
The Catman of Paris
A wild west version of Cat People, director Lesley Selander’s horror film features one strange-looking villain, a pointy-eared cat-creature prowling the range in top hat and tux. To call Selander prolific is an understatement, he made over 100 westerns for Republic Pictures but Catman is one very odd man out; produced in 20 days in the fall of 1945, the caped monster is played by the ubiquitous character actor Robert Wilke—unrecognizable here but memorable in dozens of films, most notably as Nemo’s first mate in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
About Joe Dante
Joe Dante is a lifelong film buff who turned his obsession into a career. He got his start cutting trailers for Roger Corman and later directed the hit movie Gremlins, as well as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Innerspace and Small Soldiers for producer Steven Spielberg. His feature films include The Howling, Piranha, Matinee, The ‘burbs , Looney Tunes Back in Action, The Hole (first winner of the 3D Persol Award at the Venice Film Festival) and the zom-com Burying the Ex. His TV directing work includes: Police Squad, Amazing Stories, the HBO film The Second Civil War, the Masters of Horror titles Homecoming and The Screwfly Solution, and episodes of Eerie, Indiana, CSI: NY, Hawaii 5-0, Witches of East End, Legends of Tomorrow and Salem. His most recent big screen credit is an episode of the anthology film Nightmare Cinema. He’s currently consulting producer on the Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation hit, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.
Joe is also the frequent co-host of Trailers From Hell’s official podcast, The Movies That Made Me, available everywhere podcasts are streamed and downloaded!