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Was this film considered a B picture by Universal?

posted 10 years ago by FilmKoala
8 replies | jump to latest

I'm no expert but from what I understand, Universal relegated their horror films to B pictures after 1938's Son of Frankenstein. Pretty much every horror film that was released by them in the '40s was of B film quality, specifically their monster sequels.

The Wolf Man came out in 1941, right in the mix. And Lon Chaney Jr. was never considered a superstar by Universal the way Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were in their primes. So that makes me think that this was just going to be another one of their throwaway B films but it ended up being a huge hit. And of course time has given it its classic status right alongside the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein.

Anybody know more on this subject?

[–] phillipsdan83 9 years ago

I'd say about an A- movie...Claude Rains was a prestige name, and Warren William and Ralph Bellamy were pretty well known.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Professor_Jarrod 9 years ago

According to the book "Universal Horrors", the budget for "The Wolf Man" was about $180,000, which was a pretty good bump from the studio's 1940 horror output ("Man Made Monster" cashed in at $86K for example). When America entered World War Two, Hollywood was encouraged to conserve money and resources, so entries like "Captive Wild Woman", "The Mad Ghoul", and Chaney's Mummy and Inner Sanctum series were modestly staged.

There were a few exceptions. The 1943 "Phantom of the Opera" starring Claude Rains was a bank-busting 1.7 million dollar production. Two 1944 Boris Karloff projects enjoyed generous financing (more than $1 million for both), as did the Maria Montez adventure opus "Cobra Woman".

The bottom line regarding Universal's bottom line is that they had to be tightfisted most of the time. The studio underwent several takeovers and mergers during the 30's and '40's because of their shakey finances. It wasn't until they merged with MCA in the early '60's that they became the powerful institution that survived today.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Professor_Jarrod 9 years ago

Universal -- or at least their producer George Waggner -- certainly saw potential for Chaney as a horror headliner, probably after seeing his performance as a caveman in "One Million B.C.". Waggner was pleased with the actor's work on "Man Made Monster" and it's fair to assume he developed "The Wolf Man" as a star vehicle for Lon. But I imagine that the studio's real priority was to establish a new and original creature character.

Whether that's true or not, Universal allowed Waggner quite a bit of latitude. As I said in my other post, TWM's budget was almost $100K higher than MMM. They also sprung for an above average cast (Rains, Ouspenskaya) and a first rate cinematographer (Joseph Valentine) and music score. Offhand I don't know what Chaney was paid for TWM, but he likely enjoyed an increase from the $500 a week he got for MMM, and possibly a bonus. Even if TWM didn't begin as a showcase for Lon it ended up being one, and it spurred future ones like "Ghost of Frankenstein" and "Son of Dracula".

Speaking of bonuses, Universal rewarded producer/director Waggner $10,000 as the film became a monster hit. Curt Siodmak, who wrote the brilliant screenplay, asked for a $25 a week raise...and the studio turned him down.

[–] sage2112 9 years ago

No.

[–] millsey72 (9575) 2 years ago

I disagree because the best Universal monster movie from this genre was House of Frankenstein which came out in 1944

[–] MCguy (942) a year ago

Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein is the best.