That’s the question that Guardian film writer Alex von Tunzelmann proposes this morning in a reevaluation of the 1994 biopic of the famed schlock director starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landau and others.

I’ve made no secret of my affection of the 1994 B&W flick that netted Landau an Oscar nod for his turn as horror legend Bela Lugosi.

Here’s what Von Tunzelmann has to say:

“Ed Wood is a beguiling portrait of 1950s Hollywood. It may not be exactly how things were, but it’s a million times more watchable and more credible than anything Edward D. Wood Jr ever made.”

Von Tunzelmann also notes:

“It’s 1953, and aspiring film-maker Eddie Wood (Johnny Depp) is thrilled to hear that a producer is filming the story of a famous transsexual. The reason? Wood himself loves wearing women’s clothes, particularly angora sweaters. He pitches himself as writing, directing and starring – “just like Orson Welles did in Citizen Kane”. The result – Glen or Glenda? – fell slightly short of the critical acclaim bestowed upon Welles’s movie. The New York Times said “It isn’t quite a camp classic, although it’s dreadful enough to have a certain comic appeal” – one of the kindest mainstream comments Wood ever received.”

Read the full story here.