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Invisible Agent Meets the Wolf Man (1946)

Invisible Agent Meets the Wolf Man (1946). Starring Lon Chaney Jr., Jon Hall, Lionel Atwill, Maria Montez, Turhan Bey, and Martha O’Driscoll. Based on a screenplay by Curt Siodmak. Directed by Erle C. Kenton.

In 1946, Universal Pictures was growing tired of monsters. 1944’s Wolf Man Vs. Dracula had been condemned to development hell, and while House of Dracula clawed its ways from the grave a year later, it received a lukewarm reception from postwar audiences. With overall profits falling, Universal was negotiating a merger with International Pictures and subsequent focus on so-called ‘prestige pictures’.

As part of the subsequent streamlining efforts, Universal started looking for actors to cut from their contract roster; specifically those with only one or two films left on their contract. Unwilling to buy the aforementioned actors out of their contracts, Universal decided instead on one last monster rally – the biggest yet.

Veteran scriptwriter Curt Siodmak was tasked with crafting a story that would make good use of the available – and soon-to-be cut – talent, decided to use the recently ended war as a backdrop and the haunted micro-state of Visaria (where the last few Universal horror pictures had been set) as the setting.

Erle C. Kenton, who directed a number of Universal’s horror films, including House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula, provided a steady hand on the rudder, and ensured that the film came in on time and under budget without sacrificing spectacle. Kenton, a fan of the monster films, was on his way out at Universal after his repeated hostile encounters with Lou Costello on the set of the Abbot and Costello films.

Lon Chaney Jr. was set to star, opposite Martha O’Driscoll. Both Chaney and O’Driscoll had separate issues with Universal at the time. Chaney’s behavior on set was notorious, with numerous drinking binges and not a little bloodshed, and despite his reliability Universal was getting tired of footing the bill for someone they were coming to regard as a walking disaster. O’Driscoll, newly-divorced and ready to retire from acting, wanted out of her contract as quickly as possible.

In the script, Chaney’s Talbot is now residing in Visaria with his new bride, Milizia, played by O’Driscoll, in the aftermath of the events depicted in House of Dracula. Talbot, seemingly cured of his lunar affliction, has settled into contented domestic bliss despite recurrent nightmares of his time as the Wolf Man. Eager to rid himself of this last link to his previous nightmarish existence, Talbot engages the services of an alienist, Dr. Brodsky – played by Lionel Atwill.

Unfortunately for Talbot, Brodsky is more than a simple therapist. In reality, he is an escaped war-criminal as well as a dabbler in the occult – and a leader of his own ring of black magic Nazi conspirators (all played by a variety of character actors and bit-players from Universal’s B-Pictures, and all of whom would be cut from the contract roster later that year). Atwill plays the role with oily menace, strongly reminiscent of his portrayal of Moriarty in the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films. At the time of filming Atwill had been largely blacklisted by Hollywood due to minor criminal activity related to his personal life, but was able to secure the role of Brodsky thanks to his remaining connections in the industry. He was also suffering the effects of lung cancer, and during filming would catch the pneumonia that eventually killed him in April of that year.

Brodsky plots to reawaken the beast within Talbot and use the Wolf Man to wreak havoc on his enemies as well as to create an army of lycanthropes, the better to get revenge on the Allied nations. He is aided in his scheme by the wily Ingrid, a former spy played with sadistic zeal by Maria Montez. Montez, like her co-stars, was in Universal’s bad books. Having been suspended by the studio more than once for disagreements relating to her roles, she was looking to get out of her contract and eager to finish out her time in a role that was far different from her previous ones.

Opposing this plan was Frank Raymond, the titular agent. Raymond had last graced screens in 1942’s The Invisible Agent, played by Jon Hall. While Hall would go on to play another invisible man in the sequel, The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944), the two films were largely unrelated. Siodmak reportedly wanted the Agent in order to contrast Talbot against a more traditionally heroic character. Raymond, on the trail of Brodsky, learns what his plan is and seeks to free Talbot from Brodsky’s hypnotic control before the next full moon.

Jon Hall, fresh out of the army and looking to resume his film career with Universal, agreed to play Raymond once again. Another newly mustered out veteran, Turhan Bey, agreed to play the role of double-agent Mehmet – Ingrid’s love interest and Raymond’s contact within Brodsky’s organization. Both Hall and Bey had recently co-starred with Montez in Sudan (1945), and the trio possessed a strong chemistry that lent itself well to the double and triple-crosses of Siodmak’s script.

There are a number of surprisingly tense scenes for what many saw as just another monster rally film, most notably during the climax when Raymond – invisible, obviously – is stalked by the newly-transformed Talbot through Brodsky’s occult lair – situated in Frankenstein’s ruined castle, of all places. The Wolf Man hunts his prey by scent through a forest of grotesque statuary and expressionistic architecture, and the viewer is treated to the sound of Raymond’s increasingly agitated heart-rate with every near-miss. In another emotionally charged scene, Milizia refuses to leave Talbot’s side as he fights for control of his monstrous alter-ego, leading to her nearly losing her life until a last minute save by Mehmet, who perishes messily in her place.

The film’s climax is all blood and thunder, minus the above stalking scene. A transformed Talbot rampages through Brodsky’s cult killing several of them in a restrained scene that nonetheless set the censors’ hackles to bristling, and is last seen tackling Brodsky (or rather Atwill’s stand-in) into a fiery pit, previously mentioned as leading to Hell itself. Ingrid is taken into custody by Raymond, as are the surviving Nazis, and Milizia is left to mourn her husband who, true to form, made good in the end.

The film proved a modest success, but did nothing to halt Universal’s merger with International. Chaney, O’Driscoll, and the others were duly removed from the talent roster and the Wolf Man would not return until 1948, in Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The film, now part of the Universal Horrors collection, has since gone on to some acclaim with many citing it as the best of the monster rally films and perhaps Chaney’s best outing as the Wolf Man. Chaney himself held it as his favourite of the bunch, if only because, in his words, ‘I got to fight some real monsters’.

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