WEBVTT - Ed Wood I 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.719 For a time. We tried to contact him by radio, 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:08.200 but no response. Then they attacked a town, a small town, 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.440 I'll admit, but nevertheless a town of people, people who died. 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.720 Ephemeralist production of My Heart three D A for full 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:28.280 exposure Listen was that phones. Every so often an artist 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.880 comes along who challenges the core tenets of their medium, 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.360 raising questions like is there such a thing as objective 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.320 quality in art? What makes something good art or bad are? 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:45.000 And who's to tell the difference. One such figure was 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.080 director Edward D. Wood Jr. A legend of genre films 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:52.640 from the nineteen fifties and sixties. Some would say he's 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.160 the worst director of all time. Others might label Edward 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.000 as a groundbreaking visionary who did things no other Hollywood 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.320 contemporary could do. Some are still not sure what to 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:08.440 think today. Ephemeral producer Trevor Young takes us on a 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.560 journey through Woods filmography and wades into the decades old 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:21.240 debate on the director's unique output. It was the year 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.840 nineteen Hollywood filmmaking was at an all time high, with 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.880 releases that year including The Shining I Said I'm not 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.840 gonna hurt you, I'm just gonna bash your brains and 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:40.880 star wars. The Empire strikes back equally you I am 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.720 your father. But despite the recent abundance of fantastic cinema, 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.280 film critic brothers Harry and Michael Medved decided they would 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.960 highlight something else, the worst of the worst in film. 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:57.000 So that year the Medved brothers published a book called 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:01.440 the Golden Turkey Awards, featuring winners for categories like worst 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.400 performance by a politician, Well you can't you tell me 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:08.720 here now, or I'll drag you up before the Senate 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:13.360 and you'll tell me there. And most embarrassing movie debut. 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:17.440 How could you a Roman magistrate believe that perjurer? A 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:22.080 sniveling little toady look at him fawning on Linus, waiting 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:27.200 for his reward. The worst director was Edward D. Wood Jr. 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.359 And the worst film was Wood's nineteen fifty nine sci 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:35.120 fi film Plan nine from Outer Space. Greetings, my friend, 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.400 we are all interested in the future, for that is 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.840 where you and I are going to spend the rest 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:45.519 of our lives. And remember, my friend, utual events such 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:50.760 as the will affect you in the future. But despite 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.760 being labeled as the worst director and having the worst film, 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:58.760 of all time. Edwood is insanely popular even today. His 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.720 films are still played in theaters around the country and 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:05.919 they appear regularly on TV. Tim Burton directed a biopick 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:11.480 about would aptly called ed Wood, starring Johnny Depp. Well, 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.520 Mr Wise, look no further. I'm your man. I worked fast, 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:17.440 and I'm a deal. I write and direct and I'm good. 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.040 I just did a play in Hollywood, and Victor Crowley 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.519 himself praised its realism. And on the Internet you'll find 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.760 legions of Wood fans dedicated to talking about his work 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:35.280 or collecting Edward. I myself find his work inspirational because 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:39.520 he did so much with so little. He had so 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:43.840 many things against him, but he was able to create 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:48.200 films that tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:52.280 people saw in their initial release, not even counting the 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:57.960 revival of them later. So he's a figure whose work entertains, 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:02.600 who's worked, his thought provoked in and who inspires people 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:07.160 to create today. What more could you ask for for 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:12.200 a legacy? My name is Bill Shoot, poet and professor 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:16.200 of English at San Antonio College, and I wrote the 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.320 introduction to the new book by Edward Jr. When the 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:24.760 topic is sex. A five hundred forty five page collection 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:30.880 of Woods non fiction articles for nineteen seventies adult magazines 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:36.799 published by Bear Manner Media. As you can tell Bill 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:43.160 Adores Edwood. I discovered edwoods work in the late sixties 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:48.840 or early nineteen seventies as a child, watching low budget 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:54.760 films and horror films on UHF television and independent TV stations. 