A table read of Ed Wood’s comically bad classic Plan 9 From Outer Space featuring Bob Odenkirk, Laraine Newman, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Koechner, Oscar Nuñez and others is set for next month’s virtual edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival.
The 12th annual event runs May 6-9 on TCM and HBO Max and kicks off with a 60th anniversary screening of West Side Story and interviews with Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn.
Highlights also include interviews with Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam), Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA) and Debbie Allen (Fame); introductions from Michael Douglas to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Jacqueline Bisset to Bullitt; and a tribute to Martin Short with Clifford and Innerspace.
Director Bill Morrison’s latest short film on TCM, let me come in (2021), will have its broadcast premiere. Co-presented by the Los Angeles Opera, it features decayed film reels from the lost German silent film Pawns of Passion (1928).
And two popular staples of the in-person Hollywood fest, the Meet TCM panel discussion and Club TCM, will return, albeit in virtual form.
The Plan 9 table read, from SF Sketchfest and adapted by comedian Dana Gould, can be seen on TCM starting at 5 p.m. PDT on May 7 and will be followed by the 1959 film. Also involved: Maria Bamford, Janet Varney, Jonah Ray, Paul F. Tompkins, Gary Anthony Williams, Baron Vaughn, Deborah Baker Jr. and Kat Aagesen.
The fest, with more than 30 guests and more than 100 films, is being held virtually for a second straight year because of the pandemic. Watch a promo for the event and check out the TCM schedule and HBO Max lineup.