“Plan 9 is my pride and joy.” – Ed Wood, writer, director and producer of Plan 9 from Outer Space

Ed Wood Junior had been given a Kodak Cine Special camera on his 12th birthday which sparked his lifelong interest in filmmaking. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was an exemplary soldier. Post-war he claimed that he feared being wounded in battle more than he feared being killed, mainly because he was afraid a combat medic would discover his secret due to wearing a bra and panties under his uniform during the Battle of Tarawa.

In 1947, Wood moved to Hollywood, California, where he wrote scripts and directed television pilots and commercials. He met and befriended Bela Lugosi in 1952 and helped Lugosi through the worst days of his clinical depression and addiction. Lugosi had become dependent on morphine as a way of controlling the pain of his debilitating sciatica over the years and was in a poor physical state.

Wood’s first feature film, Glen or Glenda (1953) was a docudrama about cross-dressing and transsexuality and was semi-autobiographical. Wood wrote and directed and, billed as Daniel Davis, starred. Wood persuaded Lugosi to appear in the movie as The Scientist, a character whose purpose is unclear. He acts as a sort of narrator but gives no narration relevant to the plot; that job is reserved for the film’s primary narrator, Timothy Farrell

Bela Lugosi was busy working on another film project when filming started on Jail Bait (1954) but worked with Wood on Bride of the Monster (1955). The science fiction horror film was directed, written, and produced by Ed Wood and starred Bela Lugosi as Dr Eric Vornoff who is conducting experiments to turn people into super-beings through the use of atomic power. Lugosi received $1000 for his performance which turned out to be his last speaking role in film, subsequently played a silent part in The Black Sleep (1956). Swedish professional wrestler and actor Tor Johnson, a veteran of many B-movies, appeared in Wood’s Z-movie as Lobo, Vornoff’s giant mute assistant.

Wood’s next endeavour was the one that, of all his films, would bring him posthumous fame: Plan 9 from Outer Space. As had become established Ed Wood wrote, directed and produced the movie. The film is a combination of a zombie movie (a decade before George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead), a conspiracy theory movie and a horror-science fiction-detective-war-monster movie all mashed into one glorious incoherent mess.

Finance is always a challenge in making films. The Baptist Church Of Beverly Hills wanted to make a biopic about Billy Sunday, the famous evangelical Christian minister but didn’t have the budget. Somehow Ed Wood got wind of the project and, on the dubious strength of his previous films, persuaded the church (one of the leaders was also Wood’s landlord) to fund his science-fiction picture with the funds that they did have. The plan was to make Wood’s movie, then use the guaranteed profits from its inevitable success to fund the Billy Sunday film.

Certain criteria had to be met before filming could take place. The church, in the person of Wood’s landlord J. Edward Reynolds, a devout Southern Baptist, objected to the original title, Grave Robbers from Outer Space. A quick rewrite changed the corpses robbed from the grave into zombies and the title became Plan 9 From Outer Space. To further foster goodwill between himself and his backers Ed Wood underwent a full-body baptism at Reynolds’ church. Several cast members did likewise—including Tor Johnson, who pranked the minister by pretending to drown mid-ceremony.

The zombie theme extended to the cast as, although Bela Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956 and filming didn’t begin until November he still had a substantial part in the film. Wood and Lugosi had had several other film projects under discussion and there was sufficient footage of him to incorporate into the film. For the unshot scenes that needed Lugosi’s presence Ed Wood recruited his wife’s chiropractor Tom Mason as a substitute. Physically, he wasn’t a perfect stand-in; Mason was noticeably taller than Lugosi (a fact that Wood tried to disguise by having him hunch over). But the good doctor made sure to mask his face under a cape at all times.

Ed Wood had unashamedly recruited his cast on the strength of the Lugosi footage he had and by telling them that he was shooting Bela Lugosi’s last film. Wood also genuinely felt that he was making the film as a tribute and a farewell to his friend, Bela. Among the cast was Maila Nurmi who had made her big break on the Los Angeles station KABC as the seductive, silky-voiced horror host, Vampira. She later explained that Wood had given her some dialogue but she didn’t like the material he’d written, so insisted on staying mute and her sexy voice was never heard in the film.