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:59.400 The films I saw on television prior to any Edward 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.320 revival were, of course, Bride of the Monster and Plan 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.720 nine from Outer Space, and I certainly knew that those 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.240 were unique works. I probably saw them at least a 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:14.640 half dozen times on television, So when Edwards started getting 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.200 attention in the late seventies, I was very excited to 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:23.119 see more of his films and to learn more about him. 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:26.440 Bill sites those two films, Bright of the Monster and 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:30.279 Plan nine from Outer Space as his favorites by Edwood. 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:36.200 In Plan Nine, there was just something special, almost dream 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.360 like about that film. It puts you almost in an 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:44.840 alternate state of consciousness. People turning south in the freeway 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.800 were startled when they saw three flying saucers high over 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:56.080 Hollywood Boulevard. Bride of the Monster was a more conventional 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:00.120 film than Plan nine from Outer Space, but that had 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:04.960 some amazing sequences in it. I Haven't No Home like 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:10.480 Bella Legosie's soliloquity where he talks about I have no Home. 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.800 I think that moved me to tears as a child 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:20.400 when I saw that on television living like Animal Jungle, 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:30.040 that I will show the world that I can beat fasta. So, 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:34.279 just from being introduced to those films, I knew Edward D. 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:38.840 Wood Jr. Was someone I wanted to see more of 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:43.960 and no more about. Those are glowing reviews you might 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.400 not expect for someone commonly regarded as the worst director 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.200 of all time. So what's going on here? Who is 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.480 Edward really? And how did the director of low budget 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.479 sci fi films from the nineteen fifties become such a 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:01.480 cult phenomenon. Well, let's start by learning a little bit 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:08.360 about what's background. Well, he was from Poughkeepsie, New York, 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:12.480 which is upstate. After serving in the Marine Corps in 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.200 World War Two, he went to Hollywood, as so many 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:20.960 people did, and he had some background in drama. He'd 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:27.000 written to play Casual Company. Do you believe in ghosts? Tommy? 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:32.480 That's just kiddie spook stories. Once You're dead, stayed dead. 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.120 I don't know Bill on that battlefield today, I saw 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.920 this woman and dressed in white floating above the dunes. 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:44.840 Or maybe it was just fatigue, or maybe it's the 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:50.600 indignities of war, or maybe it's something else. He went 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:55.680 to Hollywood and did sort of day work around the studios, 0:07:56.000 --> 0:08:00.600 and he started a production company in nineteen forty seven 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:06.680 or nine with a man named Crawford John Thomas. They 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:13.280 made a short silent called Crossroads of Laredo, which has survived, 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:17.840 and it looks very much like a low budget sound 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:22.040 western of the early thirties or silent from the late twenties. 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.760 Wood grew up on that kind of thing, and he 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.280 used a lot of supporting players who had been in 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:34.040 little budget independent westerns in his films. Throughout his career, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:38.880 he also made some commercials which are rather novel. He 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:43.600 and Crawford Thomas came up with an idea for doing 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:48.200 little dramatic commercials that did not actually have the name 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:52.440 of the sponsor. Just one thing before you shoot, but yeah, 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:56.800 bury me with my boots on okay tech, Say what 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:00.920 do you get some boots? Mighty fine looking Footwell, why 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.120 I got these at the bus shoe store in town 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:07.600 and had a mighty fair price through Well, bar gone 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:10.800 about putting me down to that shoe store right now. 