Ed Wood's Warm Angora Wishes: "The Night the Devil Met Igor"

Captain DeZita (center) runs into a young Charles Bronson in "The Night the Devil Met Igor."

NOTE: This article continues my coverage of Ed Wood's Warm Angora Wishes and Rubber Octopus Dreams (Arcane Shadows Press, 2024).

The story: "The Night the Devil Met Igor" by Brad A. Braddock

Synopsis: It is 1953, and Ed Wood has just finished principal photography on Glen or Glenda. He's on his way to the wrap party, but his leading lady and girlfriend, Dolores Fuller, wants to check on her girlfriend, Pattie. She promises to meet Eddie at the party later in the evening. Also on the Glen or Glenda set that day is the mysterious Captain DeZita, who plays the Devil in the film. DeZita is a conman and pimp with a terrible reputation, so producer George Weiss is wary of him.

Still wearing his costume from the movie, the lecherous DeZita follows Dolores down a dark alley. She is terrified of the strange man and begins running away from him. He pursues her and makes suggestive remarks. He even tears a piece of her angora sweater! Luckily, Dolores makes it to a nearby building. It turns out to be the Paramount Theatre, which is hosting the premiere of the 3D horror movie House of Wax. Among the celebrities on hand are Ronald Reagan and Bela Lugosi. DeZita, mad with lust, continues to pursue Dolores through the crowded theater.

Just as DeZita corners Dolores, he is put in a headlock by actor Charles Buchinsky, who plays the mute Igor in House of Wax. Buchinsky is well aware of DeZita's reputation and forces the creepy old man to apologize. DeZita then scurries away like a rat. Ed Wood finally shows up, having been summoned to the Paramount by the police. Charles gives Ed and Dolores two tickets to House of Wax, and they happily stay to watch the premiere. Charles steps outside and meets Bela Lugosi. The actors exchange notes, and Bela wishes Charles good luck in his career.

In an epilogue, Criswell makes predictions for Ed Wood, Captain DeZita, and the others, These predictions, however, are much more accurate than usual, including the fact that Charles Buchinsky will change his name to Charles Bronson and become a major movie star in the 1970s.

Excerpt:

DeZita was sweating and nervous as he replied, "Charles... Charles Buchinsky. Congratulations on your big break tonight."

Charles slapped DeZita again, this time harder, drawing blood lines across his face. Charles replied, "I play a goddamn mute. You call that a big break? I'm of Eastern European descent, in a day where the government thinks anyone with that background is a communist."

DeZita answered, "You could always change your name from Buchinsky to something like... say, Bronson."

A "major fib" in Ed Wood.

Reflections: In writing the screenplay for Ed Wood (1994), Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski largely tried to stick to the truth, at least as much of it as they could glean from Rudolph Grey's oral history Nightmare of Ecstasy (1992). But even that book, with its wealth of quotes from Ed Wood's friends, relatives, and professional associates, was vague about how people met or how certain events in Eddie's career came about. So Scott and Larry cheerfully concocted a few "meet cutes" for the major characters and filled in various missing details in the timeline with their imaginations. 

"Then," as the writers admit in the published version of their script, "to tie everything together, we invented one major fib." 

They're referring to the totally fictional meeting in the film's third act between Ed (Johnny Depp) and his hero Orson Welles (Vincent D'Onofrio) at Musso & Frank's. Orson gives the dejected, down-on-his-luck Ed a pep talk about staying true to his artistic vision, and Ed is inspired to finish Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957). To be clear, this incident never happened, and no one ever claimed that it did.

"The Night the Devil Met Igor" does something similar. It takes some real people—Ed Wood, Dolores Fuller, Captain DeZita, Bela Lugosi, and Charles Bronson—and puts them in an almost entirely fictional scenario. A mysterious man who called himself Captain DeZita was in Glen or Glenda (1953), and he was a known conman and pimp, just as this story suggests. But the part about DeZita chasing Dolores Fuller into the premiere of House of Wax and getting beaten up by Charles Bronson is purely fantasy on the part of the author.

Incidentally, although House of Wax actually premiered in New York, it was given a gala showing in Los Angeles at the Paramount, again just as this story attests. Bela Lugosi and Ronald Reagan were among the attendees that night, as were Shelley Winters and Danny Thomas. As luck would have it, there is even some vintage newsreel footage of the premiere. Watch this and imagine that the events of "The Night the Devil Met Igor" are happening somewhere in the background.