Criswell (Narrator) was born Jeron King Criswell...
...on August 18, 1907.
Criswell was a friend of Ed Wood's and was in two more of Ed's movies:
'Night of the Ghouls' (1959), again as narrator,
...and 'Orgy of the Dead' (1965), as the Lord of the Dead.
A popular prognosticator of the day, in 1969 he wrote a book:
'Criswell Predicts: From Now To The Year 2000! '
Among his predictions was that the world would end in 1999.
Criswell passed away on October 4, 1982.
"Grave Robbers From Outer Space" was the original title for 'Plan 9'.
It was changed, apparently at the insistence...
...of the Baptists who were financing the picture.
Principal photography on 'Plan 9' took place in August, 1956.
The film was completed (and apparently previewed) in that year.
After more than two years, producer J. Edward Reynolds,
...eager to recover the costs he had incurred from production,
...bought the rights to "Plan 9" from Ed for one dollar.
When Reynolds finally found a distributor,
...they required him to pay all distribution costs himself.
But he finally got the film released in July, 1959.
Bela Lugosi was born Béla Ferenc Dezso Blasko...
...on October 20, 1882.
He is credited in 'Plan 9' as "Ghoul Man."
The script, however, referred to him as the "Dracula character"...
...and the film itself only calls him "the old man."
Lugosi's career began in Hungarian films in 1917.
It ended with 'Plan 9' in 1959, despite his having died...
...on August 16, 1956.
On the right is our hero, Jeff Trent, played by Gregory Walcott.
Walcott was born Bernard Mattox on January 18, 1928.
When 'Plan 9' was made, he had already appeared on television...
...and made several movies.
'Plan 9' didn't hurt his career much.
He would work steadily for the next two decades.
Walcott is known for heavily disparaging 'Plan 9' over the years.
This didn't stop him accepting the part of a prospective investor...
...in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic 'Ed Wood'.
David De Mering (Danny) appeared in one more film for Ed...
...'Night of the Ghouls' (1959).
The gravediggers are played by two of the producers of 'Plan 9':
Associate Producer Hugh Thomas, Jr. In the darker clothes...
...and Executive Producer J. Edward Reynolds in the lighter.
Reynolds was Ed's landlord and had secured the financing for 'Plan 9'...
...through his local church.
The footage of Bela Lugosi that appears in 'Plan 9'...
...wasn't shot for anything in particular.
It was basically Ed and Bela improvising for the camera.
This footage was shot...
...at the home of fellow Ed regular Tor Johnson.
Additional Bela footage existed that Ed hoped to use...
...for another film: 'The Ghoul On The Moon'.
When Ed went to retrieve the footage, however,
he found it had deteriorated, so the film was not made.
The mourners are played by Ben Frommer and Gloria Dea.
Frommer also appeared in Ed's 'Bride of the Monster' (1955).
Frommer was born on June 12, 1918,
and died on May 9, 1992, having spent 40 years in showbiz.
Tor Johnson (lnspector Clay) was born Tor Johansson on October 19, 1908.
He was a pro wrestler, working as "The Super Swedish Angel".
He also appeared for Ed as the giant Lobo
in both 'Bride of the Monster' and 'Night of the Ghouls'.
Tor made many other films besides the ones he did with Ed,
including the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby picture 'Road to Rio' (1947)
And Hope's 1951 comedy 'The Lemon Drop Kid'.
In 'Ed Wood' (1994), Tor is portrayed by another pro wrestler,
George "The Animal" Steele.
Hopefully you enjoyed Tor's dialogue from the previous scene.
They were the only words he ever spoke in an Ed Wood film.
For the rest of 'Plan 9' and in his other Ed movies,
Tor is completely mute.
Tor passed away on May 12, 1971.
Jeff's wife Paula Trent is played by Mona McKinnon.
Mona met Ed when she went to an open audition with Dolores Fuller.
Dolores wound up as Ed's girlfriend and starred in several of his films.