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:16.319 It would be like an ad for jewelry, and it 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:20.720 would be about a diamond or whatever, and the local 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:24.600 sponsor would cut in their name to this, and now 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.240 we would sail away. Then we will be the only 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.719 ones to know where that fine turns your chest of 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.760 jewelry is buried. One day we'll come back and dig 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:37.719 it up and live like Queen Rye passing Kitty. That 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.360 test is checked full of the most beautiful jewelry in 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.720 all the world. Sure hope that story never runs out 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:48.400 of that fine stuck And he made some other short films, 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.640 and he made some pilots for television, things that were 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:58.000 aired locally. Industrial film work, the usual things that someone 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:02.280 does as they're working their way into the lower wrong 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:07.960 of independent film and genre filmmaking. Tegot the old timer, 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:15.040 I'll get a doctor, I Am for me to. Edward 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:20.640 wrote and co wrote some westerns during this period for Again, 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:24.480 an independent low budget film Cowboy, by the name of 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:30.800 Johnny Carpenter, and Carpenter later appeared in Edward Films. They 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:36.120 had a long relationship. No Timer, I'm not writing. I'm 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.160 going to stay here and find out what's going on 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:43.880 at the Double D ranch. Around this time, Edwood met 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.880 Bella Legosi, known best for his iconic role as Dracula 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:52.800 in the film of the same name. I Am the 0:10:52.960 --> 0:11:06.640 document Listen to Them Children Off the Night what Music named. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:12.360 Legosi was one of Wood's childhood heroes, so Wood befriended 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.200 him and asked Legosi to star in one of his movies. 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.400 At the time, Legosi was older and mostly out of work, 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:23.760 so he agreed, and with Legosi on board, Edward was 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.760 able to secure funding for his first feature film in 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:34.640 nineteen fifty three, Glenn or Glenda Man's Constant Growthing of 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:44.360 Things Unknown, drawing from the endless reaches of time brings 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:54.000 to light many startling things. His first film, Glenn or Glenda, 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:59.959 made for the producer George Weiss. Weiss had previously released 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.760 a film called Test two Babies that he had produced 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.839 the Doctor Wright. Has there been much work done in 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.400 this artificial examination field? I mean, is it just to 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:12.560 be a radical thing or has it been done before? 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.319 A tremendous amount of work has been done an artificial exsemination. 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.640 Mrs Bennett, I'll admit it. Up to the past few years, 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.719 a great majority of it has been done with livestock. 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:27.760 And in a sense, glennar Glenda was mining the same 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:34.640 vein as that. A kind of salacious, exploitative title. And 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:41.719 glennar Glenda was originally conceived as a film about Christine Jorgensen, 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:45.640 who had had a sex change operation and was in 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.599 the news at the time. She did not care to 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:53.040 work with George Weiss on a film, so Edwood and 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:58.520 Weiss came up with the concept of dealing with a 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.559 cross dressing in individual. He dares to enter the street 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.120 dressed in the clothes he so much desires to wear. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.360 Glenn is engaged to be married to Barbara. Glenn's problem 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.160 is a deep one, but he must tell her soon. 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.720 She's begun to notice things. And of course ed Wood 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.360 was a person who dressed in women's clothing in his 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.920 own life. Anyone who has seen the Tim Burton film 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.760 ed Wood is likely familiar with this fact. I like 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.640 to dress in women's clothing your fruit, No, not at all. 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.400 I love women. Wearing their clothes makes me feel closer 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:38.959 to them. No, I'm all man. I even fought in 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.600 w W two. Of course, I was wearing women's undergarments 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:46.160 under my uniform. One of Edward's most interesting quirks was 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:50.400 his subversive and public desire to wear women's clothing what 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:54.040 today we might call drag. Back then, they might have 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:59.920 used the outdated and somewhat derogatory term transvestite. Nature makes mistake. 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.640 It's proven every day. This person is a transvestite, a 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:08.800 man who is more comfortable wearing girls clothes. The term 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.200 transvestite is the name given by medical science to those 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.800 persons who wear the clothing of the opposite sex. Many 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:20.480 a transvestite actually wishes to be the opposite sex. The 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.360 title of this can only be labeled behind locked doors. 