The Wolf Man (1941 film) Chaney Jr. would reprise his classic role as "The Wolf Man" in four sequels, beginning with "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" in 1943. Sometime in the early twentieth century, after learning of the death of his brother, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot (Claude Rains). While there, Larry becomes romantically interested in a local girl named Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), who runs an antique shop. As a pretext to converse with her, he purchases a silver-headed walking stick decorated with a wolf. Gwen tells
The Man Who Laughs (1928 film) and Charles Puffy. The animal actor used for the role of Homo, the Wolf was a dog named Zimbo, who had previously appeared in the Fox Film's 1927 "Wolf Fangs". Following the success of Universal Pictures's 1923 adaptation of Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", the company was eager to release another film starring Lon Chaney. A treatment adapting "The Phantom of the Opera" was prepared, but rejected by the Universal executives. In its place, Chaney was offered the lead in a film version of Hugo's "The Man Who Laughs", to be produced under its French title ("L'Homme Qui