Ed Wood was not a writer, at least not a very good one. Ed Wood was not a director, at least not a very good one. Ed Wood was a movie maker. Whatever his many flaws as a creator, he got movies made, movies bearing his distinctive imprint. As much as many latecomers to the arena of so-bad-it's-good cinema might wish it, you cannot fabricate what Ed Wood brought the screen. A bizarre combination of ambition, intention, and flamboyance his movies are like none made by anyone else. Tim Burton captured that essence in his film titled simply Ed Wood.
Of course, his reputation rests on the epic sci-fi classic Plan 9 from Outer Space, which blended grave robbing with flying saucers. But he made many other movies, not all of them science fiction. The first of his distinctive movies was Glen or Glenda, which showcases the travails of a transvestite in the modern of 1950's. Wood himself was a transvestite and he plays the lead in this strange movie, but very personal movie. Bela Lugosi shows up in a symbolic role.
His next movie was Jailbait which was a crime thriller of sorts. It's remembered now because it was effectively the screen debut of Steve Reeves, the man who would be Hercules (or his clone) in countless sword and sandal epics.
His next movie was return to a favorite area of interest with the science fiction thriller Bride of the Monster (originally titled Bride of the Atom). This time Bela plays a significant role as a mad scientist alongside Tor Johnson as his mute assistant "Lobo".
He followed that up with The Violent Years about teenagers on the rampage, specifically a girl gang which terrorizes the local populace.
And then came Plan 9 from Outer Space, the movie which defined his career, and eventually made Ed Wood famous, just as he'd always wanted to be. Sadly, his fame came too late, and he died broke suffering from too much drink. He'd spent the last years of his career working in pornography or movies which just this side of it. There is one movie called The Sinister Urge which is about pornography if not pornographic itself but I've never seen it. Night of the Ghouls was one me made for almost no money and couldn't get released. (It's the worst of his movies that I've seen.) Orgy of the Dead is a color flick he contributed too but didn't direct. It attempts to capture the Wood charm but is way too cheesy and much too slow.
Burton chooses to leave Wood's story before all that tragedy. We see him, as portrayed by Johnny Depp, as a powerful personality, filled with ambition if not overwhelming talent who has a sensitivity for the offbeat characters who help fill up this world of ours. He was man who didn't fit into the normal world and was attracted to other oddballs who shared his situation. The modern world would label these folks losers, but it's those "losers" that Ed Wood seem to at once understand all too well and to celebrate. It's why his story and his movies have a charm which overcomes their many flaws. Ed Wood's movies showcase the strange, and strange people like them. I like them, so that must say something about me. Tim Burton is a director who seeks out the strange as well and so would be immediately attracted to Ed Wood's story.
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