Werewolf of London (Universal 1935, Henry Hull, Warner Oland)

Published

5 years ago

September 14, 2018

This is the original Universal werewolf movie (coming a full six years before Chaney howled in The Wolf Man) and a classic in its own right. Renowned botanist Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) discovers a rare Tibetan flower that blooms only under the full moon, and has to fight off a werewolf, who bites him in the attack, for possession of the bloom.

Once back in London, he receives a visit from a Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland), who tells him the flower can cure the curse of the werewolf. Oland also reveals that he was the werewolf who bit him in Tibet and that Hull must prepare for a transformation at the next full moon. Hull struggles with his murderous side as he tries to get the flower to blossom before he kills again. A great, overlooked horror chiller.

The role of Dr. Glendon in Werewolf of London was originally supposed to star Boris Karloff, but when he bowed out, it was given to Henry Hull, who had previously appeared in director Stuart Walker’s Great Expectations (1934).

production details
USA | Universal | 75 minutes | 1935
Director: Stuart Walker
Script: John Colton, Robert Harris,

cast
Lester Matthews as Paul Ames
Valerie Hobson as Lisa Glendon
Henry Hull as Dr. Glendon
Lawrence Grant as Sir Thomas Forsythe
Warner Oland as Dr. Yogami
Spring Byington as Miss Ettie Coombes
Clark Williams as Hugh Renwick
J. M. Kerrigan as Hawkins
Ethel Griffies as Mrs. Whack
Zeffie Tilbury as Mrs. Moncaster
Charlotte Granville as Lady Forsythe
Jeanne Bartlett as Daisy
Amber Norman as The Girl in Goose Lane