The Wolf Man (1941)

Fate can hand us a burden we never asked for, and the true test is how we carry it. George Waggner's "The Wolf Man," written by Curt Siodmak, stars Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, who returns to his family's Welsh estate after years in America to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John (Claude Rains), following the death of his older brother. While out walking one night with the lovely Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), Larry tries to save a young woman from a wolf and kills it with his silver-headed cane - but not before he's bitten. The next morning, the police find only the body of the old fortune teller's son, Bela (Bela Lugosi), bludgeoned to death. Bela's mother, Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), warns Larry that her son was a werewolf, and that he now shares the curse. As villagers recite an old rhyme, "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright," Larry is horrified to find himself changing, prowling the foggy woods as a beast. Ralph Bellamy co-stars as the skeptical local constable and Warren William as the family doctor who suspects Larry is losing his mind. Siodmak wrote the rhyme himself, and the film helped cement werewolf lore now taken for granted, including the power of silver. With Jack Pierce's groundbreaking makeup and Chaney's heartbreaking performance as a decent man tormented by forces beyond his control, it redefined the werewolf legend for generations to come. Chaney played Larry Talbot four more times, becoming the only actor to play Universal's Wolf Man in the classic series.