Gregory Walcott appeared in a lot of good films over the course of his long career. He had supporting roles in major blockbusters. He was a friend and frequent collaborator of Clint Eastwood’s. In 1979, he played the sheriff in the Oscar-nominated Norma Rae.
That said, he will probably always be most remembered for playing Jeff, the patriotic pilot, in Ed Wood’s 1957 masterpiece, Plan Nine From Outer Space. Walcott gave probably as good a performance as anyone could in Plan 9, though that didn’t prevent the film from wrong being declared one of the worst ever made. Walcott, for most of his career, was not a fan of Plan 9 but, in the years before he passed away in 2015, Walcott’s attitude towards the film mellowed considerably. He even appeared in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.
In this scene from Plan 9, Walcott shows how to deal with a smug alien.
Today would have been the 101st birthday of the pioneering indie director, Edward D. Wood, Jr!
Today’s song of the day is the theme from Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic of the director. In my opinion, this remains Burton’s first film. Burton also directed the musical video below while the great Toni Basil choreographed. And, best of all, the dancer is named Lisa Marie!
Today, we pay respect to Edward D. Wood, Jr. on the date of his birth. He was born 101 years ago today.
Some films need no introduction and that’s certainly the case with Wood’s 1957 masterpiece, Plan 9 From Outer Space.
Plan9 is a film like no other, a film that mixes UFOs with zombies and which ends with a rather sincere plea for world peace. When Eros the Alien explains that the Solarnite bomb could destroy the entire universe, the film’s hero, airline pilot Jeff, doesn’t point out that Eros’s logic doesn’t make sense. Instead, he just says that he’s glad that America is the one that has the bomb. “You’re stupid! Stupid minds!” Eros shouts before Jeff flattens him with one punch. Go Jeff! Don’t take any backtalk from that judgmental alien!
From Criswell’s introduction to Tor Johnson’s rise from the dead to Lyle Talbot casually standing with his hands in his pockets while a UFO explodes above him, Plan9 is a true classic of some sort.
Since today would have been the 101st birthday of director Edward D. Wood, Jr., it seems appropriate to dedicate this week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse Trailers to him!
Below …. can you handle six trailers for six Ed Wood films!?
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
It’s always a good time to pay tribute to Ed Wood.
4 Shots From 4 Ed Wood Films
Bride of the Monster (1955, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr.)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr)
Night of the Ghouls (1958, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr)
The Sinister Urge (1960, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr.)
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, on what would have been his 100th birthday, we take time to honor Edward D. Wood, Jr.
4 Shots From From 4 Ed Wood Films
Bride of The Monster (1955, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr., DP: Ted Allan and William Thompson)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr., DP: William C. Thompson)
The Sinister Urge (1960, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr., DP: William C. Thompson)
The 1958 film, The Bride and the Beast, tells the story of newlyweds Dan (Lance Fuller) and Laura Fuller (Charlotte Austin). Dan is an overly macho and chauvinistic big game hunter who is so into hunting and capturing animals that he even keeps a gorilla named Sparky in the basement of his home. I’m not really sure that’s legal and, even if it is, the logistics of keeping a gorilla in your home seem like they would be beyond the capabilities of moron like Dan. Then again, when Sparky gets loose and tries to attack Laura, Dan is forced to shoot him. So, I guess the movie was kind enough to prove my point.
Laura, though grateful to be alive, cannot stop thinking about Sparky and soon, she’s having dreams about her past life as a gorilla. Because Dan doesn’t believe that his wife was once a gorilla, he takes her to the jungles of Africa for their honeymoon. While Dan proves himself to be not quite the ideal romantic husband by keeping himself busy by hunting a killer tiger, Laura finds herself being drawn back to her former existence as the Queen of the Gorillas. Dan may be able to save his camp from the tiger but will he be able to save his wife from the primates that want her for their bride? And will Laura maybe be smart enough to realize that a normal husband would not react to his new bride hatred of hunting for forcing her to go on a safari for her honeymoon? I mean, really, everything that happens in this film is pretty much Dan’s fault. Here’s hoping that Laura divorced him and married a smarter 50s hero. Like maybe Jeff the pilot from Plan 9 From Outer Space. Now that was a man!