Gregory Walcott was a character actor who had roles in many Hollywood films and television series, especially Westerns but. as he later regretted, he was best known for his appearance as pilot Jeff Trent in Plan 9 – “It’s better to be remembered for something than for nothing, don’t you think? I will go to my grave not remembered for … meaty roles that I did for the likes of John Ford or Steven Spielberg, but as the leading man in a film most historians consider the worst movie ever made,” His memorial may well be a men’s bathroom in a bar. When Tim Burton’s biopic Ed Wood (1994) came along, Walcott delivered a brief cameo. Then, in 2013, an Escondido, California brewery called the Plan 9 Alehouse opened for business. Walcott helped out by letting the owners use pages from his original Plan 9 script as wallpaper in their men’s room.

The Reverend. Lynn Lemon, who plays an unnamed minister at Inspector Clay’s (Tor Johnson) funeral, was one of the Baptists involved in the production of the film. Hugh Thomas, also from the church and J. Edward Reynolds played the gravediggers and are also credited as executive producers.

John “Bunny” Breckinridge, a stage actor and drag queen agreed to play the role of an alien leader, The Ruler, Wood and Breckinridge were introduced to one another by their mutual friend Paul Marco, who played Patrolman Kelton in Plan 9 and two other Wood films. Breckinridge and Marco were living together in the latter’s modest home at the time, even though he was a struggling B-movie actor and Breckinridge was an independently wealthy socialite. David Demering, who played the aeroplane co-pilot in the film, also lived with them. Plan 9 was Breckenridge’s only film appearance.

The film was narrated by Ed Wood’s friend Criswell, a psychic chiefly known for his wildly inaccurate predictions,in his 1968 book, Criswell Predicts: From Now to the Year 2000, he claimed that Denver, Colorado would be struck by a ray from space that would cause all metal to adopt the qualities of rubber, leading to horrific accidents at amusement parks. He claimed that his “gift” was real but he lost his abilities once he started taking money for his predictions. The narration served not only to introduce the film but to link some of the scenes and cover some of the plot holes.

Tor Johnson started the film as Police Inspector Daniel Clay but was shot early doors and his body interred at a funeral. When his re-animated corpse rose from the grave he sported some impressive facial scars. Makeup artist Harry Thomas created them with cotton, spirit gum and collodion which gradually burns the skin if left in the same place for too long. Throughout the shoot, Thomas was constantly moving the false scars slightly to the left or right. In doing so, he prevented Johnson from getting any real ones.

The budget, estimated at $60,000, didn’t allow for elaborate sets or props. The flying saucers which fly over Los Angeles were readily available plastic model kits from Paul Lindberg. The tombstones are made of plywood and wobble throughout the movie. The aircraft cockpit seems to consist of two chairs and a curtain. Not all the goofs in the film, and there are many, were caused by the cast and crew. When Jeff Trent (Breckenridge) is flying the aircraft a burst of light from flying saucers almost blinds him. His co-pilot has the film script at the bottom of the screen in his lap. The shadow of a boom microphone appears on the back wall above Trent’s head. Both of these gaffes were created when Plan 9 shown on TV or in the theatre in 4:3 format. Ed Wood had originally framed the shots in widescreen format so that neither the script nor the boom mike shadow appeared in the original theatrical version. Unfortunately, the aspect ratio changes made to Plan 9 for its video and TV releases suddenly rendered both of these things visible.

The film had a private preview on March 15, 1957. It took a year before it was taken up by a distributor that shortly after went bankrupt. In July 1959 the receivers released the movie, it made little impact. The Baptists did see a return on their investment though, Ed Wood sold the rights to his backer, Baptist minister and property landlord J. Edward Reynolds, for a nominal dollar and, more importantly, release from his debt of back rent.

The film would have slipped into obscurity if two critics, Harry and Michael Medved, hadn’t helped co-author a book. The result, The Fifty Worst Films of All Time was a hit but generated controversy. In the days before the worldwide web they received nearly 400 written demands to know why Robot Monster (1953) was deemed one of the worst films of all time when Plan 9 from Outer Space wasn’t even listed.

The Fifty Worst Films Of All Time invited readers to nominate their pick for the most inept motion picture in the history of cinema. More than 3000 ballots were cast and Plan 9 won the vote by a landslide. When the Medveds published 1980’s The Golden Turkey Awards they pronounced Ed Wood’s masterpiece “the worst movie ever made.” Because of this interest in the movie soared and it began its rise to the cult status that it enjoys today. Even TV sitcoms jumped on the bandwagon. A 1991 episode of Seinfeld revolved around Jerry’s eagerness to catch the flick at a screening. “This isn’t ‘Plans One Through Eight from Outer Space,’” he tells Elaine. “This is Plan 9. The one that worked. The worst movie ever made!”

“One is always considered mad when one perfects something that others cannot grasp.” – Ed Wood, writer, director and producer of Plan 9 from Outer Space

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