Memories of hardcore Ed Wood
The Young Marrieds is a hardcore porno movie made in Hollywood in 1971, but it's so much more than that.
It's also the last ever film known to be directed by Ed Wood Jr., the cross-dressing man of destiny who gave us Plan 9 From Outer Space. For that reason alone, The Young Marrieds is already more important, historically, than—I dunno—Life of Pi.
If Johnny Depp in an angora sweater is the image of Wood that you cherish, from the 1994 Tim Burton biopic, maybe stop reading. In reality, the so-called world’s worst filmmaker spent his last booze-soaked years churning out sex-movie screenplays and cheap novels with titles like The Oralists, Raped in the Grass, and To Make a Homo. His own directorial efforts were assumed to end with the softcore flick Necromania, also in 1971 (for which Wood also shot some XXX inserts.)
That was until local porn archeologist Dimitrios Otis stumbled on a 16mm print of The Young Marrieds among the detritus of the Venus Theatre, back when the jizz-stained curtain came down at the Main Street grindhouse for the very last time in 2007. To his amazement, Otis realized that Ed Wood’s last film, at that point, only existed as a rumour.
And so plans were hatched to restore the film and release it on DVD to a world that would receive The Young Marrieds like a lost chapter of Finnegan’s Wake. Because I’m an extremely important person, and also because I whined like a total bitch about it, I was given a private screening. By this point, The Young Marrieds had only been viewed by Otis, Wood biographer Rudolph Grey, and myself—along with the billion or so furtive and haunted-looking men who caught the film in their local porno palace back in the ‘70s, bless their crippled dicks.
And I can’t begin to imagine, assuming they were paying attention (they weren’t), what those guys made of dialogue that was an even deeper shade of purple than star Louis Wolf’s tumescent cock. The Young Marrieds is, by every measure, classic Ed Wood. As it ends, a voice intones, "Let us be patient, tender, wise, and forgiving in this strange task of living. For if we fail each other, each will be gray driftwood lapsing into the abyss." Now that’s what I want from a dirty movie!
In retrospect, seeing The Young Marrieds was like gazing upon Cleopatra’s beauty or witnessing the flight of the fabled Oozlum bird. I should have gone blind. Instead, I just looked forward to the official release of the film—which never happened. And so The Young Marrieds became a rumour all over again, albeit one with a bit more flesh attached.
Anyway, with the restoration of vintage Vancouver porno Sexcula—and since Straight readers clearly share my profane cinematic interests, judging by the ridiculous number of people who read our little piece about it—I decided to open the book again on The Young Marrieds. And guess what? After a whole bunch of false starts, Otis tells me that the film is finally set to be released in the fall. In the meantime, let us be patient, tender, wise, and forgiving. We’ve waited this long to see a movie you’ve never heard of, a few more months won’t make any difference.
Comments
9 Comments
Leisa Reinecke Flynn
Apr 30, 2013 at 7:39am
Thanks so much for letting us know about this film. Please put me on your list for any release of the film to dvd. I would like to be the first to buy and also review it for my Wood page. Also, if you are planning to show the 16mm at any time please let me know and I will be there. LeisaRFlynn@gmail.com
A. MacInnis
Apr 30, 2013 at 2:01pm
Apparently the furtive masturbation meme is spreading...
Will
Nov 1, 2013 at 5:36pm
Please release a DVD! The world is waiting!
Sean
Nov 16, 2013 at 5:13am
If this does actually find it's way to DVD, that'll be a huge reason for exploitation film fans to rejoice: Wood was actually a GREAT writer, and his '70's work is amazing - the dialogue is always pure Ed).
Sean
Nov 16, 2013 at 5:14am
If this does actually find it's way to DVD, that'll be a huge reason for exploitation film fans to rejoice: Wood was actually a GREAT writer, and his '70's work is amazing.
Steven Millan
Dec 19, 2013 at 12:35am
Nice to know that this long lost Ed Wood film has finally been re-discovered,for hopefully we'll see it released to DVD/Blu Ray sometime next year(with a company like Vinegar Syndrome having its back).
dimitrios
Jan 23, 2014 at 2:46pm
the DVD is still coming (no pun intended), just re-writing liner notes... although Adrian's article is so good we shoulda just used that!
Adrian Mack
Jan 23, 2014 at 3:04pm
please do!
dimitriosotis
May 15, 2015 at 12:57am
DVD is indeed out - titled Ed Wood's Dirty Movies, it contains 3 movies connected with Wood (most importantly, The Young Marrieds) and to celebrate we are screening The Young Marrieds at the RIO Theatre May 15, 2015 at 9:15pm.