I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED (1998)—The Lost, Last Film of Ed Wood

Cinema of Cruelty (Movies for Masochists)

In 1978, Ed Wood died at the age of 54, homeless, unknown, and unappreciated. Leaving behind him a trail of often baffling yet now celebrated wonders like “Glen or Glenda” (1953) and “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959), Wood is now posthumously revered as a patron saint of passionate, low budget cinema. And, as it turned out, Ed Wood had one more gift to give— a final screen play. A screen play that would rest in the hands of Wood’s widow for two decades before a boy named Billy Zane came along to resurrect Ed Wood’s final dream of committing his story to celluloid. Never distributed due to legal fees and the cruelty of fate (and thus incredibly hard to find), after what feels like a century of searching, we finally tracked down a copy. And we watched it. (And it was glorious). Here in lies all the information and annotations we could find of Ed Wood’s final offering in the spirit of keeping this film alive. A film that although nearly lost, should not be forgotten.

Episode Safeword: “blockbuster”