Now is the duochrome of our Plan 9 made glorious color by the sons of Legend Films
It creeps. It crawls. It draws near. Bringing horrors undreamt of by man.
Unless the man is a cross-dressing angora-fetish alcoholic.
Now is the duochrome of our Plan 9 made glorious color by the sons of Legend Flms - and it may be coming to your town.
Ed Wood is a big presence in our house, as are his friends Vampira, Tor Johnson, The Amazing Criswell, and of course dear old Bela Lugosi. Sure, you've seen Plan 9 from Outer Space and Tim Burton's Ed Wood - but how many people have signed photos of Dolores Fuller on the wall? Heck, we've even got Mae West's album with her song about Criswell, and have spent hours in dusty used-book stores looking for the porn novels Ed wrote under (numerous) pseudonyms.
Ed has gotten the reputation as "Worst Director of All Time" (largely due to a Golden Turkey award), and Plan 9 the reputation as "Worst Film". Which I think is unfair, and unwarranted - there is many another film out there worse than P9, films less known, less entertaining, less successful. P9 at least has a beginning, a middle, and an end - things which some films do not come into shouting distance of - and definitely tells a story.
And Ed's movies are darned entertaining, with Plan 9 leading the pack. There is an earnestness to it, a desire to tell a story which gleams out past the obvious shortcomings. And not to gloss over those shortcomings - Ed's greatest skill seemed to be drawing wooden performances out of even veteran actors, and the technical flaws are legion. But his odd dogged sincerity colors each of his works, and Plan 9 most of all.
I have watched/listened to the film umpteen zillion times now, and it remains entertaining and even gets better with repeated viewings. Sure, I wait for my favorite flubs, like Tor in his thick accent saying he's going to "look around a little" and it sounds like "lurk" (and his "You take charge" sounds like "You take George" and we have to wonder who George is), or the many pronunciations of "solarvenite". And I can quote you chapter and verse on the logic errors, discontinuities and outright mistakes in the film. But the film still manages to entertain in a way that other more "competent" films do not.
Astute readers may have noticed that I said above that I "listened" to P9 as well as watching it. I sometimes put the film on in the background while doing stuff around the house. But I also have a CD of the soundtrack, the full soundtrack including dialog, and have now listened to it untold dozens of times. This may explain a great deal. But, as with so many things, time will tell.
It is an interesting testimony to Ed's dialogue that it listens about as well as it plays in the film. The screenplay has lots of narration over stock footage, and the rest of the action is often accompanied by expository dialogue reminiscent of the old radio dramas which Ed would have listened to. The words work, even without Ed's "fantastic" visuals.
(Though one thing should be mentioned, which is the surprising quality of the film stock used for Plan 9 as revealed in the DVD releases of the film. This is definitely one for the Looks Far Better Than It Has Any Right To category - the image is crisp with nice contrast. Which unfortunately for Ed but delightfully for us just points up every little flaw in the sets.)
I am certainly no fan of colorization, but as regards Plan 9 I have no problem with it. Colorizing something like The Maltese Falcon would be a sin against nature, but if Ed could have afforded color he would have used it, the brighter and more garish the better. I think Ed's mental images of his works were Technicolor, Cecil-B-DeMille-scaled epics, and colorization comes closer to that vision than he himself could achieve.
I have seen the trailer and some clips of the colorized version, and it works just fine. In an odd way, it dignifies the film and is respectful of it. Sure, as with any colorization some of the highlights emerge as odd - bright red fingernails against Vampira's pallid skin, touches of color on Tor. But they are dead, so their pallor works just fine. The rich colors of the aliens' outfits and surroundings are I think just what Ed would have wanted.
We have several different releases of P9 on the shelf, but not the colorized version. I have ordered it, but even before then we shall have a chance to see it, in all its cinematic glory. Local arthouse, The Guild Cinema, is bringing Plan 9 from Outer Space to the big screen next weekend, for several late shows.
And we will be there, dressed up in evening finery as for any Hollywood premiere.
