A minor character actor under the shell of his "Man of a Thousand Faces" father Chaney Sr, Lon got his big break in Of Mice and Men in 1939, 1,000,000 B.C. in 1940, and his favorite, "The Wolf Man" in 1941.
This is an interesting quasi clone of an another Chaney early vehicle, The Atomic Man (1940). There Chaney plays Dan, electrified in a bus accident, a mad scientist gooses that power until Chaney becomes a monster roaming the countryside electrocuting his adversaries.
It's 16 years later and now Chaney is again resurrected with superhuman strength. For Chaney in real life, there's a lot of water under the bridge, a lifelong fight with alcohol has aged him way beyond his 51 years of age.
But for those who think Chaney couldn't pull off a dramatic scene, or lost his chops along the way, the first five minutes of this movie where, from behind bars, he takes his lawyer apart for betraying him, look again. He's riveting, believable, and you can't take your eyes off of him.
Dead of cancer a scant dozen years later, the alcohol cigerettes and a physiological bent towards cancer took him far too young.
Happy Halloween Lon. There's a place in horror heaven for you I am sure.
You earned it.