July 22, 1959: “Plan 9 from Outer Space” Premieres

July 22, 1959: Plan 9 from Outer Space premieres, directed by Ed Wood. It has been called "the worst movie ever made" and "so bad it’s good."

It's a flying saucer story, where aliens plan to conquer Earth by reanimating dead Earth people. They start with an elderly couple, played by Dracula legend Bela Lugosi and Finnish-American actress Maila Nurmi, then known as TV horror-show host Vampira.

In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became "cult classics," including Glen or Glenda, about a half-man-half-woman. Wood himself was a transvestite. He later moved toward sexploitation and porn, and died in 1978, mostly forgotten.

Notable for their campy aesthetics, technical errors, unsophisticated special effect, use of poorly-matched stock footage, eccentric casts, idiosyncratic stories and non sequitur dialogue, Wood's films remained largely obscure until 1980, when film critic Michael Medved posthumously awarded him a Golden Turkey Award for Worst Director of All Time, renewing public interest in his life and work.

Lugosi died on August 16, 1956, before Wood could begin filming. So Wood used footage of Lugosi that he'd shot from a film he'd never finished, and shot a replacement, Tom Mason -- his wife's chiropractor -- from behind and with his cape covering his face.

The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956, and had a preview screening on March 15, 1957, at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles under the title Grave Robbers from Outer Space. Retitled Plan 9 from Outer Space, it went into general release on July 22, 1959.

Tor Johnson was a Swedish professional wrestler who had worked with Wood before, and played Inspector Daniel Clay. He lived until 1971. James "Duke" Moore, who only appeared in films directed by Wood, including this one, as Lieutenant John Harper, lived until 1976. Mona McKinnon, who played the female lead, Paula Trent, lived until 1990. Dudley Manlove, who played Eros, the aliens' leader, lived until 1996. So did Lyle Talbot, outside of Lugosi the biggest name in the film, who played General Roberts. Vampira lived until 2008. Gregory Walcott, who played the hero, pilot Jeff Trent, Paula's husband, lived until 2015.

In 1994, Tim Burton, who has spoken of Wood's influence on his own work, filmed Ed Wood, starring Johnny Depp as the director. Martin Landau won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing Lugosi.

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July 22, 1959 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Duke Maas outpitched Herb Score. Héctor López hit a home run. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4 with a walk. Yogi Berra went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Richie Ashburn went 4-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 6-2 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Frank Lary was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with a 2-run home run. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Sherm Lollar singled Nellie Fox home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th, making Turk Lown the winning pitcher in relief of Early Wynn. Lollar and Fox each got 3 hits. Ted Williams and Jerry Casale hit home runs for the Red Sox.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Warren Spahn was the winning pitcher, and hit a home run in his own cause. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Future Hall-of-Fame manager Dick Williams hit a home run for the A's. Roger Maris went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Ernie Banks went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Earl Averill hit a grand slam. Duke Snider went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. Stan Musial did not play.