Remember, my friends - future events, such as these, will affect you. In the future.
Unless the man is a cross-dressing angora-fetish alcoholic.
Now is the duochrome of our Plan 9 made glorious color by the sons of Legend Flms - and it may be coming to your town.
Ed Wood is a big presence in our house, as are his friends Vampira, Tor Johnson, The Amazing Criswell, and of course dear old Bela Lugosi. Sure, you've seen Plan 9 from Outer Space and Tim Burton's Ed Wood - but how many people have signed photos of Dolores Fuller on the wall? Heck, we've even got Mae West's album with her song about Criswell, and have spent hours in dusty used-book stores looking for the porn novels Ed wrote under (numerous) pseudonyms.
Ed has gotten the reputation as "Worst Director of All Time" (largely due to a Golden Turkey award), and Plan 9 the reputation as "Worst Film". Which I think is unfair, and unwarranted - there is many another film out there worse than P9, films less known, less entertaining, less successful. P9 at least has a beginning, a middle, and an end - things which some films do not come into shouting distance of - and definitely tells a story.
And Ed's movies are darned entertaining, with Plan 9 leading the pack. There is an earnestness to it, a desire to tell a story which gleams out past the obvious shortcomings. And not to gloss over those shortcomings - Ed's greatest skill seemed to be drawing wooden performances out of even veteran actors, and the technical flaws are legion. But his odd dogged sincerity colors each of his works, and Plan 9 most of all.
I have watched/listened to the film umpteen zillion times now, and it remains entertaining and even gets better with repeated viewings. Sure, I wait for my favorite flubs, like Tor in his thick accent saying he's going to "look around a little" and it sounds like "lurk" (and his "You take charge" sounds like "You take George" and we have to wonder who George is), or the many pronunciations of "solarvenite". And I can quote you chapter and verse on the logic errors, discontinuities and outright mistakes in the film. But the film still manages to entertain in a way that other more "competent" films do not.
Astute readers may have noticed that I said above that I "listened" to P9 as well as watching it. I sometimes put the film on in the background while doing stuff around the house. But I also have a CD of the soundtrack, the full soundtrack including dialog, and have now listened to it untold dozens of times. This may explain a great deal. But, as with so many things, time will tell.
It is an interesting testimony to Ed's dialogue that it listens about as well as it plays in the film. The screenplay has lots of narration over stock footage, and the rest of the action is often accompanied by expository dialogue reminiscent of the old radio dramas which Ed would have listened to. The words work, even without Ed's "fantastic" visuals.
(Though one thing should be mentioned, which is the surprising quality of the film stock used for Plan 9 as revealed in the DVD releases of the film. This is definitely one for the Looks Far Better Than It Has Any Right To category - the image is crisp with nice contrast. Which unfortunately for Ed but delightfully for us just points up every little flaw in the sets.)
I am certainly no fan of colorization, but as regards Plan 9 I have no problem with it. Colorizing something like The Maltese Falcon would be a sin against nature, but if Ed could have afforded color he would have used it, the brighter and more garish the better. I think Ed's mental images of his works were Technicolor, Cecil-B-DeMille-scaled epics, and colorization comes closer to that vision than he himself could achieve.
I have seen the trailer and some clips of the colorized version, and it works just fine. In an odd way, it dignifies the film and is respectful of it. Sure, as with any colorization some of the highlights emerge as odd - bright red fingernails against Vampira's pallid skin, touches of color on Tor. But they are dead, so their pallor works just fine. The rich colors of the aliens' outfits and surroundings are I think just what Ed would have wanted.
We have several different releases of P9 on the shelf, but not the colorized version. I have ordered it, but even before then we shall have a chance to see it, in all its cinematic glory. Local arthouse, The Guild Cinema, is bringing Plan 9 from Outer Space to the big screen next weekend, for several late shows.
And we will be there, dressed up in evening finery as for any Hollywood premiere.
Remember, my friends - future events, such as these, will affect you. In the future.
posted by InsightStraight @ 7:32 PM
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