Mona also worked with Ed on other projects besides 'Plan 9'.
She appeared in a supporting role in 1954's 'Jail Bait'
and in footage shot for the unfinished 'Hellborn'
that was incorporated into 'Night of the Ghouls'.
Ed uses a classic 1950s description of UFOs: "cigar-shaped".
This description usually came from airline pilots,
who would be seeing the UFO from the side.
Coming up is one of the most infamous moments in 'Plan 9'.
To the right, you can see the famous cardboard gravestone
knocked over by an extra's feet.
Standing in for Bela in this scene (and for most of the film)
Is Dr. Thomas Mason, a chiropractor.
Mason would appear in and co-finance Ed's next film,
'Night of the Ghouls'.
Duke Moore (Lt. Daniel Harper) was born James Moore on July 15, 1918.
Moore was an old friend of Ed's from their community theater days.
He first worked with Ed on TV commercials in the late 1940's.
He would go on to appear in six of Ed's films,
the last, 'Take It Out In Trade', in 1970.
Moore passed away on November 16, 1976.
The reverend is portrayed by Reverend Lynn Lemon,
the pastor at producer J. Edward Reynolds' church.
To help secure the financing, Ed was baptized into Lemon's church
and used to call Lemon for advice for years afterward.
Much has been written about the flying saucers in 'Plan 9'.
Many have claimed that Ed used anything from paper plates
to hubcaps to create them.
In the 1992 documentary 'Flying Saucers Over Hollywood',
it is demonstrated that they were, in fact, store-bought model kits.
Tom Keene (Col. Tom Edwards) was born George Duryea on Dec. 80, 1896,
in Rochester, New York.
Keene was a favorite of Ed's and appeared in two other Ed projects:
1951's 'The Sun Was Setting' and the 1958 television pilot
'Crossroad Avenger: The Adventures of the Tucson Kid'.
Keene appeared in over 100 films and television shows,
(mostly westerns).
'Plan 9' was Keene's last film.
He passed away on August 4, 1968.
John "Bunny" Breckinridge (The Ruler) Was born John Cabell Breckinridge
on August 6, 1908.
He was a descendant of U.S. Vice President John Breckinridge
who served under President James Buchanan
and was a Confederate leader during the Civil War.
"Bunny" had intended to undergo a sex-change operation,
but an auto accident prevented him from having the procedure.
He died on November 5, 1996.
He was portrayed by actor Bill Murray in 'Ed Wood.'
Dudley Manlove (Eros) Was a longtime friend of Ed's.
He also appeared in Ed's "Final Curtain"
and some of Ed's industrial films for Autonetics Aviation in the 1960's.
Never a major success in film or television,
Manlove had great success on radio.
He passed away on April 17, 1996.
Pillow hugging is a common reaction to feelings of loneliness.
In Japan the phenomenon has spawned products such as
daikmakura "hugging pillows", (life-size pillows with images of
female anime or video game characters printed on them)
And the "Romantic Pillow", available in either "boyfriend"
or "girlfriend" form, with a built-in arm for cuddling.
Pillow hugging is also used in aromatherapy,
with scented pillows serving as the means of delivery.
Stewardess Edith is played by Norma McCarty.
Norma married Ed in 1955, shortly after he broke up with Dolores Fuller.
She left him after only a few weeks
when she learned he was a transvestite.
The actors found the dialogue in the cockpit scenes to be so bad
that most of what ended up in the film was improvised.
This footage of Bela was most likely shot in 1955.
Bela is wearing a cape he had previously worn
in a stage production of 'Dracula.'
The cape eventually became the property of legendary
horror collector and historian Forrest J. Ackerman.
Vampira was born Maila Syrjäniemi on December 21, 1921.
Her professional name is Maila Nurmi.
She never made another film for Ed,
but she did appear in the 1998 film based on Ed's script,
'I Woke Up Early The Day I Died'.
She first came to national attention on her local movie show
'The Vampira Show' a.k.a. 'Movie Macabre'.
