Ed Wood (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #34

"They're driving me crazy. These Baptists are stupid, stupid, stupid!"

This film was made in 1994, but I didn't see it until at least 10 years later. I even remember a friend in Ludwigsburg telling me she was going to see it in the cinema with a few friends and asking me if I wanted to join her. I said No. It's possible that I didn't even know who Ed Wood was at that time. It's significant that the first film I ever bought on VHS tape was "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

As I've often said, I have a weakness for films based on true stories. I'm biased towards them, so I give them higher ratings than they deserve. In fact, maybe I should do a true story month later this year. That would be fun. Do I have 30 true stories on film? I'm not sure. I need to sit down and check.

Ed Wood was voted the worst director of all time, and "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was voted the worst film ever made. That puzzles me. I've seen five of his films, and they're all entertaining. It's true that they have poor quality special effects and ridiculous plots, but they're never boring. For me, a boring film is a bad film. Look at my alphabetical list of posts and you'll find a few films that I gave a one star rating. "Jupiter Ascending" is an awful film, despite the millions of dollars poured into it. "Plan 9 from Outer Space" cost $60,000 and it's a wonderful film.

Nevertheless, the worst director and worst film awards have been useful. They've given Ed Wood a notoriety that he would never otherwise have had. If a film is called the worst film ever made, people have to see it. This biopic would never have been made if Ed Wood had only been considered average.

The film deals with themes that are relevant today. Ed Wood was a transvestite. John "Bunny" Breckinridge (played by Bill Murray) was a transgender. All his life he wanted an operation to "become a woman", but he never had enough money.

Ed Wood, Bunny Breckinridge and the other actors who appear in "Plan 9 from Outer Space" are baptised. It wasn't until later that the Baptists discovered that Ed was a transvestite. What a terrible sin! They would never have baptised him if they'd known.

Martin Landau won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi. Bela wasn't baptised, because he was already dead.

Martin Landau's daughter Juliet also appears in the film as the actress Loretta King. She wasn't baptised either. Only the cast of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was baptised. Loretta had no contact with Ed Wood after appearing in "Bride of the Monster".

Success Rate:  - 3.1

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