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.480 Give this man satin undis, a dress, a sweater and 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.280 a skirt, or even the lounging outfit he has on, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.520 and he's the happiest individual in the world. He can 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.120 work better, think better, he can play better, and he 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.400 can do more of a credit to his community and 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:46.320 his government because he is happy. So he basically wrote 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:49.920 a film that dealt with that, but at the same 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:54.040 time dealt with the sex change element. Because of Christine 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.120 Jordan's a lot of people who see Glenn or Glenn 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.240 to feel that it's kind of schizophrenic in this sense 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:05.240 that cross dressing and sex change are kind of not 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:09.040 the same thing at all. But in a way, the 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:14.480 film really explores gender identity and gender fluidity, which of 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.360 course can't be narrowed down to a couple of simple 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:21.920 terms or a couple of simple categories. But glennar Glendo 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:26.720 was his first feature film as a director, and my opinion, 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.080 if he never made anything else, he would still be 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:36.080 remembered well, just for that film. In the ed Wood fandom, 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.720 there are some interesting theories as to where Ed's cross 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:45.200 dressing originated. So supposedly Ed's mom wanted a girl, and 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.960 as a young kid dressed Ed in girl's clothing. Others 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.360 say that one of his favorite things as a young 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:56.160 child was a soft fur sweater. I don't know if 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.200 it was an Angora sweater, something soft and furry, that 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.960 kind of at that pattern for that fetish for the 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.880 rest of his life, for his fetish Friendora, But that 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.479 was a part of him. My name is Bob Blackburn. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:13.280 I was a friend of Edwards widow Cathy Wood, and 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.320 technically I am one of her airs, which makes me 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:21.760 one of Edwood's heirs. Bob has a ton of insight 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.360 into the personal lives of Ed and Cathy would He 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.520 says that before Kathy, Ed had a girlfriend named to 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:33.200 Lauras Fuller, who actually started Glenna Glenda. Those fingernails have 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.240 got to go, you know, I didn't realize there as 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.600 long as they are. My goodness, they're almost as long 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:44.400 as mine, maybe even prettier. We'll have to paint them 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.160 sometime just for the fun of it. Will trim them, 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:51.240 that's for sure. The two of them fell in love 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.800 and they moved in together, and she actually had a 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:55.840 couple of kids from a previous marriage, so it was 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.280 kind of a messy situation, kind of up until Doris 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:03.840 found out that Ed was wearing her Anglora sweaters. She 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.080 didn't know if that might be gay, might be a pervert. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.679 I mean, in her mind he was a pervert. Therefore 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.520 she just she kicked him out. But then Wood met 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.520 Kathy O'Hara. The night that they actually met and got together, 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.160 she went home with him to his apartment because did 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:22.560 the old you know, hey, you want to see my 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.320 scrap books, And he really did have scrap books of 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:28.320 his films and stuff like that. And she went in 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.200 to use his bathroom and she noticed there was like 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:35.359 women's lingerie hanging off the show art pole, and so 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.000 you know, she thought, oh god, he's got a girlfriend. 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.960 So she comes out and she says, hey, I do 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.080 you have a girlfriend? You know, I kind of don't 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.200 want to get too far along here if I'm gonna 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.560 get in somebody's way. So Ed confided the first night 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:52.560 to Kathy, the first night that they actually met, that 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.720 he liked to sometimes wear a women's clothing. Do you 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.560 if you have a problem with it, well, you know, 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.719 here's your chance to walk out the door and whatever. 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.520 And she thought about it, and here's a woman from 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:10.040 provincial Canada, Vancouver. She'd been a corporate secretary, has seen 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.160 a little bit of the world if you can call 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.000 Canada and Toronto, New York and then l a a 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.639 little bit of the world. And she accepted it, and 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.640 she accepted it for the rest of their time together. 