This very low-budget film, which is full of stock footage and sets that wobble whenever any of the actors bump into them, has gained some attention in recent years because the script was written by Edward D. Wood, Jr. As such, there’s a scene in which Laura undergoes hypnosis and delivers a monologue about how much she loves her angora sweater. (“It felt like the fur of a small kitten.”) The nonsensical plot and dialogue could only have come from Ed Wood. Unfortunately, Wood himself didn’t direct the film. That job falls to Adrian Weiss and, as a result, the film’s direction doesn’t feature any of the quirky weirdness that one typically associates with a Wood production. The film gets off to a good start, with Dan revealing that he keeps a gorilla in his basement and coming across like some sort of mad scientist but, once the action moves to the jungle, things start to drag as Weiss takes a bland and workmanlike approach to a story that demanded a more imaginative approach.
The film does conclude on an enjoyably odd note, one in which overly macho Dan discovers that it takes more than a rifle and a hunting hat to be king of the jungle. In the end, though, this film is mostly just for Ed Wood completists.
Viewing Plan 9 From Outer Space during October is a bit of a tradition around these parts and here at the Shattered Lens, we’re all about tradition. And since the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ed Wood, Jr. is just a five days away, it just seems appropriate to watch his best-known film.
Speaking of tradition, this 1959 sci-fi/horror flick is traditionally cited as the worst film ever made but I don’t quite agree. For one thing, the film is way too low-budget to be fairly judged against other big budget fiascoes. If I have to watch a bad movie, I’ll always go for the low budget, independent feature as opposed to the big studio production. To attack Ed Wood for making a bad film is to let every other bad filmmaker off the hook. Ed Wood had his problems but he also had a lot of ambition and a lot of determination and, eventually, a lot of addictions. One thing that is often forgotten by those who mock Ed Wood is that he drank himself to death and died living in squalor. The least we can do is cut the tragic figure some slack.
Plan 9 From Outer Space is a ludicrous film but it’s also a surprisingly ambitious one and it’s got an anti-war, anti-military message so all of you folks who have hopped down the progressive rabbit hole over the past few years should have a new appreciation for this film. I mean, do you want the government to blow up a Solarnite bomb? DO YOU!?
Also, Gregory Walcott actually did a pretty good job in the lead role. He was one of the few members of the cast to have a mainstream film career after Plan 9.
Finally, Plan 9 is a tribute to one man’s determination to bring his vision to life. Ed Wood tried and refused to surrender and made a film with a message that he believed in and, for that, he deserves to be remembered.
Now, sit back, and enjoy a little Halloween tradition. Take it away, Criswell!
Gregory Walcott, who was born 98 years today, appeared in a lot of good films over the course of his long career. He had supporting roles in major blockbusters. He was a friend and frequent collaborator of Clint Eastwood’s. In 1979, he played the sheriff in the Oscar-nominated Norma Rae.
That said, he will probably always be most remembered for playing Jeff, the patriotic pilot, in Ed Wood’s 1957 masterpiece, Plan Nine From Outer Space. Walcott gave probably as good a performance as anyone could in Plan 9, though that didn’t prevent the film from wrong being declared one of the worst ever made. Walcott, for most of his career, was not a fan of Plan 9 but, in the years before he passed away in 2015, Walcott’s attitude towards the film mellowed considerably. He even appeared in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.
In this scene from Plan 9, Walcott shows how to deal with a smug alien.
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
This October, I am going to be using our 4 Shots From 4 Films feature to pay tribute to some of my favorite horror directors, in alphabetical order! That’s right, we’re going from Argento to Zombie in one month!
Today’s director: the great Ed Wood!
4 Shots From 4 Ed Wood Films
Bride of the Monster (1955, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr. DP: William Thompson and Ted Allan)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956, dir by Edward D. Wood, JR., DP: William Thompson)
Night of the Ghouls (1958, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr, DP: William Thompson)
