Ed Wood (1994)

Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams, despite his lack of talent.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Rudolph Grey (book), Scott Alexander

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker

Won 2 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	Ed Wood
Martin Landau	...	Bela Lugosi
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Dolores Fuller
Patricia Arquette	...	Kathy O'Hara
Jeffrey Jones	...	Criswell
G.D. Spradlin	...	Reverend Lemon
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Orson Welles
Bill Murray	...	Bunny Breckinridge
Mike Starr	...	Georgie Weiss
Max Casella	...	Paul Marco
Brent Hinkley	...	Conrad Brooks
Lisa Marie	...	Vampira
George 'The Animal' Steele	...	Tor Johnson
Juliet Landau	...	Loretta King
Clive Rosengren	...	Ed Reynolds

Storyline

Because of his eccentric habits and bafflingly strange films, director Edward D. Wood Jr. is a Hollywood outcast. Nevertheless, with the help of the formerly famous Bela Lugosi and a devoted cast and crew of show-business misfits who believe in Ed's off-kilter vision, the filmmaker is able to bring his oversize dreams to cinematic life. Despite a lack of critical or commercial success, Ed and his friends manage to create an oddly endearing series of extremely low-budget films.

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Plot Keywords:

director | film director | misfit | friend | hollywood | 

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Taglines:

When it came to making bad movies, Ed Wood was the best.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a scene with Wood and Dolores, the camera angle showing the ceiling, is similar to a scene in Citizen Kane (1941). In the very next scene, Wood stands in front of a poster for the same film.

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Goofs

Ed and Bela are watching a 1958-1960 Philco Predicta television, made at least four years later. It then changes to a mid-50s Packard-Bell television.

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Quotes

[Bela, in his Dracula costume, hears the doorbell on Halloween night]
Bela Lugosi: Children! I love children.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, Johnny Depp's name appears in capital letters, followed by the title - both of them alternating in black and white, as though being illuminated by lightning - and the rest of the main cast are credited on tombstones. Supporting cast and crew names appear in white against dark, rainy sets featuring meant-to-look-low-budget effects such as a giant tentacle and flying saucers in outer space.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Glen or Glenda (2017)

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Soundtracks

Desolate Village
Written by Bruce Campbell

User Reviews

Sock Puppet

If a life in film is a a relationship with a being, then this is the shoes. They're handy, and only seem necessary when not dreaming.

But they're not what gets you anywhere.

I consider this Tim Burton's best film. That stop animation thing was more successful, but its too artificially goofy. This is more real and the idea is to straddle the line between homage and distanced observation. Its the only one that I think works, though "PeeWee" comes close. But that's because that whole movie is in its tone. Here, the movie is centered in the beings involved and how they relate to the films they are making, which of course happens to be the same relationship the characters and actors have with the movie we are watching.

Its because it is a real movie, with arcs, three acts, and an end that works. Burton isn't so picky about these things in his other projects and none has all three.

I wonder why no one holds him to this value, of building a film from the inside out. He needs someone to guide him away from merely starting with tone, and Elfman honks.

There are two folds here. The first is obvious, a self-described quirky filmmaker making a film with wit about an unintentionally quirky filmmaker making what he sees as serious films. The second is the "Shadow of the Vampire" bit about Landau's Lugosi. Its something of a wholly separate thread, handled with a different tone in all dimensions.

Meaningful narrative needs tension, and I am increasingly convinced that in cinema that requires two different whole personalities. It seems better if those wholenesses have their own cinematic space, as it is here.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ed Wood

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$71,566, 2 October 1994

Gross USA:

$5,887,457

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,887,457

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1