ED WOOD
The Halloween theme connection is the great scene of Ed and Bela (Johnny Depp & Martin Landau respectively) greeting trick or treaters. Most of the little tikes are scared away by Bela's "cap routine;" however one cheeky fellow needs extra incentive to scram--provided by Ed yanking out his dentures. This makes me a bit misty. Like Ed, my father also lost in pearlies in the war, the Korean war. This is my first Fright Month without him--so I would like to dedicate this to him.
Still this is a hoot to watch. I am a fan of Tim Burton's, but not all of his stuff is as easy to take as this movie is. I don't know if it is the all star cast including to above mentioned lumineries, also with the likes of Bill Murray (recently of the hilarious Zombieland), Patricia Arquette (of Medium), Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeffery Jones (of the other Burton classic Beetle Juice), Landau's daughter Juliet (who turned is what I think is the quirkiest performance in all of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), etc.--or that the film is shot in luscious moder black and white that really makes this work for me. I know that the film is made up of events that are either totally mixed up in the time line of real history, or just plain never happened at all (like Bela's funeral), but this is a fantasy, not a biography. For a biography, follow the link below to The Haunted World of Ed Wood
which can also be found in The Ed Wood Box lovingly put out by Image Entertainment.
A bit of trivia, Vincent D'Onofrio makes a cameo appearance as Orson Welles, but Welles' voice was dubbed over D'Onofrio's by Maurice La Marche (who is the voice of The Brain on Pinky and the Brain)
As to Lugosi's real funeral, which was attended by Hollywood horror "royalty" and paid for (quietly) by Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre is reported to have asked Vincent Price is he thought they should drive a stake through Bela's heart "just in case." He really was buried in his Dracula cape, as depicted in the film.
Oh, by the way, this way Tim Burton's first R-rated film.
Here's the Internet Movie Database page for the real Ed Wood
NEXT UP
I promised by six year old yesterday that this would DEFINITELY be a part of our Halloween celebration. NEVER LIE TO A SIX YEAR OLD!
Featuring the where is he now, voice, of Chris Sarandon in speaking parts for Jack Skellington and Catherine O'Hara (also seen in the above mentioned Beetle Juice) as Sally/Shock; with back up by the likes of Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) and Greg Proops. And saving the best mention for last, the singing voice of Jack is provided by the eccentric and talented composer Danny Elfman (previously of Oingo-Boingo fame).
It was all I can do to keep "The Peanut" (one of my son's nicknames) from destroying this disc. So I'm sort of patting myself on the back that it plays at all. He developed an obsession with Burton's other well know animation The Corpse Bride, to the point where he carried it everywhere, thus scratching and "hurting it." I was determined to keep this one safe.
A Halloween photo of "The Peanut" with his late Grandpa George several Halloween's ago
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