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.920 She wasn't maybe always happy with it, because he kind 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:28.160 of flaunted it from time to time. In the nineteen fifties, 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.240 glennar Glenda raised a lot of questions about Ed's sexuality. 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.440 I asked Bob for his take on the matter and 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.000 to clear it up for us. He was not gay, 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.480 he was not trans. And it's kind of interesting the 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.040 gay community kind of has him as a bit of 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:49.919 an icon. So many of his friends, Paul Marco, Criswell, 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.560 other people, and his circle of friends were gay. Because 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:58.040 he himself was such an outsider, he attracted outsiders who 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.960 knew that he would be a steadfast friend, and he 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.320 had his alter ego named Shirley. Ed wasn't averse to 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:08.879 going out in public as shortly. Cathy told me stories 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.800 that they would go to Hollywood parties where there would 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.800 be some stars all dressed in dragon they'd be talking 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:19.440 about their big, nice long gloves and their first soles, 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:23.520 and you know, the him and their stockings and whatnot. So, 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:27.680 I mean, Eddie was really a pioneer, especially because in 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.800 the fifties in early sixties you could get arrested for 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:34.520 that here in California, in Los Angeles. But by the 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:38.760 mid late sixties it became legal. And he mentions that 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:43.159 in some of these articles about transvestives, and and he'll say, well, 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.879 now that California has legalized it, you'll see a lot 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:49.119 more men being dressed as women walking parading around the 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:53.399 streets of Hollywood, which is what he did. According to 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.240 Bill Shoot, that struggle for acceptance is explored in a 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:02.920 surprisingly well and nuanced way in Under Glenda. One thing 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:07.560 that makes glennar Glenda quite different from the sex exploitation 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.600 films of the late forties and nineteen fifties is that 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:16.159 it doesn't have much of a slee's factor to it, 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:21.640 and the empathy that it has for the subject is unique. 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:27.240 And again, to have the director himself play the lead 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.399 character and do a good portion of the film and 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:37.320 drag himself is an amazing accomplishment. Forty three. I was 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:43.879 put in jail recently. Why because I, a man, was 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:47.600 caught on the street wearing women's clothing. This was my 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:52.640 fourth arrest for the same act. In life, I must 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.760 continue wearing them. Therefore, it would only be a matter 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:00.320 of time until my next rest. This is the only 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:05.840 way let my body rest in death forever, in the 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:22.000 things I cannot wear in life. Why are you taking 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.400 that gun? Why? I might be walking down a dark 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:27.200 street and then robber might jump at me. I want 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:30.280 to be protected. I just paid a thousand dollars bail 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.400 because you carried one of those things tonight were sisters. 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:37.480 I was very sisterly on it. You know that gun 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:43.800 is jail baiting. Edward's next feature film, Jail Bait, was 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:46.719 a little different. Who was about a young man who 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:50.280 gets involved with a dangerous criminal, resulting in a robbery 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.440 gone horribly wrong. I thank you thinking get away with it. 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:59.400 Let us worry about that, but come through tonight man, 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:11.119 I'll be on. Most of edwoods films are the ed 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:16.800 Wood attempt to work in an existing genre, and of 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:20.359 course this would be the crime film. It's certainly a 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:25.560 novel film. The ending of it is unexpected. It's a 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:31.040 strange film in that the soundtrack, the kind of flamenco 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:36.760 guitar and keyboard soundtrack, is kind of off putting. And 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:39.760 also so much of the film is murky and dark 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:43.640 and either shooting at night or looking like it's shot 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:47.159 at night, that it creates a kind of dream like 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:51.120 fuel to it. And it's a unique product. I've probably 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:54.560 watched it fifteen or twenty times over the years, and 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.840 I always find it fascinating. Had I seen that on 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:03.200 a double bill and four or fifty five I would 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:07.960 have thought it was a satisfying and different kind of experience. 