I Am Your Father (2015)

Growing up, I knew that it was James Earl Jones that voiced Darth Vader, but it was another actor that was inside the costume.  It wasn’t until recently that I learned anything about that actor, David Prowse.  Most hardcore fans of Star Wars will probably recognize the name.  I didn’t.  I am Your Father is a documentary that attempts to rectify that.

When Star Wars was first being made, George Lucas needed two tall actors.  One would play Chewbacca and the other would play Darth Vader.  Peter Mayhew, at 7' 3", wanted to play a good guy, so he starred as Chewbacca.  Prowse, at 6' 6", was partial to playing villains, so he donned the black costume.  Prowse had a voice that wasn’t really appropriate for an intimidating villain, so it was assumed that his voice would be modified, if used at all.

The movie focuses Prowse’s involvement with the three original Star Wars films.  Way back when A New Hope was just Star Wars, Prowse was being interviewed and suggested that it would be interesting if Darth Vader was revealed to be Luke’s father.  There were no plans of a sequel at that point, so there was no way that Prowse could have known.  Still, he earned a reputation for leaking spoilers.

Fast forward to the end of Return of the Jedi.  Darth Vader’s final scene is being filmed wherein the mask is taken off to reveal…Sebastian Shaw?  Prowse hadn’t been informed that a different actor was being used for the big scene.  It had apparently been done to keep Prowse from revealing a big spoiler.  The problem is that he found out anyway.  Oh, and it got leaked to the press regardless.  The paper that leaked the information admitted that it wasn’t Prowse’s doing.  This didn’t stop Lucas from keeping Prowse out of any official Star Wars event.

Marcos Cabotá cowrote and codirected the film and also interviewed Prowse.  You get the sense that he doesn’t think Prowse got his due.  George Lucas was the filmmaker behind Star Wars.  As such, he had a right to make the film as he saw fit.  Lucas wanted Shaw because he felt that Prowse didn’t have the right look.  It was a little underhanded to completely exclude Prowse from Darth Vader’s final scene solely because he might spill some details that would have likely been spilled anyway.

The movie is well done.  It was able to hold my attention the entire way through and I didn’t feel bored with it at any point.  There are interviews with Lou Ferrigno as well as people involved behind the scenes in Star Wars  It’s one of those stories that you don’t really think about.  You know that someone was walking around on set as Darth Vader.  (Actually, two were.  Bob Anderson did many of the stunts.)  The same goes for C3-PO and R2-D2.  There were people inside the droids, even if the voices didn’t match.  How many times have you thought about who was under Chewbacca’s fur?

As with Candyman, I get the impression that there’s a lot more to the story.  What’s presented here is Prowse having leaked information that anyone could have leaked and whether Lucas was justified in his reaction.  I doubt Lucas has held a grudge for nearly 40 years because of something that Prowse ended up not even doing.  Either Prowse is less guilty that Lucas would believe or Prowse is more guilty than Cabotá would believe.

I sometimes wonder how many people have done things that are ubiquitous, but don’t have the corresponding fame.  Think about all the things you see and use.  There are probably a hundred names that made contributions, even major contributions, that you’ll never hear of.  Some do eventually make it into the public eye.  How many don’t?

IMDb page

Ed Wood (1994)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

If you’ve been reading my recent reviews, you know that I’ve been looking for really bad movies to watch.  One name that keeps popping up is Ed Wood, the director of Glen or Glenda and Plan 9 From Outer Space.  While people do recognize the names of his movies, the name of the director isn’t as well known.  Still, Edward D. Wood, Jr. gained such notoriety for being so bad that a movie was produced about him and his work.

Johnny Depp stars as the title character.  The movie starts with Wood working at a movie studio when a producer comes across a script.  Wood wants to direct it, but can’t as the rights were acquired by another studio.  So, Wood writes his own, semi-autobiographical version which goes on to become Glen or Glenda.  Despite having Bela Lugosi in it, the movie tanks and it tanks hard.  The producer calls to let Wood know that if he ever decides to set foot on studio property, Wood should first make out his last will and testament.

Wood goes on undeterred.  He has to struggle for funding and apparently would often do shots in one take regardless of how they came out.  He makes several other movies with Lugosi, including Bride of the Monster.  They all meet with very bad reviews.

The movie closes shortly after Wood finished making Plan 9 From Outer Space.  He has a Baptist Church backing him on this film, which does cause some tension.  They want to make major changes to the script and don’t really like that Wood wants to direct wearing women’s clothes.  A chance meeting with his idol gives Wood the inspiration to finish the movie.

The movie is a pretty straightforward account of Wood’s life.  It covered his best-known movies, although IMDb lists a lot more movies during that time frame.  Wood was apparently a very prolific director.  He was a man that wouldn’t take no for an answer, even if the answer was well justified.  Wood kept doing what he loved.  (As the saying goes, it doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down; it matters how many times you get back up.)

The directing was great.  I’ve come to like a lot of Tim Burton’s movies, but this one was a little different.  As I said, it was very straightforward.  It’s not at all like Mars Attacks! or Edward Scissorhands.  Having the film shot in black and white was definitely a plus for the movie.

I also liked the acting.  Martin Landau was great as Lugosi.  Bill Murray was also great in his role.  I even enjoyed Sarah Jessica Parker.  This was one of her few roles where I didn’t find her to be over the top.  (She’s usually just a little too outgoing in most of her roles.)

Ed Wood is one of those movies that just comes together to work perfectly.  It’s a great movie about a director that was known for his horrible movies.  I find it strange, though, that his name isn’t better known.  At least his movies will live on.  I plan on watching Plan 9 From Outer Space and Glen or Glenda.  I have to wonder if I’ll want to see more of his movies after that or if I’ll be done with watching bad movies. 

IMDb page