Ed Wood (1994)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

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 | Sex Change

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	....	supervising 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
Cynthia Millar	....	ondes martenot solos performer
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)

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
• Hollywood Records  soundtrack released by
• J.G. Films  negative cutting (as J.G. Films)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra  score performed by
• Reel Effects  opticals
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  post-production sound facilities
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  post-production sound re-recording
• Sota Effects  octopus

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:

Johnny Depp has said that his characterization of Edward D. Wood Jr. 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."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Ed Wood first meets Bela Lugosi they are shown in a convertible and as they are driving you can see very modern, steel high tension utility poles along with mercury vapor street lamps that were not in common usage until at least the late 1960s.

Quotes:

[making up the bald Dr. Tom to look like Bela Lugosi]
Makeup Man Harry: Ed, what am I gonna do here.
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: What do you mean?
Makeup Man Harry: He has no hair.
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Gee, I never noticed that. Put a wig on him!

Movie Connections:

References Test Tube Babies (1948)

Soundtrack:

DESOLATE VILLAGE

The one he'll be remembered for

It's sort of embarrassing to admit it took me ten years to see this film. I'm not really a big fan of Tim Burton, and while I never had anything against him, I've only recently started to enjoy Johnny Depp's work. Given the subject matter, this just wasn't a movie I was interested in for a long time. But sometimes good things really are worth the wait.

Ed Wood, of course, chronicles the Hollywood career of its eponymous subject, truly one screwed up individual; a cross-dresser with a fetish for angora, Wood churned out one horrifically bad film after another, culminating with Plan Nine From Outer Space, before descending into crappy porn films toward the end of his life. It isn't necessarily a happy story, and Burton wisely only tells a small sliver of it, from Ed's first movie, Glen or Glenda, through the premiere of Plan Nine.

But the love that Burton has for Wood and his movies shines through in every frame. Though I find Burton needlessly artsy as a director, here that tendency serves him frightfully well, as he manages to do the near-impossible; make a film about someone that plays like one of their films (the abysmal Dragon is a shining example of how NOT to do this). Shot entirely in black and white, we see all of Wood's weirdos not as they were, but rather as Ed probably saw them, through the bizarre filter he must have viewed life with.

Depp is simply brilliant here, probably even better than he was in Pirates of the Caribbean. He captures Wood's enthusiasm and slanted viewpoint, but he does so in a loving, positive way. Wood accepts, as we must, that he was a screwed-up hack, but it never drags him down; in fact, Depp has him reveling in it, and it is that very passion that buoys up the movie. It doesn't hurt that nearly everyone else is very strong too, from Jeffrey Jones' crank 'psychic' Criswell to Bill Murray's Bunny Breckenridge, who often talks about having a sex change but never goes through with it. George 'The Animal' Steele captures Tor Johnson perfectly, and even Lisa Marie is excellent as Vampira. But the true great performance of the film, outshining even Depp, is Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. He won the Oscar for this, and deservedly so; he presents Lugosi at the end of his life, a washed-up has been, a shell of a man who was once a great star but is now no more than an addict. Landau virtually disappears in the role, and all you get is Lugosi, every tragic inch of him. Again, we see him not only as he was, but how Wood and even Burton see him, and the effect is masterful. One speech in particular, where Lugosi repeats a speech that Wood wrote for him about once being the master of the world but now on the verge of coming back is particularly haunting, and Landau is simply riveting.

Ed Wood is a rare beast – it's a Tim Burton film that doesn't go overboard, it's a movie about Hollywood (sort of) that isn't self-indulgent, it's a nostalgia trip that manages not to be sappy but is still very warm and caring, and overall it's just a strikingly well-done film. I was impressed on many levels, most particularly with Depp and Landau, but really with the whole movie, that such a truly screwed-up human being could be shown in such a positive, indeed, loving way. Ed Wood is nothing less than a tribute to its subject, and in that, as in many other ways, it succeeds marvelously. If somehow you've missed this film, as I had until recently, you owe it to yourself to see it. It's simply a wonderful piece of film-making that should not be missed.