Now that the writer’s strike is all but over work can begin again on the new version of Universal’s classic The Wolf Man (2009) starring Benicio Del Toro as the ill-fated victim of a werewolf bite. I wish Mr. Del Toro all the luck in the world on this venture. Not that I think he can’t pull it off, I sure his acting will be outstanding, it’s just that out of all the Universal monsters this one has the toughest baggage to overcome.
Why? Very simple, unlike the other characters from the classic movies, there has only been one Wolf Man. Dracula had three different portrayals; Bela Lugosi (2 films), Lon Chaney, Jr. (1 film), and John Carradine (2 films). Frankenstein had four portrayals; Boris Karloff (3 films), Lon Chaney, Jr. (1 film), Bela Lugosi (1 film), and Glenn Strange (3 films). The Mummy had four portrayals in three different incarnations; Boris Karloff (1 film), Tom Tyler (1 film), Lon Chaney, Jr. (3 films), and stunt man Eddie Parker (1 film) (he also took over most of the more strenuous physical work in Lugosi’s Frankenstein portrayal). The Invisible Man has had three different portrayals; Claude Reins (1 film), Vincent Price (2 films if you count his bit part in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)), and Jon Hall (2 films).
But the Wolf Man? He has had only one actor play him in five films, Lon Chaney, Jr.. This means that over time there has been no dilution of the original character like the other monsters have had. Which will make it much harder for Del Toro to make the part his own. Sure there have been other werewolves in film, but none of them have been Larry Talbot, they’ve been other characters and most, like barrel chested Oliver Reed’s Leon Corledo in Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and David Naughton’s David Kessler in An American Werewolf in London (1981) owe more than just a little bit of their tortured performances to the precident Chaney set in the original The Wolf Man (1941), heck Reed even physically resembled Chaney. So Mr. Del Toro, here’s hoping audiences will accept your attempt at reinterpreting this beloved icon, I’m rooting for you.
