OCTOBER 2020
LON CHANEY - Universal's Best Classic Monster Star
October
is the month we celebrate Halloween and so therefore it is appropriate
to pay tribute to the best monster star in Universal Studios Classic
Monster roster: Lon Chaney.
If
we were to play "Jeopardy" we would begin with the following answer: He
is the only actor to have portrayed all four of Universal's monsters
(horror characters): The Wolf Man, Count Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster
and The Mummy. And the question would be: Who was Lon Chaney?
To
be more accurate, it was Lon Chaney, Jr - the son of the famed silent
film star who was known as the Man of a Thousand Faces. Originally
named Creighton, he later changed his name to Lon Jr in honor of his
father who had passed away in 1930, and by 1942 at the behest of
Universal Studios, he was simply billed as Lon Chaney. The "Jr" was
only used when published articles needed to distinguish between the two
as both father and son were renowned for their portrayal of horror
characters. Unlike fellow Universal stars Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula)
and Boris Karloff (Frankenstein's Monster and The Mummy), Lon Chaney was
the more diverse and versatile of the trio. Biographer Don G Smith,
author of Lon Chaney Jr - Horror Film Star (1906-1973), noted
that Chaney's best work was in such classic films as "Of Mice and Men,"
"High Noon" and "The Defiant Ones." Smith affirmed that Chaney was not
only more versatile than his fellow monster actors but the best of the
Lugosi-Karloff-Chaney trio that enabled Universal to carve out its niche
in the horror film genre. Chaney provided a bigger-than-life onscreen
presence that included inner turmoil within the characters he portrayed
in film and television. His ability to engender empathy from the film
audience, even while portraying tortured characters, may have resulted
from what Chaney himself described as a very difficult early life: his
parents' troubled marriage and separation, being raised by deaf
grandparents and his ambivalence on taking on his late father's film
career and becoming an actor. Perhaps Chaney was able to use acting as a
means to express his personal travails experienced in his own family
life. Whatever the reasons, nearly half a century since his passing,
Chaney's exemplary work remains a standard of excellence for connecting
personally with the audience and engendering empathy if not sympathy
while portraying horror characters.
Chaney
portrayed The Mummy three times between 1942 and 1944, Frankenstein's
Monster in 1942 and Count Dracula in 1943. But it was as The Wolf Man
that Chaney made his signature mark as a horror film star appearing as
Larry Talbot, a man bitten by a werewolf who becomes one himself, and
then seeks help to cure himself of this condition. Between 1941 and
1948, Chaney appeared as The Wolf Man five times as the sequel proved to
be a most effective film vehicle for bringing back to life the title
character even after it appeared he had died! The fifth film was a
crossover that featured Chaney in his signature role along with Lugosi
as Dracula in supporting roles as part of an Abbott & Costello
comedy vehicle that allowed Universal to showcase its dynamic comedic
duo and its Classic Monsters.
My
personal favorite of the Lon Chaney Wolf Man franchise was "House of
Dracula" (1945) in which Larry Talbot is finally cured of his werewolf
syndrome through surgery. Perhaps in tribute to the empathy that horror
film fans had for the Talbot / Wolf Man character, he was able to help
vanquish both Dracula and the Frankenstein monster in the film's
exciting climax. Appropriately this marked the last of the "dramatic"
Universal movies that featured Frankenstein's monster, werewolves and
vampires save for the aforementioned comedic entry "Abbott and Costello
Meet Frankenstein" (1945) that featured all three horror figures.
The
Wolf Man and Lon Chaney became woven into the popular culture of baby
boomers due in large part to Universal Studios releasing its archive of
classic horror films to television in 1957 and then the following year
(1958) Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine regularly profiled
all of the films featuring Universal's Classic Monsters in a monthly
publication that could be found on the newsstands of every major grocery
store chain throughout the USA. Baby boomers came to view these
classic films that had been originally released decades before as
contemporary films, thereby creating generations of new fans, especially
as local TV stations in various major markets (Los Angeles, New York,
Chicago and Philadelphia) aired these films on weekends with hosts
dressed for Halloween. This tradition continues to this very day: think
"Elvira - Mistress of the Dark" and "Svengoolie."
In
1997, the US Post Office paid official tribute to the Universal Classic
Monsters with a series that featured Dracula (portrayed by Bela
Lugosi), Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy (both with the likeness of
Boris Karloff), The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr) PLUS as a bonus -- The
Phantom of the Opera (!) portrayed by ..... Lon Chaney -- father of Lon
Jr! Thus, father and son were reunited in the iconic film roles for
which they were best known among horror film fans, with Lon Jr
representing the "talkies" and Lon Sr representing the "silent film"
era.
In
closing this remembrance of Lon Chaney and his iconic role as The Wolf
Man, here is the closing passage spoken by actress Maria Ouspenskaya
(who played Maleva the Gypsy Woman who sought to help Larry Tolbot find a
cure for his werewolf syndrome) as Talbot / Wolf Man lay dying at the
end of "The Wolf Man" (1941): "The
way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own, but as the
rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a
predestined end. Now you will have peace for eternity." Given the
challenges Chaney had during his own lifetime, this would seem an
appropriate epitaph for Universal's Best Classic Monster Star.
Please
join us in paying tribute to Lon Chaney and all the Universal Classic
Monster Stars by sharing your thoughts via posting on to the Galaxy
FACEBOOK page (and be sure to "like" us when doing so) or via e-mail to
the GNN web site. Likewise, I am always receptive to hearing from our
wonderful Galaxy audience and/or connecting via LinkedIn.
View my LinkedIn profile at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rev-protodn-george-haloulakos-cfa-bab6b43
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