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| There are no small parts, not even in Plan 9 from Outer Space. |
Recently, in a Facebook forum devoted to Ed Wood and his films, a sharp-eyed fan named Corey Recko made a brilliant observation: the same stock footage of lightning that shows up during the opening credits of Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) is also used in Mel Brooks' horror comedy Young Frankenstein (1974). These two films were released a decade and a half apart and are miles away from each other in terms of production value, commercial success, and critical reputation, and yet they contain some of the exact same material. It reminded me of how the same stock footage of military planes shows up in both Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964).
Corey even helpfully provided side-by-side photos for comparison. Here are two screenshots from Plan 9 from Outer Space:
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| Lightning effect in Plan 9 from Outer Space. |
And here are two screenshots from Young Frankenstein:
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| Same lightning effect, different aspect ratio. |
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| Sturdy actor Ben Frommer |
Alas, I didn't make any great finds of my own in this cinematic snipe hunt. But I got caught up in the film's sci-fi-meets-gothic-horror plot all the same. And I did start noticing something in the movie, namely its many eccentric and memorable but brief supporting performances. The film has a wealth of them. In a way, Plan 9 is as densely packed with colorful and bizarre characters as Star Wars (1977).
Sure, most of the attention rightfully goes to Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira, Bunny Breckinridge, and Criswell. The "Wood spooks," they've been called, and they were immortalized in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994). But Plan 9 isn't populated entirely by "spooks" and misfits. Our cast of characters includes: harried suburbanites (Mona McKinnon, Gregory Walcott); snooty aliens (Joanna Lee, Dudley Manlove); stalwart military men (Tom Keene, Lyle Talbot); and—Eddie's favorite—grousing, stressed-out policemen (Duke Moore, Conrad Brooks, Paul Marco, Carl Anthony). How Eddie loved his cop characters.
But there are more performances worth noting in Plan 9, even as you move down the credits and start delving into the supporting and bit players.
For instance, there's Bill Ash, a toothy, drawling, Georgia-born character actor. He plays the otherwise-unnamed "Captain" who convivially confers with Col. Edwards (Tom Keene) during a shootout with the flying saucers. It's Bill who says, "Visits? Well, that would indicate visitors!" That line has been provoking incredulous laughter from midnight movie audiences for decades. And Bill's sincere, straightforward delivery really sells it. The actor remained a marginal presence in film and TV for decades, with credits including The Heavenly Kid (1985) and a couple of Kenny Rogers films, Coward of the County (1981) and Six Pack (1982). He died at the age of 84 in 2011.
Meanwhile, two of my favorite cameo players in the film are raven-haired Gloria Dea and jowly, stubbly Ben Frommer. These two show up as befuddled mourners at the funeral of Bela Lugosi's nameless "old man" character and exchange some highly stilted dialogue as they maneuver through the plywood cemetery.
The veteran of dozens of film and TV productions, Ben (1913-1992) also appeared as a belligerent drunk in Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955), and Eddie wanted him for a third production, the never-to-be Masquerade into Eternity (1959). He was one of the interview subjects in Rudolph Grey's Nightmare of Ecstasy and even got his own card in Drew Friedman's The Ed Wood, Jr. Players. Gloria was on the back end of a career in low-budget pictures, her fame probably peaking with the role of Princess Pha in King of the Congo (1952) with Buster Crabbe.
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| The faces of Plan 9 (from left): Bill Ash, David De Mering, Gloria Dea, Karl Johnson. |
Friedman describes Ben Frommer as one of Eddie's cronies. Indeed, as you'd expect for a low budget production of this nature, the cast of Plan 9 is filled with friends who rarely found work outside of Eddie's orbit. There's Tor Johnson's equally stocky son Karl Johnson (1924-1993) as kindly Farmer Calder, who stops to help Paula Trent (supposedly Ed in drag at this point in the movie). You can also spot Karl in Night of the Ghouls (1959). Eddie's pal David De Mering (1931-1980) turns up as chatty, party-hearty co-pilot Danny in Plan 9, the guy who wants to "ball it up in Albuquerque" with stewardess Norma McCarty. He had another bit part in Ghouls, but his greatest contribution to the Ed Wood saga is probably delivering the eulogy at Eddie's funeral in 1978.
