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Film: Cry of the Werewolf
Year: 1944
Director: Henry Levin
Writer: Griffin Jay and Charles O'Neal
Starring: Nina Foch, Stephen Crane and Osa Massen
Review:
This was a movie that I discovered when searching out horror from 1944 for my Foray through the Fours. What caught my attention was that this is an early werewolf movie. I knew that The Wolf Man from Universal had come out three years prior. I'm a fan of this creature, especially with the folklore that tends to be associated. I caught this on Tubi and came in only knowing the title, the year and the I confirming I found the correct one.
Synopsis: a young woman raised by Romani hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to protect.
We start this in a museum of the occult. This has different rooms for things like vampires, werewolves and voodoo. The man leading the guided tour is Peter (John Abbott). They come to a room where we learn about Marie LeTour. She was a suspected werewolf who killed her husband. She then fled. This is a popular local legend. The man who runs this museum, Dr. Charles Morris (Fritz Leiber) is doing research and he thinks he's discovered the grave of Marie. This causes him to not be able to pick up this son from the airport. His secretary is Elsa Chauvet (Osa Massen). She's sent in his stead.
Listening in on them is the janitor, Jan Spavero (Ivan Triesault). He leaves early and goes to a local Romani camp in the nearby woods. He is admitted to the leaders of this group, Celeste (Nina Foch) who is a princess. She is aided by Bianca (Blanche Yurka). Jan relays what he knows from Dr. Morris. They thank him. One of the women then goes to the museum, reveals a hidden passage behind the fireplace and goes in. Dr. Morris follows shortly after, not realizing. We then heard his scream.
The police are called in and they investigate the murder. Lt. Barry Lane (Barton MacLane) is in charge. The news of the crime shocks both Dr. Morris' son, Robert 'Bob' Morris (Stephen Crane), and Elsa. Along with this, the notes for the book that the doctor was working on were found in the fire. Bob and Elsa try to piece together what they can, to see if it will give them a clue as to who did this and why. These notes are then tampered with and a handprint is left behind. This makes Jan the first suspect.
Something that is odd here is the fact that Dr. Morris looks to be torn apart by a wolf. Jan is also found dead, with similar markings. Lt. Lane doesn't believe it was a werewolf. He does think that it could be someone using their dog. Bob and Elsa do their own investigation. This leads to him meeting the group of Romani at their campsite. He at once believes that they're involved with what happened. That is until he meets Celeste. Bob and Elsa grew up together so he always saw her as a sister. That is until he came home to help his father. Celeste has him smitten as well. It is to the point that he's not sure she or one of her people committed the crime.
This tribe of Romani has interesting customs and harbor secrets. Bob continues to search for the truth of what happened to his father, which leads him to the secret that is found under the museum and who Celeste truly is.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this feels like it is borrowing heavy from The Wolf Man. I wouldn't be shocked to learn that our writers saw that movie, took notes and then incorporated as much as they could. That's not something that I'll fault them for. They saw what worked and made money.
Now I'm not going to compare the two throughout, but what I'll say is that both feature a Romani curse. It is interesting that Elsa and Jan are both from Transylvania. I was chatting with a friend in a Discord group and she pointed out that it feels like this movie borrowed elements from vampires. Being from this part of the world, where Dracula is from, made me think that too. In The Wolf Man, it is a Romani curse. I get the idea that these people are superstitious so it doesn't shock me that there is crossover with their lore. Since I'm a fan of folk horror, using legends like these piques my interest.
What sets this movie apart is that it is almost an early police procedural. We have our two academics using research to get to the bottom of what is happening. There's also Lt. Lane and his police officers trying to solve the case. Something interesting that is still relevant today is the fact that they get a suspect in mind and then go hard to prove it. He gets frustrated when he must go back to the drawing board. This feels real so credit there. They are also good in the fact that they don't believe in the supernatural. They're convinced that there must be a logical explanation. This was something that helped make this different.
Where I want to shift from here to discuss the werewolf itself. There could be a way to look at this, there isn't one. I don't believe that, but I do like sowing the seeds of doubt. This film didn't seem to be working with the largest budget so we don't get a transformation sequence. That did bum me out, but if you can't do it and make it look real, I get it. They do use a shadow once. This did look like they used a wolf or a dog that resembles that for the creature. I'm not the biggest fan there, but again, I can understand budgetary limitations. I don't hate the idea of using a wolf for the monster though.
I'll then finish out with the rest of filmmaking. The cinematography here was fine. They frame things in ways to find them, which is a good touch. I did like the shot of the shadow transformation. This doesn't have much in the way of effects. It also was the era this made and it is more about the mystery than the aftermath of attacks. Personally, I would have liked to see more, but I get why. Other than that, the soundtrack was fine. The sound design was good to the point where I didn't know if it was my daughter over the baby monitor or the movie. That made my heart jump.
All that is left then is acting. Foch was good as our villain. She has an alluring look so I can see how she suckered Bob in. Crane was fine as our male hero. He and Massen work well together. I'm glad that she was given more than other movies from this era to work with. Yurka is good as the wise older woman who aids Celeste. MacLane and the other police officers are fine. There are ones that come off as bumbling, but there is also the issue of lack of information as well. Other than that, Abbott, Leiber, Triesault and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
In conclusion, this is a solid early werewolf film. It feels like it was inspired by elements of The Wolf Man. What I like is that this does its own thing by being more of a police procedural. There is a good touch with the academics also investigating what happened to Dr. Morris. This did seem to be limited by its budget by not giving us a transformation scene. I did think this was made well enough. This is a decent film and I'd recommend it if you're a fan of this era or interested in this subgenre.
My Rating: 6.5 out of 10