It was the cancellation of that show
that led to her accepting a part in 'Plan 9'.
In the years following she did make a few more appearances
in films such as 'The Magic Sword' (1962)
And 'Sex Kittens Go To College' (1960).
Vampira plays a "Vampire Girl",
the resurrected wife of Lugosi's character.
In 'Ed Wood' she was portrayed by actress Lisa Marie,
who was director Tim Burton's girlfriend at the time.
The music in 'Plan 9' was not specifically written for the film.
Like stock footage, Ed made extensive use of library music
for which he would only have to pay a nominal fee
compared to the greater cost of paying a composer for new music.
Joanna Lee's early career acting in B-movies such as
'The Brain Eaters' (1958) And 'Plan 9' (as Tanna)
Would not seem to indicate the great success she would later enjoy
as a writer for TV shows such as 'My Three Sons', 'The Flintstones',
'Bewitched', 'Gilligan's Island', and 'The Waltons'.
She was nominated for an Emmy for the TV movie 'Babe' (1975),
and a Director's Guild award for 'My Dad Can't Be Crazy... Can He? ',
and won a Humanitas Prize for the 1987 TV movie
'The Kid Who Wouldn't Quit: The Brad Silverman Story'.
Joanna Lee passed away on October 24, 2008.
Carl Anthony (Patrolman Larry) Was another of Ed's friends.
He played a lead role in Ed's last mainstream film,
'The Sinister Urge' (1960), a film about the porn industry.
He would only appear in one more film...
'Raw Force' (1982) Starring Cameron Mitchell.
Conrad Brooks (Patrolman Jamie) Was born Conrad Biedrzycki
on January 8, 1981.
He first met Ed when he and his brothers were visiting Hollywood
and Ed agreed to act as cameraman on a short film for them.
This footage (some of the earliest surviving Ed material),
was eventually released on home video.
Brooks went on to appear in six films for Ed,
including 'Glen or Glenda' and 'Bride of the Monster'
as well as appearing in 'Ed Wood' and 'I Woke Up Early The Day I Died.'
Beginning in the 1980's, he began appearing in countless sub-B movies
from 'Curse of the Queerwolf'(1988) And 'Ghost Taxi' (1999)
To 'Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots' (2008).
Brooks was, himself, portrayed by actor Brent Hinkley in 'Ed Wood.'
Lyle Talbot was born Lisle Henderson on Feb. 8, 1902.
During a career that spanned six decades, he appeared
in over 200 films and over 150 television shows.
He was best known to the general public as Joe Randolph,
the Nelson's next door neighbor
on 'The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'.
He appeared in many movie serials, including
both 'Batman and Robin' (1949) As Commissioner Gordon
and 'Atom Man vs. Superman' (1950) As villain Lex Luthor.
He first worked with Ed in 1958, in both 'Glen or Glenda',
and the TV pilot, 'Crossroad Avenger'.
He also appeared in Ed's 1954 noir picture, 'Jail Bait'.
His last acting role was a guest appearance
on the sit-com 'Newhart' in January, 1987.
Talbot passed away on March 2, 1996.
Sightings of unknown aircraft date as far back as 829 BC
when Alexander the Great's army saw "two silver shields" in the sky.
Other historical events include sightings in Japan in 1285,
Nuremberg in 1561 and Basel, Switzerland in 1566.
The earliest sightings in the United States date from the 1890's.
The classic UFO era began in 1947, with Kenneth Arnold's sighting
of several objects in the sky over Mount Rainier, Washington.
The UFO craze really took hold on the US in the 1950's,
with countless movies, books, and comics devoted to the subject.
Although the belief in alien aircraft has dropped off since then,
recent polls still show that a majority of people believe
that extraterrestrial aircraft do, in fact, exist.
There have been many attempts to contact extraterrestrials.
One movement devoted to such ideas is called SETl...
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
The basic assumption is that any extraterrestrial life would attempt
to contact us and that any such contact would be
mutually beneficial.
