Recovered Classic: Ed Wood


Once voted the worst director of all time, it’s ironic, yet somehow rather inevitable, that Ed Wood’s disastrous career should make for such a fascinating and enjoyable movie. Wood, you see, was such a unique individual and his films were so legendary in their awfulness that in many ways, his story had long been crying out for the big screen treatment. The only question was, who could possibly do justice to such an outrageous true-life story? Whose vision could capture the essence of a war veteran who liked to dress in women’s clothes, who went on to make some of the worst films ever and whose blind, boundless enthusiasm refused to let anything as petty as no talent, no money or a dead star get in the way of finishing a movie?

In the hands of lesser mortals, the project could have been a disaster on a par with one of Wood’s own Z-grade flops. But mercifully, the man charged with telling Edward D. Wood Jr’s extraordinary story was kindred spirit Tim Burton, the only director born for the job. A dazzling visionary who seems to have an uncanny affinity with on-screen freaks, Burton could easily have made a mockery of Wood’s career, lifestyle and monumentally naff films. But this is no send-up, no exploitation of an easy target. Instead, Burton has crafted a sympathetic and affectionate portrayal of a man he presents as a wide-eyed innocent, a relentless opportunist who simply refuses to let setbacks get him down and who is gloriously oblivious of his own shortcomings.
Casting of the lead role for such a challenging project was as crucial as the choice of director and by employing Johnny Depp, Burton recreated the dream team which gave us Edward Scissorhands, another endearing tale with a freakish main character. Depp’s performance is as joyous as it’s hilarious, brilliantly capturing Wood’s eternal optimism and perfectly nailing the character of a man who improvised spectacularly and who was always more comfortable and relaxed when he felt the soothing touch of angora against his skin.

Yet even the magnificent Depp is outdone by the beleaguered dignity of Martin Landau, whose stunning performance as the washed up and drug addicted Bela Lugosi deservedly won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It’s this father-son relationship between Wood and Lugosi which provides the movie with its emotional core and in many ways the two men need (even exploit) each other, Wood to get his films made and Lugosi to fund his next fix.

There is, however, an awful lot more to cherish and admire in Burton’s wonderful homage, which is not strictly a biopic, as it glosses over Wood’s early years, his late descent into alcoholism and his sad decline into porn movies, concentrating instead on the director’s 1950s output, when he churned out a barrage of celluloid trash (Glen Or Glenda, Jail Bait, Bride of the Monster), most of it within the space of a few days with a virtually non-existent budget. So as well as being given an insight into his guerrilla filmmaking tactics (shooting without a permit and running away from the cops, stealing essential props), we also witness his complete lack of principles, being quite happy to bow to the demands of potential backers and hand out roles to all and sundry, as long as the camera keeps rolling. As Depp says himself at one point: “The movie’s getting made, that’s all that matters.” The whole cast and crew even get baptised in order to secure funding for all-time classic turkey Plan 9 From Outer Space, a film which prompts a glowing Depp to prophetically announce: “This is the one I’ll be remembered for.”

Atmospherically shot in black and white, Burton’s movie is so magical because it makes Wood and his bunch of misfits so appealing. This is achieved through a succession of memorable scenes (Landau wrestling a giant rubber octopus during a night shoot, Depp revealing that he’s a transvestite to girlfriend Sarah Jessica Parker, the film’s only truly sane character), with the main players being ably supported throughout by a great supporting cast which includes Bill Murray (Bunny Breckinridge), Lisa Marie (Vampira), Jeffrey Jones (Criswell) and Patricia Arquette as Wood’s second wife, Kathy, the only person who really seemed to understand him. There’s also a brief appearance by Vincent D’Onofrio as Orson Welles, Wood’s idol, whom he meets in a fictional final reel scene when both men swap hard luck stories.

As a director, Wood was ignored in life and mocked in death, but Burton’s film sparked something of a resurgence in interest in his work. He may have been talentless and his films may have been inexplicably bad, but in Burton’s hands, he’s a loveable eccentric, a charismatic dreamer who failed miserably yet never lost hope and who finally achieved the notoriety he craved, only not quite in the way he might have imagined.

David Lichtneker

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