Ed Wood, Jr. Centennial: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

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The American Cinematheque is thrilled to celebrate the idiosyncratic work of pulp filmmaker Ed Wood, Jr. in honor of the trailblazer’s centennial. Once deemed “The Worst Director of All Time” due to his films’ technical flaws, crude visual effects, illogical dialogue, and his campy sensibilities, Wood’s contributions to cinema have undergone a more favorable reevaluation. Vastly ahead of his time regarding queer representation and confronting taboo subject matter of the era, Ed Wood, Jr. has been a true beacon of inspiration for generations of outsiders, dreamers, and artists. Wood was an exemplar of ambition and passion, and what he lacked in resources he made up for with his drive, ingenuity, and vision.

At the start of Ed Wood, Jr.’s career, themes of nuclear destruction and extraterrestrial civilizations pervaded science fiction and the American consciousness, owing to the postwar atmosphere and the start of the Space Race. These elements, along with the rise of the Theatre of the Absurd, resulted in the low budget sci-fi and horror films that Wood is known for, most notably the 1956 cult classic PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, which the eccentric filmmaker produced, directed, wrote, and edited with minimal financial resources. Wood’s devotion to filmmaking was such that he secured partial funding for the picture from a Southern Baptist Church by agreeing to be baptized with the rest of the cast and crew. As a tribute to Wood’s close friend and hero, the midnight movie favorite also includes horror icon Bela Lugosi’s last appearance on film. The filmmaker’s fascination with the occult is on full display in the bloody corpses, undead, and necromancy of his REVENGE OF THE DEAD (also known as NIGHT OF THE GHOULS), released the same year as PLAN 9. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and REVENGE OF THE DEAD typify the supernatural motifs ubiquitous throughout Ed Wood, Jr.’s early horror staples.

Wood’s directorial debut, GLEN OR GLENDA, was one of the earliest depictions of the trans experience and a crucial milestone for queer representation in the media. The 1953 exploitation film featured Wood as the titular characters (credited under his alias “Daniel Davis”) and marked his first collaboration with Bela Lugosi, who plays the narrator/scientist of the docudrama. Ed Wood, Jr. fully embraced exploitation B-movie pictures in the later part of his career, with TAKE IT OUT IN TRADE a prime example of his eventual focus on sexploitation and pornographic content. Lauded for its positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships, the 1970 softcore pornographic comedy presents Wood as a trans character named Alecia. The semi-autobiographical GLEN OR GLENDA and the surreal sexploitation films of Wood’s later films  exemplify the auteur’s transgressive fearlessness and unprecedented vision.