Ed Wood (1994)

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers (WGA):

Rudolph Grey (book)
Scott Alexander (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Movies were his passion. Women were his inspiration. Angora sweaters were his weakness.

Plot:

The mostly true story of the legendary director of awful movies and his strange group of friends and actors.

Plot Keywords:

Director | Friend | Transvestism | Friendship | Film Within A Film

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 19 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

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
Norman Alden	...	Cameraman Bill
Leonard Termo	...	Makeup Man Harry
Ned Bellamy	...	Dr. Tom Mason
Danny Dayton	...	Soundman
Ross Manarchy	...	Camera Assistant (as John Ross)
Bill Cusack	...	Tony McCoy
Aaron Nelms	...	Teenage Kid
Biff Yeager	...	Rude Boss
Joseph R. Gannascoli	...	Security Guard
Carmen Filpi	...	Old Crusty Man
Lisa Malkiewicz	...	Secretary #1
Melora Walters	...	Secretary #2
Conrad Brooks	...	Bartender
Don Amendolia	...	Salesman
Tommy Bertelsen	...	Tough Boy
Reid Cruickshanks	...	Stage Guard
Stanley DeSantis	...	Mr. Feldman (as Stanley Desantis)
Lionel Decker	...	Executive #1
Edmund L. Shaff	...	Executive #2
Gene LeBell	...	Ring Announcer
Jesse Hernandez	...	Wrestling Opponent
Bobby Slayton	...	TV Show Host
Gretchen Becker	...	TV Host's Assistant
John Rice	...	Conservative Man
Catherine Butterfield	...	Conservative Wife
Mary Portser	...	Backer's Wife
King Cotton	...	Hick Backer
Don Hood	...	Southern Backer
Frank Echols	...	Doorman
Matthew Barry	...	Valet
Ralph Monaco	...	Waiter
Anthony Russell	...	Busboy
Tommy Bush	...	Stage Manager
Gregory Walcott	...	Potential Backer
Charles C. Stevenson Jr.	...	Another Backer
Rance Howard	...	Old Man McCoy
Vasek Simek	...	Professor Strowski (as Vasek C. Simek)
Alan Martin	...	Vampira's Assistant
Salwa Ali	...	Vampira's Girlfriend
Rodney Kizziah	...	Vampira's Friend
Korla Pandit	...	Indian Musician
Hannah Eckstein	...	Greta Johnson
Luc De Schepper	...	Karl Johnson
Vinny Argiro	...	TV Horror Show Director
Patti Tippo	...	Nurse
Ray Baker	...	Doctor
Louis Lombardi	...	Rental House Manager
Jim Boyce	...	Theatre Manager (as James Reid Boyce)
Ben Ryan Ganger	...	Angry Kid
Ryan Holihan	...	Frantic Usher
Marc Revivo	...	High School Punk
Charlie Holliday	...	Tourist
Adam Drescher	...	Photographer #1
Ric Mancini	...	Photographer #2
Daniel Riordan	...	Pilot / Strapping Young Man
Mickey Cottrell	...	Hammy Alien
Christopher George Simpson	...	Organist
Robert Binford	...	Choir Member
Herbert Boche	...	Choir Member
Linda Rae Brienza	...	Choir Member
Marlene Cook	...	Choir Member
Sylvia Coussa	...	Choir Member
Audrey Cuyler	...	Choir Member
Joseph Golightly	...	Choir Member
Carrie Starner Hummel	...	Choir Member
Ramona Kemp-Blair	...	Choir Member
Carolyn Kessinger	...	Choir Member
Nancy Longyear	...	Choir Member
Matthew Nelson	...	Choir Member
Robert Nuffer	...	Choir Member
William Michael Short	...	Choir Member
Susan Eileen Simpson	...	Choir Member
George F. Sterne	...	Choir Member
Charles Alan Stephenson	...	Choir Member
Cheri A. Williams	...	Choir Member
Cynthia Ann Wilson	...	Choir Member
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Anderson	...	Wrestling Referee (uncredited)
Mike Breyer	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Ryal Haakenson	...	Wedding Guest / Theatre Goer (uncredited)
Zachary Keats	...	Trick-or-Treating Kid (uncredited)
Susan Knego	...	Girl in Theater Lobby (uncredited)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Orson Welles (voice) (uncredited)
Ada Tai	...	Vampira's Friend (uncredited)
Arlene Tai	...	Vampira's Friend (uncredited)
Rayder Woods	...	Car Vandal (uncredited)

Directed by
Tim Burton

Writing credits (WGA)
Rudolph Grey		(book "Nightmare of Ecstasy")
Scott Alexander		(written by) &
Larry Karaszewski		(written by)