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:11.720 I think it definitely succeeded. And while it has a 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.680 lot of the tropes we associate with ed Wood, on 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:20.680 its own it's an interesting, low budget crime film and 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:24.879 it works on that level. Basically, you're as finished as 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.760 a kid is. I wasn't in on your job. I'm 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:29.720 not in trouble. Why should I used to go on 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:33.560 and take what's left? What is left has been with 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:38.680 a gun, has been, baby, I've only just begun. I 0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:40.359 didn't set you up in all this luxury just to 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:42.600 have your walk out on me. I pulled you out 0:23:42.640 --> 0:23:45.240 of that main street dive and made something out of you. No, 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:47.920 you're not gonna walk out on me. Try it nice 0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:51.119 where you'll never walk out on it. And again, so 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:53.800 if they do pick me up, it's only a robbery rap. 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:56.480 I didn't kill that cop. Nobody will know about the 0:23:56.560 --> 0:24:01.240 kid there. Next up was one of bill favorites, Bright 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:06.520 of the Monster. What are you doing to me? We 0:24:06.600 --> 0:24:14.000 would assumed as speak of the giant straight a waity 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:26.240 men like all the others did. That was a film 0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:29.120 that was shown a lot on television when I was Young. 0:24:30.080 --> 0:24:35.000 It's a classic independent, low budget horror film. I think 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:39.320 it's very much rooted in the Bella Legosi Monogram films 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:43.480 of the early forties, and I'm sure Edwood loved those 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:47.000 films because it's very much like them, and it's like 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:52.520 the roles that Legozi played in those films. They were 0:24:52.680 --> 0:24:56.680 like a step above what Edwood was making in terms 0:24:56.720 --> 0:24:59.560 of budget, but they were still very low budget quickie films. 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:03.720 I'm really happy that he had the opportunity to do 0:25:04.119 --> 0:25:09.000 a starring vehicle for Bella Legosi where he could be 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:13.560 at his best. I am I'm not the Eric ornav 0:25:14.840 --> 0:25:18.920 You had a severe How did I get here? Oh 0:25:20.000 --> 0:25:24.160 that's not important for the moment. What you need now 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:30.760 is rest rest. He was clearly a friend and supporter 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:35.880 and fan of Bella Lagosi, and I'm sure it made 0:25:35.960 --> 0:25:40.159 would extremely happy to give him a vehicle where he 0:25:40.280 --> 0:25:43.880 could do his thing. If you look at the trailers 0:25:44.240 --> 0:25:48.520 for that film, whoever wrote the copy refers to Legosi 0:25:48.800 --> 0:25:54.520 as the screens master of the Weird, so he knew 0:25:54.720 --> 0:25:59.200 what a gift he had with Bella Legosi. He created 0:25:59.359 --> 0:26:03.560 a great low budget laboratory and of course all you 0:26:03.680 --> 0:26:07.399 need is, the flashing lights and some beaker's. It was 0:26:07.520 --> 0:26:12.200 a classic mad doctor's laboratory. And of course you had 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:22.160 the amazing Toward Johnson. Toward Johnson was a Swedish wrestler 0:26:22.240 --> 0:26:26.200 and actor who would discovered and befriended. At six ft 0:26:26.280 --> 0:26:30.360 three and over four hundred pounds, Johnson's hulking figure made 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:37.879 him perfect for the monster rules in Woods movies. So 0:26:38.080 --> 0:26:41.040 you had a monster in it, you had a mad 0:26:41.240 --> 0:26:46.440 doctor in it, you had murky lightning, flashing, and all 0:26:46.560 --> 0:26:49.480 the kind of set pieces that you would need for 0:26:49.800 --> 0:26:53.600 a horror film. Now it had some quirky elements to it. 0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:58.960 It also had the earnestness that you see in some 0:26:59.160 --> 0:27:03.240 of the Edward films where he had a message, he 0:27:03.440 --> 0:27:09.440 managed to shoehorn in some of his philosophical gropings into 0:27:09.560 --> 0:27:12.640 the dialogue and into the themes, and he certainly did 0:27:12.720 --> 0:27:17.399 that with Pride of the Monster. Twenty years ago, I 0:27:17.600 --> 0:27:22.440 was banned from my homeland, parted from my wife and son, 0:27:23.840 --> 0:27:29.560 never to see them again. Why Because I suggested to 0:27:29.800 --> 0:27:35.800 use the atom elements for producing super bees, beings of 0:27:36.080 --> 0:27:43.040 unthinkable strength and size. I was classed as a madman, 0:27:44.720 --> 0:27:50.600 a charlatan outlawed in the world of science, which previously 0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:56.639 honored me as a genius. Now Here in this fars 0:27:56.920 --> 0:28:01.960 shaken jungle, hell, I have proven that I are right. 0:28:05.520 --> 0:28:08.960 The following year would begin production on what would become 0:28:09.080 --> 0:28:13.760 his magnum opus, Plan nine from Outer Space, originally titled 0:28:13.920 --> 0:28:18.680 Grave Robbers from Outer Space? My Friend, Can your Heart 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:24.520 stand The Shocking Facts about Gray Robbers from Outer Space? 0:28:26.880 --> 0:28:29.439 He had plans to include his friend and frequent collaborator, 0:28:29.480 --> 0:28:35.280 Bella Legosi, but Legosi passed away before primary production began. However, 0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:38.440 Edward was able to shoot a few scenes with Legosi 0:28:38.680 --> 0:28:41.760 before he died. The home they had so long shared 0:28:41.840 --> 0:28:48.440 together became a tomb, a sweet memory of her joyous living. 0:28:50.400 --> 0:28:53.680 This guy to which she had once looked was now 0:28:53.760 --> 0:28:58.160 only a covering for her dead body. It grew out 0:28:58.240 --> 0:29:03.640 of wood having footage of Bella Legosi that he had 0:29:03.720 --> 0:29:08.280 shot and feeling he could make a film around that. 0:29:09.240 --> 0:29:13.520 He sometimes had existing footage that he would hope later 0:29:13.680 --> 0:29:17.880 to build a film around. There was a project called 0:29:18.000 --> 0:29:21.280 Hellborn that never came to fruition, and some of the 0:29:21.360 --> 0:29:23.760