Final Curtain (film) explained

Runtime:22 minutes
Producer:Ed Wood
Anthony Cardoza
Tom Mason[1]
Director:Ed Wood
Starring:Duke Moore
Dudley Manlove
Jenny Stevens
Country:United States
Num Episodes:1

Final Curtain was a 22-minute television pilot written and directed by Ed Wood in 1957. It starred Duke Moore as an actor wandering an empty theater after dark, where he is haunted by creepy sounds and eerie sights. The film is narrated by Dudley Manlove. Both Moore and Manlove also appear in Wood's cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space. Wood had hoped to use the film as the pilot for a television series he intended to produce called Portraits of Terror.[2]

Some scenes where the actor explores the theater were later inserted into Wood's 1959 film, Night of the Ghouls, with a voiceover narration designed to make it fit the story better.

For years, the complete version of Final Curtain was considered a lost film, until a copy was discovered by Jason Insalaco, great-nephew of actor Paul Marco (who had appeared in several Ed Wood projects).[3] The restored film was premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival on January 23, 2012 and is now available on DVD.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Final Curtain (1957). https://web.archive.org/web/20160203144226/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/153621/Final-Curtain/details. dead. 2016-02-03. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. 2016.
  2. Web site: Never seen 1950s Ed Wood movie recovered . inmovies.ca . January 20, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120124012230/http://inmovies.ca/news/never_seen_1950s_ed_wood_movie_recovered/103e84e1 . January 24, 2012 .
  3. Web site: Lyons, Charles. Sun Never Quite Sets on Work of Ed Wood. The New York Times. January 31, 2012. February 5, 2012.
  4. Web site: Ed Wood's Lost Film Final Curtain. 2012. slamdance.festivalgenius.com.