JOYCE RUDOLPH
A discussion about the evolution of werewolves in film should provide
horror fans with plenty to howl about tonight during The Alex Film
Society's screening of "The Wolf Man" (1941).
Prior to the 8 p.m. show, Daryl Maxwell, society board member and
Burbank resident, is coordinating a panel including Ron Chaney,
grandson of Lon Chaney Jr., who starred in the movie, and Kevin
Grevioux, who plays a werewolf in Sony's film "Underworld," released
last month.
Dan Roebuck, TV and film character actor and a big fan of horror
films, will be the panel host.
They'll talk about how werewolves have been portrayed in film over
the years and what it's like to play a werewolf, said Maxwell, an
archivist with Universal Studios and a huge fan of Universal's horror
classics made in the 1940s and '50s.
"Ron is just a great guy, and he is passionate about his family's
work and continuing the Chaney legacy," he said.
Ron's grandfather, Lon Chaney Jr., played the Wolf Man, Dracula's
son, Frankenstein's monster and the mummy as well as appeared in
Westerns and the stage and screen versions "Of Mice and Men," Maxwell
said.
His great-grandfather, Lon Chaney, was a famous silent film star.
He played the title character in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and
"The Phantom of the Opera."
"These are such iconic names, not just in the horror genre but in
films in general," Maxwell said.
Also shown will be a teaser for Ron Chaney's film "Curse of the
Wolf Man," a continuation of the wolf man legend written in tribute
to his grandfather's classic film.
"It gives us a chance to see Ron Chaney in the lead and in the
makeup," he said. "It is astounding how much he looks like his
grandfather."
In contrast, actor Grevioux will talk about the modern-day horror
genre and how the technology has changed since the 1940s, Maxwell
said.
Sony has donated promotional items from "Underworld," like
T-shirts and posters, and Universal has donated art from the film,
"Van Helsing," scheduled for release in May.
Van Helsing is the doctor who identifies Dracula as a vampire, and
Van Helsing kills him in the original film, Maxwell said. All the
classic characters from Universal's horror films return in this film,
he added.
Preceding each screening at The Alex is the animated short
"Monster of Ceremonies," directed by Paul J. Smith for Walter Lanz
Productions for Universal in 1966, featuring Woody Woodpecker as a
Frankenstein-esque monster.
Also cast in "The Wolf Man" are Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi and
Maria Ouspenskaya.
