Ed Wood
LORETTA Well then you should pay him, shouldn’t you?
ED (he smiles) Yeah. Exactly!
There’s a pause. They stare at each other.
ED I kinda need it now.
LORETTA (baffled) What are you looking at me like that for? I already gave you my three hundred.
ED Yeah. Well I need the other sixty-thousand.
LORETTA What other sixty-thousand?
ED The other sixty-thousand you said you’d give me.
LORETTA You misunderstood. I gave you everything I have in the world: Three-hundred dollars.
CLOSEUP – ED
He looks like he s going to throw up.
ED Oh my God.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOUNDSTAGE – DAY
The large stage door SLAMS shut.
Ed’s disoriented cast and crew stand in the street. Bela, Tor, and Loretta are still in costume.
Ed looks totally dazed. He blinks in the bright sunlight.
CUT TO:
INT. BROWN DERBY – NIGHT
We’re back at the Brown Derby, for another backers party. The same banner is hanging: “BRIDE OF THE ATOM — NEXT YEAR’S SMASH HIT!”
The whole crowd is there, dressed up. Bela sits in the corner, knocking back a drink.
BELA Here we go again.
Paul whispers to Bunny.
PAUL MARCO So is Dolores coming?
BUNNY (very catty) I can’t imagine why. I wouldn’t put up with a boyfriend who sold me out for three-hundred dollars…!
ON ED
Ed stands with a circle of POTENTIAL BACKERS. He has an edge of desperation we’ve never seen before.
ED …lemme tell you, you can’t lose. It’s scary! And if you don’t like that, it’s romantic! Bela Lugosi portrays Dr. Vornoff, and lovely ingenue Loretta King is reporter Janet Lawton.
POTENTIAL BACKER Hmm. Lugosi looks pretty old. (he squints across the room) Which role is Vampira playing?
ED Vampira…? (bewildered) Why do you ask??
POTENTIAL BACKER Well I see her standing over there.
The guy points. Ed turns and looks and Vampira is standing in the next room. She’s at a different party.
ED Well… she’s playing — (beat) Could you excuse me one moment??
Ed dashes from the room.
NEXT ROOM OVER
Vampira is drinking with a bunch of artsy-fartsy types. She’s in street clothes, but clearly recognizable. Ed runs up.
ED Excuse me, Miss Vampira?
VAMPIRA Yes?
ED (sweaty) You don’t know me, but my name is Ed Wood. I’m a film producer. I’m currently in production on a science-fiction piece, with Bela Lugosi and Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson. And I saw you here, and I thought: Kismet!
Vampira stares, totally uncomprehending.
VAMPIRA I don’t understand. Do you want my autograph?
ED No. I think my film is perfect for you.
VAMPIRA You want me to show it on my TV program? Well I got nothing to do with that. You should call up the station manager at Channel Seven —
ED (unyielding) No! I don’t want you to show the movie, I want you to be in it! See, maybe I should explain: We started shooting, but then after three days we got shut down. So we’re having a backers party, to raise some more money. Perhaps you’d like to come next door and meet some of the backers…?
Vampire glances at her friends. They uncomfortably turn away.
VAMPIRA Uh, look, I’m with some friends, and we’re about to eat —
ED (begging) Please! It’ll only take a minute. You can have some hors d’oeuvres, and meet my backers! There’s a really nice dentist from Oxnard…
VAMPIRA (pissed off) Look buddy, I’m a big star. I’ve got real offers from real studios. I don’t need to blow some dentist for a part. So forget it!
BACK AT THE PARTY
The backers glance into the next room. Ed is in front of Vampira, begging on his hands and knees.
BACKER (to another backer) I’m getting a bad feeling about this. Let’s get out of here.
The backers pick up their coats. Through the doorway, Ed sees this. He jumps up and frantically runs back in.
ED Where are you guys going?! You can’t leave!
BACKER (running out) Goodbye, Mr. Wood.
ED (insane) You can’t go! You haven’t seen the storyboards!
The backers run out of the room. They’re gone. Ed shouts after them.
ED Fine! SCREW YOU! If you don’t have the balls to roll the dice, then I don’t want your stinking money!!
No response.
ED Please, come back!
CUT TO:
EXT. ED AND DOLORES’ HOUSE – DAY
Ed and Dolores are being evicted. Their belongings are scattered in front. They bitterly carry furniture out of the house. Ed stumbles and slurs his speech. He is drunk.
ED Goddamn landlord.
DOLORES I told you this was gonna happen.
ED Maybe if you’d come to the backers party, I would’ve gotten the money.
DOLORES That’s moronic. Why would a bit player impress a backer?
ED (he starts yelling) Look, how many times can I say I’m sorry? I blew it! I thought she was rich.
DOLORES That’s a good reason to dump your girlfriend.
ED I didn’t dump you! Get it through your skull — I just recast the part!
Ed drops the furniture. He flops onto the sidewalk.
DOLORES You’re a fuckin’ mess.
ED So WHAT?? Look, we gotta figure out where we’re gonna stay.
DOLORES I’m going to my mother’s.
ED Does she have room for me?
Dolores shakes her head.
DOLORES I think you should stay with one of your friends.
CUT TO:
EXT. TOWERING TEMPLE – NIGHT
Ed and Bela stroll through a parking lot. Ed is sobered up and remorseful. Bela wears a beret and smokes a huge cigar.
ED Bela, I don’t know what I’m doin’ anymore…
BELA Stop worrying. This is going to raise your spirits.
They reach the strange entrance to an avant-garde, Eastern based quasi-religious temple. Bela puts out his cigar, and they enter the oversized doors.
INT. TEMPLE – SAME TIME
Sphinxes and Bodhisatvas peer down from the marble walls. A service is in progress. A wiry, enigmatic LECTURER speaks.
LECTURER Thou eternal sun, who has covered the consciousness with thy golden disc, do thou remove the veil so that I may see the truth within?
Bela leads Ed to a seat, stepping past men in fezzes and odd elderly women in fur coats. As the lecture continues, Ed WHISPERS in bafflement.
ED What is this place?
BELA This is the Philosophical Research Society. A refuge for free thinkers. I’ve been coming here for twenty years.
LECTURER …for the truth which is within thee is within me. And I am Truth.
BELA Most people in this country, they know nothing, about Eastern mysticism. They are afraid of it. (beat) But I am open-minded. It gives me hope.
