The Glorious Film Career of That Director Ed

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2006)

Ed Wood is neat stuff, especially for those with fond memories of all those low budget monster pictures from the fifties. But, it's not restricted to just those fans; as a movie biography, it's accessible to just about anyone. The bio contains many cases of dramatic license being taken with the real Ed Wood's life and that of Bela Lugosi, but it all fits neatly into place. Their lives were touched by a bit of the fantastic, after all, and this picture emphasizes the idealized versions of events in our memories as much time passes by. Wood (Depp) is a 'never say die' fellow: despite a lack of talent, no money and even bad luck, he manages to persevere through several writing/directing efforts, all the while jumping back into the game when it seems he's played his last card. Just when it seems he's growing despondent and is finished, something galvanizes him to tackle another feature. You can't help but root for the guy. You can't help but laugh along with a studio exec who can't take Wood's work seriously but, at the same time, you want Wood to continue putting out these lame efforts. Hey, at least he's doing it, right?
The viewer really can begin warming up to the picture as Wood begins assembling his 'posse' of actors and production people. Besides Bela (Landau), this includes wrestler Tor (George Steele), stage entertainer Criswell the prognosticator (Jones), strange actor Bunny (Murray) and, later, TV host Vampira. They bond together into a sort of team, even heading out on dark night missions to 'borrow' props from other studios. Though seemingly outcasts from normal society, they're comfortable with themselves; if you aren't, well, that's your problem. I guess that includes Wood's transvestism, which isn't shied away from. Wood's directing techniques, as played by Depp, are flat-out hilarious. I was especially appalled, in a good way, by how he directed Bela & Tor to get through a door. The cast is pretty much perfect. Landau just nails the Bela Lugosi role (he won the supporting actor Oscar), lending much poignancy to the famed actor's twilight years. When Wood gets around to creating his most famous movie, "Plan 9 From Outer Space,"(1959) there is a sense of history being made. Was it about as bad as a movie can get? Yes, but it's still legendary. The audience has a front row seat to witness a legend being created right in front of them.
Filmed in atmospheric black & white, the entire film has a bittersweet taste to it by the time it runs through a brief 'after-history' on the main players. Most of them are deceased by now, of course, and their 'careers' never really improved later. But they all had the pleasure of actually working on a movie set, as a sort of odd family. I felt I'd just seen something irreplaceable - a glimpse into a decade when dreams could be realized on the silver screen, flawed as they were. Very flawed, yes. Well, no one's perfect, are they?