Produced by
Tim Burton	....	producer
Denise Di Novi	....	producer
Michael Flynn	....	co-producer
Michael Lehmann	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Howard Shore

Cinematography by
Stefan Czapsky

Film Editing by
Chris Lebenzon

Casting by
Victoria Thomas

Production Design by
Tom Duffield

Art Direction by
Okowita

Set Decoration by
Cricket Rowland

Costume Design by
Colleen Atwood

Makeup Department
Carrie Angland	....	makeup artist
Rick Baker	....	makeup creator: Bela Lugosi
Rick Baker	....	makeup designer: Bela Lugosi
Bridget Cook	....	hair stylist
Jim Leonard	....	makeup artist: Bela Lugosi
Lucia Mace	....	hair stylist
Jim McLoughlin	....	makeup artist: Bela Lugosi
Ve Neill	....	key makeup artist
Matt Rose	....	makeup artist: Bela Lugosi
Yolanda Toussieng	....	key hair stylist
Rob Hinderstein	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Rick Stratton	....	makeup artist: Martin Landau (uncredited)

Production Management
Michael Polaire	....	unit production manager
David Gaines	....	post-production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael McCue	....	second second assistant director
Gregory Kent Simmons	....	second assistant director
Mike Topoozian	....	first assistant director (as Michael Topoozian)
Rosemarie Unite	....	dga trainee

Art Department
Beth Bernstein	....	art department coordinator
James Carson	....	illustrator
Allison M. Davies	....	art department researcher
Emily Ferry	....	property master
Otniel Gonzalez	....	assistant props (as Otneil Gonzalez)
Bruce Robert Hill	....	set designer (as Bruce Hill)
Chuck McSorley	....	lead man
Roger Meryett	....	construction foreman
Keith Neely	....	assistant art director
Christopher S. Nushawg	....	set designer (as Chris Nushawg)
Jeryd Pojawa	....	model production designer
Erik Polczwartek	....	on-set dresser
Lee Runnels	....	greensman
John H. Samson	....	construction coordinator (as John Samson)
Stephanie Schwartzman	....	assistant to production designer
Jane Ann Stewart	....	art department associate
Joy Taylor	....	assistant property master
Sharon E. Alshams	....	set designer (uncredited)
Thomas Betts	....	set designer (uncredited)
Don Elliott	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Roy Knyrim	....	property maker: Octopus (uncredited)
Carol Lavoie	....	set designer (uncredited)
Karl J. Martin	....	set designer (uncredited)
Kris Nagle	....	welder foreman (uncredited)
David Ronan	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Stella Vaccaro	....	set designer (uncredited)
Ron Yates	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Franklin Bergad	....	assistant sound editor (as David Bergad)
Joan E. Chapman	....	dialogue editor
Lisa Chino	....	assistant sound editor
Kyrsten Mate Comoglio	....	assistant sound editor
Jeff Courtie	....	adr mixer
Patrick Dodd	....	dialogue editor
Richard Duarte	....	foley recording engineer
Ernie Fosselius	....	sound effects editor
Samuel H. Hinckley	....	sound effects editor (as Sam Hinkley)
Mildred Iatrou	....	assistant sound editor
Scott Levitin	....	dialogue editor
Linda Lew	....	foley recording engineer
Dave Luke	....	additional sound recordist
Kenneth C. Mantlo	....	boom operator (as Ken Mantlo)
Jennifer Myers	....	foley artist
John Nutt	....	supervising sound editor
Margie O'Malley	....	foley artist
David Parker	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard Quinn	....	assistant sound editor
Brian Ruberg	....	adr mixer
Todd Russell	....	cable person
Rich Schirmer	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Richard Schirmer)
Michael Semanick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Edward Tise	....	production sound
Mary Works	....	assistant sound editor
Paul J. Zydel	....	adr mixer (as Paul Zydel)
Philip Rogers	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Howard Jensen	....	special effects coordinator
Kevin Pike	....	special effects (as J. Kevin Pike)
Carol Koch	....	cosmetic finisher (uncredited)
Jerry Macaluso	....	additional effects: octopus (uncredited)
Paul Salamoff	....	puppet fabricator (uncredited)
Dan Statler	....	special effects crew (uncredited)
Mark Villalobos	....	stop motion animator (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Allen Blaisdell	....	visual effects photography (as Alan Blaisdale)
Paul Boyington	....	visual effects supervisor
Joshua Culp	....	key model builder
Richard Hoover	....	visual consultant
Evan Jacobs	....	key model builder
John Graves	....	motion control camera (uncredited)
Michael Karp	....	motion control operator (uncredited)
Jim Livolsi	....	visual effects executive producer (uncredited)
Eric Swenson	....	miniature unit director of photography (uncredited)

