The Wolf Man is a 1941 American horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr. in the title role. Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Evelyn Ankers, and Maria Ouspenskaya star in supporting roles. The title character has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood's depictions of the legend of the werewolf. The film is the second Universal Pictures werewolf film, preceded six years earlier by the less commercially successful Werewolf of London (1935). This film is part of the Universal Monsters movies and is of great cinematic acclaim for its production. After this movie's success, Lon Chaney Jr. would reprise his role as "The Wolf Man" in four sequels, beginning with Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man in 1943. Plot Larry Talbot returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to bury his recently deceased brother and reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot. Larry falls in love with a local girl named Gwen Conliffe who runs an antique shop. As an excuse to talk to her, he purchases a walking stick decorated with a silver wolf's head. Gwen tells him that it represents a werewolf, a man who changes into a wolf "at certain times of the year". The werewolf always sees a pentagram on the palm of his next victim. Various villagers recite a poem whenever werewolves are mentioned: Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night; May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. Though Gwen firmly refuses Larry's persistent proposals for a date, they meet that night at the proposed time, and are joined by Gwen's friend Jenny to go have their fortunes told. The Romani fortuneteller, Bela, sees a pentagram when he examines Jenny's palm, and frantically sends her away. While awaiting their turns, Larry and Gwen take a walk. Gwen informs Larry that she is engaged. They hear Jenny scream. Larry attempts to rescue Jenny, who is being attacked by a wolf. He kills the wolf with his new walking stick but is bitten on the chest. Police investigating the scene find Jenny's throat torn out and Bela battered to death, with Larry's walking stick clearly the murder weapon in the latter case. Suspicion on Larry deepens when he cannot substantiate his story of fighting