
- Dick Foran and Boris Karloff were both considered for the role of Larry Talbot.
- Bela Lugosi campaigned for the role,but was cast as Bela,The Gypse.
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