Stunts
John Branagan	....	stunt coordinator
Bobby Burns	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tony Cecere	....	stunts (uncredited)
Michael Haynes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Denney Pierce	....	stunts (uncredited)
Lynn Salvatori	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Carr-Forster	....	camera operator (as Phil Carr-Forster)
John F. Cassidy	....	key grip
Kenny Davis	....	dolly grip
Steve Givens	....	best boy electric
Tom Keefer	....	best boy grip
Dennis J. Lootens	....	rigging gaffer (as Dennis Lootens)
Barry T. Lopez	....	rigging grip
Lydia Smith	....	camera loader
Mark Streapy	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Eric Tramp	....	first assistant camera
John Vecchio	....	gaffer
Michael Alexonis	....	grip (uncredited)
Richard Kelley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Pat O'Mara	....	grip (uncredited)
Larissa Supplitt	....	additional film loader (uncredited)

Animation Department
Kent Burton	....	animator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Matthew Barry	....	casting assistant
Bill Dance	....	extras casting
Jeanne McCarthy	....	casting assistant
Tammy L. Smith	....	extras casting (as Tammy Smith)
Kate Kennedy	....	casting associate (uncredited)
Bruce Winant	....	adr voice casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Stephanie Colin	....	costumer
Nancy McArdle	....	costume department supervisor
Michelle Skoby	....	assistant to costume designer
Kenn Smiley	....	costume supervisor: men
Philip Maldonado	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Clark Campbell	....	apprentice editor
Andrea Canovas	....	apprentice editor
Pam Di Fede	....	assistant editor
Victoria Jensen	....	apprentice editor
Sandra Kaufman	....	assistant editor
Tom Seid	....	additional editor

Music Department
Keith Grant	....	score mixer
Lydia Kavina	....	musician: theremin solos (as Lidia Kavina)
John Kurlander	....	music scoring mixer
Andy Narell	....	musician: Latin keyboard
Ellen Segal	....	music editor
Howard Shore	....	orchestrator
John Moses	....	musician: clarinet (uncredited)
Angie Rubin	....	assistant music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Pat Carman	....	transportation coordinator
Hal Lary	....	transportation captain
Tim Abbatoye	....	transportation co-captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Josephine Matthew Adair	....	location assistant
Kerry Bailey	....	production assistant
Lisa M. Bock	....	production assistant (as Lisa Bock)
Angie Bonner	....	production assistant (as Angela Bonner)
Paul Boyington	....	title designer: main titles
Irene Brafstein	....	studio teacher
Francie Brown	....	dialect coach
Bruce Corkham	....	assistant: Johnny Depp (as Bruce Corkam)
Robert Dawson	....	title designer: main titles
Don Donigi	....	laboratory consultant
Jessica Drake	....	dialect coach
Shari B. Ellis	....	production assistant
Dina Farnell	....	production assistant (as Dina Brendlinger)
Vic Fraser	....	head music copyist
Gary Gillingham	....	production accountant
Lawrence Grassedonio	....	production assistant
Jane Harrison	....	first assistant accountant
John J. Hermansen	....	production assistant
Al Hobbs	....	production assistant
Amy Hobby	....	assistant to producers
Julie Laprath	....	second assistant accountant
Ed Lippman	....	location assistant
Liz Matthews	....	location manager (as Elizabeth Matthews)
Susan P. McCarthy	....	production coordinator
Rob Meisenholder	....	payroll accountant
Scott Mislan	....	key production assistant
Diana Leigh Myers	....	location manager
Peter Tully Owen	....	production assistant
P.J. Pettiette	....	production assistant (as Philip J. Pettiette)
Cosmo Segurson	....	production assistant (as Mark Segurson)
Susan Steinlauf-Pascal	....	unit publicist (as Susan Steinlauf)
Janna Stern	....	script supervisor
Wesley Terry	....	production assistant
Tammy Wood	....	assistant production coordinator
Hilary Adahms	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Stephen Bracken	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Kay Lyn Byrne	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Christian Clarke	....	set production assistant (uncredited)
Tim Fassino	....	car expert (uncredited)
Jack E. Herman	....	extras set coordinator (uncredited)
Erica Kissack	....	contact lens technician (uncredited)
David H. Kramer	....	adr loop group (uncredited)
Cynthia Millar	....	ondes martenot solos performer (uncredited)