Among the early SETI experiments were the efforts of Frank Drake
at Cornell University in 1960 to contact alien life through radio.
More recent attempts have included the use of laser and optical devices.
To date, despite these many efforts, no concrete evidence has surfaced
to conclusively prove the existence of extraterrestrial life.
Costume designer Richard Chaney only costumed two other films:
The 1956 films 'The Boss' and 'The Bold and the Brave'.
He never designed again after working on 'Plan 9'.
The makeup for 'Plan 9' was partly the work of Harry Thomas,
whose career ran from 1986 until 1975 and spanned over 70 films,
including 'Superman and the Mole Men' (1951),
'The Ten Commandments' (1956) And 'Little Shop of Horrors' (1960).
He also worked for Ed on 'Glen or Glenda', 'Jail Bait',
and 'Night of the Ghouls.'
He was portrayed by journeyman actor Bob Leonard Termo in 'Ed Wood'.
Thomas passed away on October 21, 1996.
'Plan 9' Cinematographer William C. Thompson
worked on all of Ed's films from 'Glen or Glenda' in 1958,
in which he also played a judge,
through 'The Sinister Urge', Thompson's final film.
Thompson shot over 60 films in his career,
including non-Ed B-pictures like 'Racket Girls' (1951)
And Stephen Apostolof's 'Journey to Freedom' (1957).
In 'Ed Wood' Thompson was portrayed by character actor Norman Alden.
Thompson passed away on October 22, 1968.
This is the last snippet of Lugosi footage that appears in 'Plan 9.'
Paul Marco, an old friend of Ed's, plays Patrolman Kelton.
Due to the appearance of Kelton, 'Plan 9' serves as a kind of sequel
to Ed's previous film, 'Bride of the Monster'.
This connection is more explicit in 'Night of the Ghouls', when Kelton
talks about dealing with "monsters, space people" and "mad doctors."
The "Kelton Trilogy" were the only films Marco appeared in for Ed,
although he would continue to portray Kelton in public
for many years.
Watch Dr. Mason's cape. In a moment,
it will start to fall off, but Mason will catch it and pull it back on.
There it goes.
Ed did not believe in doing a second take, unless the first one
was completely unusable.
In 2005, Marco appeared as Kelton in two independent films:
'The Naked Monster' and 'Kelton's Dark Corner'.
In 'Ed Wood', Marco was portrayed by Max Casella,
of 'Doogie Howser' fame.
'Plan 9' was shot in a small facility called Quality Studios,
located on Santa Monica Blvd. Next to the Harvey Hotel.
In the years since 'Plan 9' was made, it has changed hands several times,
serving in various capacities for its different owners.
It is still standing today.
Ed Wood was born Edward Davis Wood, Jr.,
on October 10, 1924, in Poughkeepsie, New York.
He lived there until 1942, when he enlisted in the Marines.
He served in the South Pacific, seeing action in several battles.
He was one of only about 400 US survivors of the 4,000 troops
who invaded the Tarawa Islands in November, 1948.
Upon returning from the war, Ed studied film under the G.I. Bill.
He then made his way to Hollywood around 1947,
hoping to break into the movies.
He first worked in Hollywood for Universal Studios
as a "production assistant" on many B-grade films.
It was there that Ed first met actors such as Lyle Talbot.
His first professional work was for a production company he founded
with Crawford John Thomas to make TV commercials.
Ed produced over 150 commercials, according to his 1950's resume.
Ed's first feature film was 1958's 'Glen or Glenda'.
He followed that in 1954 with the noir-style crime drama 'Jail Bait',
that introduced future "Hercules" actor Steve Reeves.
After 'Plan 9', Ed directed only one more feature,
1960's 'The Sinister Urge', although he would also direct
a few nudie and adult films in the late '60s / early '70s.
The last film Ed directed was the 1971 porn film 'Necromania';
a tale of two young lovers with sex problems,
played by real-life couple Ric Lutze and Rene Bond,
who seek the help of a sorceress to relieve their troubles.
