Werewolf of London (1935)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Stuart Walker

Writers:

Robert Harris (story)
John Colton (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

13 May 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Beware the Stalking Being - Half-Human - Half-Beast!

Plot:

The juice of a rare Tibetan flower is the only thing that keeps Dr. Glendon from turning into a werewolf during a full moon.

Plot Keywords:

Flower | Tibet | Werewolf | Moon | Antidote

Cast

Henry Hull	...	Dr. Glendon
Warner Oland	...	Dr. Yogami
Valerie Hobson	...	Lisa Glendon
Lester Matthews	...	Paul Ames
Lawrence Grant	...	Sir Thomas Forsythe
Spring Byington	...	Miss Ettie Coombes
Clark Williams	...	Hugh Renwick
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Hawkins
Charlotte Granville	...	Lady Forsythe
Ethel Griffies	...	Mrs. Whack
Zeffie Tilbury	...	Mrs. Moncaster
Jeanne Bartlett	...	Daisy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Reginald Barlow	...	Timothy, Falden Caretaker (uncredited)
Egon Brecher	...	Priest (uncredited)
Wong Chung	...	Coolie (uncredited)
J. Gunnis Davis	...	Detective (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Detective Evans (uncredited)
Eole Galli	...	The Prima Donna (uncredited)
Helena Grant	...	Mother (uncredited)
Jeffrey Hassel	...	Alf, Zoo Guard (uncredited)
Boyd Irwin	...	Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Noel Kennedy	...	Boy (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Detective (uncredited)
Connie Leon	...	Millie, Yogami's Housekeeper (uncredited)
Maude Leslie	...	Mrs. Charteris (uncredited)
James May	...	Barman (uncredited)
William Millman	...	John Bull (uncredited)
Roseollo Navello	...	Maid (uncredited)
Amber Norman	...	Streetwalker (uncredited)
Joseph North	...	Plimpton, Glendon Butler (uncredited)
Tempe Pigott	...	Drunk Woman (uncredited)
Harry Stubbs	...	Officer Jenkins (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Louis Vincenot	...	Head Coolie (uncredited)
Beal Wong	...	Coolie (uncredited)

Directed by
Stuart Walker

Writing credits
Robert Harris		(story)
John Colton		(screenplay)
Harvey Gates		(adaptation) uncredited and
Robert Harris		(adaptation) uncredited
Edmund Pearson		(contributing writer) uncredited

Produced by
Stanley Bergerman	....	executive producer
Robert Harris	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Karl Hajos

Cinematography by
Charles J. Stumar		(photographed by) (as Charles Stumar)

Film Editing by
Russell F. Schoengarth		(as Russell Schoengarth)
Milton Carruth		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino

Makeup Department
Mary Dolor	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Armand Triller	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles S. Gould	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Phil Karlson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert Laszlo	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Frank Artman	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Donald Cunliffe	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Bob Richards	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special effects
David S. Horsley	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Stunts
George DeNormand	....	stunt double: Henry Hull (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	....	stunt double: Henry Hull (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
E. Brown	....	grip (uncredited)
A. Buckley	....	grip (uncredited)
Maury Gertsman	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Lester Kahn	....	grip (uncredited)
John J. Martin	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Irving Smith	....	set lighting foreman (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Gilbert Kurland	....	music supervisor
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Carl Laemmle	....	president: Universal Pictures
Archie Hall	....	technical director (uncredited)
Aben Kandel	....	screenplay construction contributor (uncredited)
Billy Moritz	....	production secretary (uncredited)
James Mulhauser	....	screenplay construction contributor (uncredited)
Selma Platt	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Jean Raymond	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Mary West	....	child welfare worker (uncredited)
Muriel Yoemans	....	secretary to director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Universal Pictures (1935) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Unholy Hour

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Tibetan | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 (2004) | Spain:13 | USA:Approved (PCA #714) | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The "original theatrical trailer" provided as a bonus feature on the DVD is actually the re-edited 1935 trailer, with only Henry Hull and Valerie Hobson identified by name, and a Realart re-release title card prepared for the 1951 re-issue. Scenes with Warner Oland are prominently featured but his name never appears, a typical attempt to disguise the age of the film, since Oland had been dead for many years by the time it was re-released.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the werewolf creeps up on the floozie at the Zoo, he conceals his face with his cape and arm, but when the floozie spots him in her compact, he is shown unconcealed.

Quotes:

Mrs. Moncaster: Are you a single gentleman, sir?
Dr. Wilfred Glendon: Singularly single, madame. More single than I ever realized that it was possible for a human being to be.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: Werewolf of London (1935) (#1.51)" (1980)

Soundtrack:

Tales from the Vienna Woods, op.325

living in the shadows...

Universal's first 'werewolf' movie & oddly enough one of the least celebrated in the studio's library of classic horror films, due in large part to a later vehicle titled 'THE WOLF MAN' that would elevate the werewolf to classic monster status. Not that there's anything wrong with "Werewolf of London", it's a terrific picture in its own right.

Perhaps the star of this film could be the reason why this picture didn't catch on like the later wolf series with Lon Chaney. Henry Hull (as Wilfred Glendon) doesn't come across as being the most likable guy in the world, or one who can invoke much sympathy like Larry Talbot. Hull is such a cold fish that it doesn't come as a great shock when his jailbait looking wife (Valerie Hobson) runs into the arms of her former beau. But, whatever charm Hull may lack, Warner Oland makes up for in spades with his show-stealing performance as Dr. Yogami. "The werewolf is neither man nor wolf, but a Satanic creature with the worst qualities of both."

This movie also tips its hat to the horror films of James Whale, injecting liberal amounts of comic relief throughout the proceedings, with the biggest laughs coming courtesy of two old lushes, Mrs. Whack & Mrs. Moncaster, who rent a room to the afflicted Dr. Glendon and after getting a peek of him in his lunar form, vow to give up the bottle, but somehow I don't think they stuck to that resolution.

Henry Hull and his London Werewolf may linger forever in Chaney's shadow, but Hull will forever have the advantage when it comes to "best dressed" lycanthrope & no one can ever take that from him.