Cry of the Werewolf (1944), dir. Henry Levin, Columbia Pictures
Columbia was never really a huge player in the horror genre, but they did dabble a bit.
New Orleans and nestled deep in the city is a manor home that once belonged to the LaTour family. Now it is a tourist trap devoted to the supernatural and owned by Dr. Morris (Fritz Leiber). He turned the ground level into a museum so as to fund his research, research that is finally paying off. It seems Marie LaTour, the last member of the family, was a werewolf.
He's so certain he's close to finding out what happened he's summoned his son Bob (Stephan Crane) home from college. The janitor, Jan (Ivan Triesault) is also concerned. He leaves early to inform Princess Celeste (Nina Foch), the leader of their Roma tribe. She's also the daughter of Marie and is rather keen on keeping her grave secret.
The princess is also a werewolf, and she's rather keen on that staying secret too. So when Morris' assistant Ilsa (Osa Massen) leaves to pick Bob up, she makes sure to transform and express her annoyance in person.
Bob sends for the police, and the New Orleans Police Dept. sends the two biggest morons they have on payroll to investigate. Seriously, they both declare Ilsa the killer despite the massive amount of evidence. They then figure Jan must be killer, right at the same time Celeste kills him to keep him quiet.
Lord, so close to being a good film. This might be the first film to show a werewolf as not cursed. Celeste isn't bitten, she just is and furthermore she clearly has no issues transforming. Also not bothered by killing people. The rest of the cast however, yeah. The cops drag the film down every time they show up.
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