Pop Culture Flashback: 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (July 22)

Can’t imagine anyone thinking that Plan 9 From Outer Space is a great movie – or even a mediocre one. But surprisingly, Ed Wood’s film has score of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes! Yes, it’s so bad it’s good, but that doesn’t count.

1959 – Plan 9 from Outer Space: The Worst Movie Ever Made?

Scene from "Plan 9 from Outer Space" — Dudley Manlove, Tor Johnson, John Breckinridge, and Joanna Lee in *Plan 9 from Outer Space (Wikimedia Commons)*

Long before The Golden Raspberry Awards were a thing, director Ed Wood was known for creating schlock movies. While his films Bride of the Monster and Glen or Glenda are bad, Wood’s infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space was dubbed “the worst movie ever made” by many critics.

The plot of Plan 9 is a convoluted one. The “thriller” centers on alien beings seeking to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon that would destroy the universe. (Well, at least their motives were good.) The aliens do this by implementing “Plan 9” which resurrects dead bodies on earth. Why this would work is never explained.

The cast of Plan 9 From Outer Space is a colorful one. They include:

Bela Lugosi (Old Man/Ghoul Man) – Best known for playing Dracula
Gregory Walcott (Pilot Jeff Trent) – Actor who only agreed to the project as a favor for a friend who was financing film.
Tor Johnson (Inspector Daniel Clay/Future Zombie) – A Swedish professional wrestler with little acting experience
Maila Nurmi (Vampire Girl) – Best known at TV horror movie host Vampira
Mona McKinnon (Paula Trent, Jeff’s wife) – Best known for appearing in other Ed Wood films
Tom Keene (Colonel Tom Edwards) – Former cowboy star
John Breckinridge (The Alien Ruler) – Actor also known as “Bunny” the drag queen
Joanna Lee (Alien Tanna) – Flintstones script writer
Dudley Manlove (Alien Eros) – Radio announcer
Lyle Talbot (General Roberts) – Known for saying that he never refused an acting job. Maybe he should have made an exception.

Plan 9 From Outer Space is riddled with mistakes in dialogue, continuity and props, but worse yet, it’s terribly dull. Lugosi appears in the movie even though he died before the film was finished. Wood worked around this detail by repurposing silent footage of Lugosi from the movie Tomb of the Vampire. In addition, he occasionally had a crew member dress up like the Lugosi so he could appear in other scenes.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

2011: First Avenger

Chris Evans as Captain America — *(Marvel Studios)*

Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell appeared as Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter for the first time in Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger.

2016: First Latina Princess

Disney’s first Latina princess in the TV series Elena of Avalor is voiced by Aimee Carrero. The show features a mix of traditions, family and friendship.

1983: First Jaws Misstep

Giant shark ready to attack — *(Universal via TVDB)*

After two successful shark movies, Universal released Jaws 3-D. Loosely connected to the other films, this story takes place at SeaWorld Orlando.

OSCAR WINNER

1942 – Award-Winning ‘Mrs. Miniver’ Inspires Americans

A family standing together solemnly in church — *(MGM via TVDB)*

Inspired by Jan’s Struther’s novel of the same name, Mrs. Miniver is a World War II movie told from the perspective of a British housewife. Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) and her husband Clem (Walter Pidgeon) have three children. Their oldest, Vin (Richard Ney) proposes to Carol Beldon (Teresa Wright) shortly before enlisting into the war.

Kay and her family continue living their lives during the early days of the war the best that they can despite blackouts, air raids and a bomb that partially destroys their home.

Mrs. Miniver began pre-production back in 1940 and at that time, the U.S. was still a neutral country. But as the war advanced, the movie’s script changed as well. The movie came out about six months after the U.S. had entered the war.

The last scene in the film features an inspiring sermon by a vicar (Henry Wilcoxon) inside a damaged church building. President Roosevelt was so moved by this speech that he used parts of it as a morale booster. He also strongly encouraged that the movie be rushed to theaters to inspire others. The movie’s sermon was also posted in both Time and Look magazines. Directed by William Wyler, Mrs. Miniver has been celebrated for its portrayals of community spirit during such a trying time. The movie became the highest-grossing movie of the year. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actress (Garson), Supporting Actress (Wright), Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography