The Wolf Man (1941)

In 1941, Universal Pictures released the last of their truly great monster movies, The Wolf Man. Operating in the red most of the thirties, Universal's pocketbook needed a new monster and a new monster star. It had been a decade since the initial box office boom of Dracula, but Bela Lugosi's star had fallen considerably since and he was not considered a bankable lead. Boris Karloff's last picture as a monster was 1939's Son of Frankenstein and he felt he had become too old to play monsters, nor did he want to any longer. Stepping into the shoes worn before both Karloff and Lugosi by his very own father, was Lon Chaney Jr. After displaying considerable acting chops in the widely acclaimed Of Mice and Men and showing the exec's at Universal that he could do horror with Man-Made Monster, he was cast in the role that made him famous, Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man.
The film was shot on what was considered a B-grade budget, but it was certainly not B-grade in its quality. The cast was full of Oscar winners and nominees like Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, Casablanca), highly respected actor's actors like Maria Ouspenskaya, and horror veterans like Ralph Bellamy (Ghost of Frankenstein) and Bela Lugosi. Bellamy was an Oscar nominee, too, if you are keeping track. The cinematography and score are both some of the finest in any of the Universal monster movies and the script by Curt Siodmak was so rich and well written that some of the concepts he invented for the film have taken root in many of our minds as real, old-world werewolf folkore.