Most of Ed's output post -'Plan 9' was as a screenwriter.
He wrote or co-wrote over half a dozen movies
for exploitation director Stephen Apostolof
and several more for other directors.
Ed also acted throughout those years,
appearing in small parts for Apostolof,
as well as starring in the 1969 comic nudie film
'The Love Feast' a.k.a. 'Pretty Models All In A Row'.
Ed wrote several "adult" novels to pay the bills in the '60s and '70s.
These included titles such as:
'Black Lace Drag' a.k.a. 'Killer In Drag',
'Death of a Transvestite' a.k.a. 'Let Me Die In Drag,'
'Devil Girls', 'Hell Chicks', 'Security Risk',
as well as two novels on the Watts uprisings
...'Watts... The Difference' and 'Watts... After'.
Among Ed's last commissioned work was a script for director
Fred Olen Ray entitled 'Beach Blanket Bloodbath'.
The script was never completed, but Ray shot some footage
based on the material on the set of his 1988 film 'Star Slammer'.
Ed and Kathy Wood were evicted from their apartment in 1978
and went to live with actor Peter Coe.
It was while staying there that Edward D. Wood, Jr. Passed away
on December 10, 1978, at age 54.
Since its release, 'Plan 9' has shown up all over the world.
Some of its alternate titles are:
'Plan 9 Aus Dem Weltall' (Germany) I.e. "Plan 9 From The Universe,"
'Vampiros del Espacio' (Argentina) I.e. "Vampires from Space,"
'Espectros del Espacio' (Brazil) I.e. "Spectres from Space,"
'Plano 9 do Vampiro Zombie' (Portugal) I.e. "Plan 9 of the Zombie Vampire."
In the 1980's, 'Plan 9' served as the basis for a musical called,
appropriately enough, 'Plan Nine: The Musical'.
It added a great deal of intentional humor
and sexual innuendo not found in the original.
In 1990, Malibu Comics published a comic book adaptation of 'Plan 9'
while Eternity comics put out an "official" sequel a year later:
'Plan 9 From Outer Space: Thirty Years Later.'
In 1990, Malibu also published the screenplay to 'Plan 9.'
It was sold as being "Original, Uncensored and Uncut".
It was edited by Tom Mason and most likely based on his copy.
In 1998, a pornographic parody of 'Plan 9' was produced entitled
'Plan 69 From Outer Space'.
Although it does not follow the same plot as 'Plan 9',
it has many similarities.
These include scenes set in an unconvincing cockpit, on a patio,
and in a woman's bedroom.
The aliens fly a spaceship that looks suspiciously like a paper plate
and are reviving the dead for their own nefarious plans.
It was followed by a remake of 'Glen or Glenda' entitled
'Glen and Glenda', which adhered more closely to the original's plot
even to the point of using Ed's own dialogue in several scenes.
In 2005, a video game called 'Destroy All Humans! ' was released
that featured unlockable footage from 'Plan 9 From Outer Space.'
In 1981, 'Plan 9' was named "Worst Film of All Time"
in the book 'The Golden Turkey Awards.'
In the same book, Ed was named "Worst Director of All Time".
Despite these "awards," (or perhaps because of them),
Ed's popularity has only grown over the years.
His films see regular release on home video and DVD,
there are film festivals dedicated to his work,
and his life has been documented on shows such as
'The Incredibly Strange Film Show' (in 1989),
'Mysteries and Scandals' (in 1999),
and in the film 'Ed Wood', where he was played by Johnny Depp.
'Ed Wood' was a box office failure, but won two Academy Awards...
the first, for makeup,
the second, for Martin Landau's portrayal of Bela.
Memorabilia from Ed's movies regularly runs to hundreds
(if not thousands) of dollars.
Even his cheap, sleazy novels have become valuable collectors items.
With Ed's filmography being regularly revisited (particularly 'Plan 9'),
he and his films continue to garner new fans year after year.
His legacy seems assured and his work will likely never be forgotten.