A Match made in...well, somewhere!

Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers appeared together in a total of 8 movies, all for Universal Studios. The first of these to hit the screens was The Wolf Man in 1941. But the first movie they shot together was North to the Klondike, filmed earlier that year and released in 1942.

Lon and Evelyn's dislike for one another is well documented. I think they probably would have gotten along better if the Wolf Man had been shot first, but things got off on the wrong foot during Klondike. Boys will be boys, they say, and one of the other stars in this movie was Broderick Crawford; he and Lon didn't exactly bring out the best of one another. They were both heavy drinkers and putting the two of them together was asking for trouble. In addition they shared a dressing room, and one night while drinking began brawling and destroyed the room. The studio in turn reassigned this room to Evelyn Ankers, which didn't exactly endear her to the fellas.

According to Don G. Smith in his book "Lon Chaney, Jr. Horror Film Star" Crawford was offended, and later greeted Evelyn on set "...with a hearty 'Hiya Kid!' while slugging her in the arm with a good natured jab. The blow immediately cramped Anker's arm, sending her into tears. The tears, in turn, sent mascara into her eyes, creating an irritation that lasted for two days." Chaney laughed at the incendent which further angered Evelyn.

The boorish behavior and drinking naturally put off Evelyn, and who can blame her? She was trying to build a career and act like a professional. The hard feelings continued throughout their careers. At a publicity event for Universal Studios a drunken Chaney got into a near fight with Evelyn's husband, actor Richard Denning. It must have made things somewhat difficult on-set but there is no denying their on-screen chemistry.

Shave and a haircut

This promotional pic was obviously taken at the same time as the last one I posted - Lon still has that object in his hand here, whatever it is.

Werewolf nail salon

Yet another of the promotional pics Lon and Evelyn took for The Wolf Man. They seem to be getting along well here... Wonder what Lon's holding is his paw, er, hand, there?

He has this effect on all the ladies...

A lot has been made of the problems between Lon Chaney and Evelyn Ankers. The two just did not get along all that well... which is interesting because Universal kept casting them in movies together, in a total of 8 films. After the Wolf Man Evelyn swore she'd never work with Lon again, but they made two films together the very next year, two more in 43, two more in 44, and one in 45. Their on-screen chemistry really does work, and audiences obviously loved the duo together.

Films they co-starred in:

1. The Wolf Man (1941)

2. North to the Klondike (1942)   

3. The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

4. Crazy House (1943)

5. Son of Dracula (1943)

6. Weird Woman (1944)

7. Follow the Boys (1944)

8. The Frozen Ghost (1945)

Beware the full moon...

Another of the studio shots of Lon and Evelyn Ankers. I wonder how many of these they did in total?

Lon and Evelyn

Another posed shot of Evelyn and wolfie. Universal was obviously proud of this makeup and the upcoming movie, and I imagine the buildup for it was pretty cool. I've been seeing lots of previews of the new Wolfman movie on TV lately, too, as Universal gets the promotional machine rolling for a wolfman movie.

Beware the Wolf Man

This is one of a series of photos of Lon Chaney in the wolf man makeup with costar Evelyn Ankers. Great pic...

The Wolfman vs. The Wolf Man

The new upcoming Wolfman movie got me thinking about the casting for the new film. I put together a few pics comparing the actors playing the main roles.

Lawrence Talbot:
In the role of the tortured soul Lawrence we have Benecio Del Toro playing the part made famous by Lon Chaney Jr. I'm really happy about this choice, as Del Toro has a bit of that rugged athletic quality that Lon shared.

The Wolfman vs. the Wolf Man - note the movies spell the title creature differently. Wonder if they did that just to differentiate them more easily? It is a remake, after all - the one word change doesn't really matter all that much, just is interesting. At any rate the new test shots of the makeup for the wolfman certainly look amazing. They enlisted Rick Baker to do this design, and wow - it totally knocked my socks off. Hopefully the computer effects will be minimal, and they'll rely on makeup more - and the wolfman won't change clothes this time around when he transforms!

 

Gwen Conliffe - in the role of Lawrence's love interest we have Emily Blunt playing the Evelyn Ankers role. Emily is gorgeous and sexy, but doesn't really resemble Evelyn too much. But that isn't really necessary for this part, and I think she'll do great in the role.

In the role of John Talbot, Lawrence's father, we have Anthony Hopkins in the Claude Rains role. You need an actor of considerable range to fill these shoes, and you don't get much better than Anthony Hopkins.

 

 Maleva the Gypsy, originally played by Maria Ouspenskaya, is played this time around by Geraldine Chaplin. I don't know too much about her, but according to IMDB she's been in over a hundred movies, mostly foreign. She most likely has the accent that the role requires, and certainly looks the part.

And lastly, in the role of the Inspector Abberline we have Hugo Weaving. Now, this isn't a straight replay of a former character. Best I can tell the new film takes the role of  Colonel Montford, played by Ralph Bellamy (Twiddle, take a note!), and splits it into two characters - Colonel Montford and Inspector Abberline. Montford was the one investigating these murders before, if I'm not mistaken, but this time around we have an inspector to do the investigation. I really like Hugo as an actor, and he'll lend a quirky air to the role.

All in all an amazing bit of casting. I am very much looking forward to this movie, as well as the new dvd release of The Wolf Man! Here's hoping they both live up to expectations!

The Wolfman

As many of you know, Universal pictures is releasing a new version of The Wolfman to theaters this coming Feb. It stars Benicio Del Toro in the Lon Chaney role as the tortured Lawrence Talbot; Emily Blunt as his love interest Gwen Conliffe, originally played by Evelyn Ankers; and Anthony Hopkins in the Claude Rains role of Lawrence's father, Talbot Sr. Quite the cast, indeed. This promises to be a howling good way to start the 2010 movie season. Release date is February 12th, 2010.

owwwwooooooo!