The Hunt for Edward D. Wood, Jr. - Not By Ed
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NOT
By Ed


The biggest problem when dealing with a filmmaker such as Ed is the lack of detailed information concerning his career. For one thing, many minor positions simply were not tracked in the days when Ed was working. For instance, Ed was most likely a production assistant on many films in the 1950's, but there is no record that survives of which ones.

Another problem is that many of the people who worked with Ed (especially early in his career) are now deceased. This makes confirming or denying a particular credit difficult.

The last problem is the tendency of people to attach Ed's name to things he had nothing to do with for one reason or another. Sometimes it's opportunism (trying to sell something on eBay, for instance), but usually it's just a simple mistake.

When I am unsure of Ed's involvement, but cannot discount it completely, I list it in the Apocrypha section of the Site (and in the Filmography if it seems to be a strong candidate). Below you can find films that have been credited to Ed in the past but that I have determined, with a fair amount of confidence, have no true connection to Ed.

As always, if you have anything to add (such as suggesting a title for this list), write to me at rhindle@hotmail.com


Original poster
Chinatown Squad

In The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr, Lyle Talbot makes mention of having met Ed on the set of the film Chinatown Squad, on which Ed was a "gopher" (a production assistant).

Ed did, in fact, work as a production assistant for Universal and Talbot made many, many pictures for them. He undoubtedly did meet Ed on the set of one such film.

The only problem is, Chinatown Squad was made in 1938, when Ed was just 14 years old (and, no doubt, still in Poughkeepsie).


U.S. poster
Immer wenn es Nacht wird
a.k.a. The Love Feast

Often confused with Ed's The Love Feast, this is a 1961 German film released in the US apparently in 1969, the same year as Ed's film. Adding to the confusion, some of the artwork for Immer wenn es Nacht wird was used by Something Weird for the box art to their edition of Ed's film.


Original poster
Man-Made Monster
a.k.a. The Atomic Monster

When Alex Gordon and Ed were shopping around their script for a film called The Atomic Monster, one of the studios they visited was RealArt, primarily a re-release company. They passed, but shortly after re-released the Lon Chaney, Jr. film Man-Made Monster under that title.

Gordon and Ed got Sam Arkoff, lawyer and budding filmmaker, to pressure the studio to cough up some dough as payment for the title and their script eventually became Bride of the Monster.

In a resume circa 1956, Ed included The Atomic Monster, stating he was responsible only for the title. But Alex Gordon has plainly stated that the script (and title) originated with him. The debate as to how much of Gordon's work remains in Bride of the Monster (Ed said none) will continue. But even if providing a title could be viewed as a legitimate credit, Ed shouldn't get one for The Atomic Monster.

The Atomic Monster lobby card


Why, it's Christopher Lee!
Must've needed a check.
Meatcleaver Massacre

There's an "Ed Wood" listed in the cast, but it is almost certainly not "our" Ed Wood.

No, this isn't Ed.


Original ad
Suburbia Confidential

The confusion over this film stems from the fact that it was made by Ed's longtime collaborator, Stephen Apostolof combined with the fact that Ed wrote a book, also called Suburbia Confidential.

The two projects share only the title. They are unrelated to each other.

A Something Weird release

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