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| (left) The alien herald; (right) Charles Crafts. |
But the most mysterious speaking actor in Plan 9 has to be an alien who turns up about 20 minutes into the film. He's a slightly pudgy, middle-aged guy with a receding hairline, and his character seems to act as a page or herald to Bunny Breckinridge's fussy Ruler.
In a scene set aboard the breast-like mothership, this strangely sad man walks into the Ruler's curtained office as the boss is doing some paperwork or light journaling at his cluttered desk. Our herald enters, does a two-armed cross-chest salute, and says one line: "Your space commander has returned from Earth." His voice—nasal, thin, and flat—is almost comically unimposing. Barely bothering to look up, the bored Ruler waves him away, telling him to send Eros in. The alien then exits the scene.
About 25 minutes later, this actor returns for a second brief appearance, again in the Ruler's chambers aboard the mothership. At the start of the scene, he is standing behind the Ruler's desk. Dudley Manlove's Eros and Joanne Lee's Tanna flank him on either side. Then, the Ruler enters through the curtain, causing the other three to make the familiar cross-chest salute in unison. Bunny Breckinidge gestures grandly with his right arm, then sits down at his desk and snaps on some machine. At this, our man exits the room and the movie.
Who is this man? He's not listed in the credits, and even the IMDb skips over him. Ted Newsom, director of the Ed Wood documentary Look Back in Angora (1994), jokingly identifies him as comedic character actor Grady Sutton's "comparatively butch baby brother." On that Ed Wood forum I mentioned earlier, Davey Pulleyblank suggested this actor was Dudley Manlove's stunt double, while Kathy O'Brien guessed he was a member of the same Baptist church that financed Plan 9. Maybe he was just another of Eddie's drinking buddies. For just a moment, I thought he might be Charles Crafts, aka Johnny from Glen or Glenda (1953), but the voices don't sound alike.
Director John Waters has talked about being obsessed with one particular extra in The Wizard of Oz (1939): a glamorous, rouge-abusing young woman who lives in the Emerald City. It's her pet cat that causes Toto to jump out of the hot air balloon at the worst possible time. That intriguing bit player has now been identified by movie trivia experts as B-movie actress Lois January (1913-2006).
The fourth, anonymous alien in Plan 9 has now become my own personal Lois January. Hopefully, he, too, will be identified someday.
In a scene set aboard the breast-like mothership, this strangely sad man walks into the Ruler's curtained office as the boss is doing some paperwork or light journaling at his cluttered desk. Our herald enters, does a two-armed cross-chest salute, and says one line: "Your space commander has returned from Earth." His voice—nasal, thin, and flat—is almost comically unimposing. Barely bothering to look up, the bored Ruler waves him away, telling him to send Eros in. The alien then exits the scene.
About 25 minutes later, this actor returns for a second brief appearance, again in the Ruler's chambers aboard the mothership. At the start of the scene, he is standing behind the Ruler's desk. Dudley Manlove's Eros and Joanne Lee's Tanna flank him on either side. Then, the Ruler enters through the curtain, causing the other three to make the familiar cross-chest salute in unison. Bunny Breckinidge gestures grandly with his right arm, then sits down at his desk and snaps on some machine. At this, our man exits the room and the movie.
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| Our man reappears. |
Who is this man? He's not listed in the credits, and even the IMDb skips over him. Ted Newsom, director of the Ed Wood documentary Look Back in Angora (1994), jokingly identifies him as comedic character actor Grady Sutton's "comparatively butch baby brother." On that Ed Wood forum I mentioned earlier, Davey Pulleyblank suggested this actor was Dudley Manlove's stunt double, while Kathy O'Brien guessed he was a member of the same Baptist church that financed Plan 9. Maybe he was just another of Eddie's drinking buddies. For just a moment, I thought he might be Charles Crafts, aka Johnny from Glen or Glenda (1953), but the voices don't sound alike.
Director John Waters has talked about being obsessed with one particular extra in The Wizard of Oz (1939): a glamorous, rouge-abusing young woman who lives in the Emerald City. It's her pet cat that causes Toto to jump out of the hot air balloon at the worst possible time. That intriguing bit player has now been identified by movie trivia experts as B-movie actress Lois January (1913-2006).
The fourth, anonymous alien in Plan 9 has now become my own personal Lois January. Hopefully, he, too, will be identified someday.