Thanks
Paul Marco	....	special thanks
Walter P. Scharfe	....	special thanks: Brown Derby Restaurant
Kathy Wood	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Touchstone Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista Pictures (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
• Falcon (1995) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Touchstone Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Buena Vista International (Sweden) (1995) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (1995) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Buena Vista Filmes. do Brasil (1994) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Laurenfilm (????) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (1996) (Germany) (video)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (special edition)
• Buena Vista Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Gativideo (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Touchstone Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Boyington Film Productions (special visual effects)

Other Companies

• Air Studios  score recording
• Bill Dance Casting  extras casting
• Boyington Film Productions  motion control photography
• Cinema Research  main title composites (as Cinema Research Corporation)
• Deluxe Catering  catering (as Deluxe Caterers)
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Fantasy Studios  music recorded at (uncredited)
• Hollywood Records  soundtrack released by
• J.G. Films  negative cutting (as J.G. Films)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra  score performed by
• National Edison Recording Studio  music recorded at (uncredited)
• Reel Effects  opticals
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  post-production sound facilities
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  post-production sound re-recording
• Sota Effects  octopus
• The Creek Music studios - Sunbury, England  music mixed at

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong language.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Israel:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Norway:11

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The character of Bela Lugosi continually puts down Boris Karloff and the Frankenstein monster, then later laments that he turned down the role of the monster himself. In reality, Lugosi did play the monster (years after Karloff), in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). Incidentally, he also played the role of Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939) against Karloff's final portrayal as the monster.

Goofs:

Continuity: During both scenes where Ed Wood is resting on the bench at the sanitarium, the same car drives down the street as seen through the window in the back.

Quotes:

[Bela Lugosi answers the door on Halloween night wearing his Dracula costume]
Children: Trick or treat!
[At the sight of Dracula, all but one little boy scream and run away]
Bela Lugosi: Aren't you scared, little boy? I'm going to drink your blood!
Little boy: You're not a real vampire. Those teeth don't frighten me.
[Bela looks puzzled. Ed Wood appears next to him in the doorway]
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: How 'bout these?
[Pulls out his entire row of front teeth]
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: [Little boy screams and runs away]
Bela Lugosi: Hey... How d'you do that?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

DESOLATE VILLAGE

More than merely a biography, or an homage

I am a Johnny Depp fan, and this film only reinforced my enjoyment of his genuine talent. He's whatcha call a real actor. He's on record ("Inside the Actor's Studio" & elsewhere) as saying that his characterization of Wood was a mixture of "the blind optimism of Ronald Reagan, the enthusiasm of the Tin Man from 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) and Casey Kasem." Well, I must add that either he left out channeling Jon Lovitz or that's where Lovitz got his inspiration, too. It is at moments positively eerie how well it works, and without feeling like Depp stole Lovitz's act--his overall character is so much more, so much else, that the Lovitz echo becomes a small part of a larger coherent whole, although it never disappears entirely.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette as the principal women in Wood's life are each endearing and effective in their own separate ways. Bill Murray is fun as always, and the secondary and bit players are very well cast.

Martin Landau . . . well . . . Martin Landau simply left me awestruck. Depp is all over the screen doin' his best wacky movie guy and chewing the scenery, Parker, Arquette, Murray, and the rest are obviously having a real fun time backing him up, and Martin Landau is shuffling around in the foreground muttering in Romanian and writing a book called "How to Steal a Movie." Mind boggling performance, and absolutely deserving every award it got him in 1995, which included a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Awards, and the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. (Incidentally, his daughter Juliet, better known to millions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans as the vampire Drusilla, is one of the supporting players.)

If I weren't already a Tim Burton fan this movie would have made me one. He here makes an almost perfectly crafted period piece (anachronisms noted--see the "goofs" page--and dismissed), half cheesy fake scifi B movie and half period noir thriller, as a cinematic biography about the quintessential cheesy fake noir scifi thriller B movie guy. This film goes beyond pastiche, and beyond homage to a genre, although it is both. With this film Burton genuflects--no, prostrates himself--before the gods of 1950s low-budget black and white, and the gods are pleased indeed. It seems like he must have watched every movie made in America for under a million dollars between 1948 and 1962. I lost count of the echoes and parodies and pastiches and mini-homages that fill, I think, every darn frame of the movie, and which by no means are mostly of Wood and his work.

As with, I think, every movie biography, there's the odd gratuitous fact changing (see the "goofs" page again)--you know, the "Why'd they do that when the truth wouldn't make any difference?" kind of stuff, and as glowing as this review obviously is I must also say that it is in some ways an imperfect film--it glosses over Wood's later career, for example. But it it so obviously a labor of love and joy for all involved that in my opinion its imperfections are inconsequential. Ed Wood stands proudly, with that slightly odd gleam in its eye, with the best movie biographies made.