SCRIPTS FROM THE CRYPT: ED WOOD AND THE LOST LUGOSI SCREENPLAYS (paperback)
Best Film Book - The Phantom's Annual "B"wards 2017
This is a softcover edition.
With trowel and brush in hand, noted film archaeologist Gary D. Rhodes excavates the cinematic sepulcher of Ed Wood's unproduced scripts for Bela Lugosi, The Vampire's Tomb and The Ghoul Goes West. Joining Rhodes on the expedition are pith-helmeted horror movie expert Tom Weaver, plus Lugosi's original biographer Robert Cremer. These Raiders of the Lost Archives dig deep into the desert of unfilmed films, unearthing all manner of previously unknown artifacts and unseen relics. Ed Wood and the Lost Lugosi Screenplays puts these treasures on exhibit for the very first time.
"Ed Wood would shout, 'Perfect!' if he saw this book. An amazing collection of unproduced work from the low budget maestro, lovingly curated and explained. Worth buying for the intros alone. These guys know their stuff." – Larry Karaszewski, screenwriter of Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994)
"Hot on the heels of Gary D. Rhodes’ Bride of the Monster script book comes Ed Wood and the Lost Lugosi Screenplays. Delving into the most mythical aspects of the Wood saga, this book examines the facts and mysteries of these unproduced works. Essential for genre enthusiasts." – Jan Alan Henderson, author of Speeding Bullet, The Legendary Lydecker Brothers, and Crypt 39 – a Novel
"Gary D. Rhodes, a living breathing encyclopedia of all things Bela Lugosi, now takes us into 'what might have been' territory ... Rhodes' research is, as always, impressively meticulous. How does he find some of this stuff?" – David-Elijah Nahmod, journalist and film critic
"Anyone interested in film production history will find this book fascinating. Those who seek insights into the intriguing lives of Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi will be doubly rewarded. But I'm thinking right now of the number of readers who are increasingly interested in screenplay origins, screenplay histories: for that growing number of readers this book will prove to be a true gem!" – Graeme Harper, Dean of the Honors College, Oakland University, Michigan
"It
is an intriguing work of literary-filmic archeology. In London After Midnight:
A New Reconstruction Based on Contemporary Sources, Mann offers a reconstruction
based on his transcription of a rediscovered 11,000-word fictionalization of
the film published in Boy’s Cinema, an English publication, a year after the
film was released. Mann’s detailed comparison of surviving sources sheds new
light on various “unsettling” aspects of the film, like the discovery of a
second murder victim, a plot element not in the final film. Mann’s
transcription of the story is included in the new book."
-
Thomas Gladysz, The Huffington Post
"Another in the amazing series of script book
from Tom Weaver – although, I should point
out, he isn’t the primary author but always
adds some amazing articles and facts. “Research”
must be Weaver’s middle name.
Plus, when the name Bela Lugosi crops up
in a print book anymore, you often are going
to see the name of Gary D. Rhodes, possibly the number one Lugosi scholar
around these days.
Now, if you, like me, really aren’t into the script part, you still have 82
pretty cool pages of Lugosi/Wood primo stuff. The scripts run from pages 83 to
301. It is a big freaking book with a number of very rare photos and illos.
Leo Eaton, who did the foreword, worked with Ed Wood doing porno and
girlie magazines at Pendulum publishing (aka Calga Publishers). To this day,
even though the Wood revolution has fallen off, information on his life continues
to fascinate me. There may have been many other “one lung” producer/
directors (as Sam Arkoff of AIP called them), but no one worked with such a
weird crew as Wood.
Gary D. Rhodes does the production/non-production background; Weaver
does the annotated synopses; while Lee R. Harris (who produced the great
video documentary on Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space) does “The Almost,
Penultimate Final Curtain.” Last but certainly not least, the author of the first
authorized Lugosi biography, Robert Cremer, tells of “A ‘Tale ’o’ the Cock: My
Weekend with Ed Wood.” Finally, what I found kind of nice are a couple of
photos of Lugosi’s last wife, Hope Lininger, that actually show her to some
advantage. That she was actually kind of cute with a nice figure. Not the worst
person I would imagine for an elderly Lugosi to spend his last days in bed with.
Great book. We want MORE!"
- Ralph’s
One-and-Only
Traveling Reviews
Company