{"id":498,"date":"2024-07-13T20:17:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T20:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=498"},"modified":"2024-10-15T00:16:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T04:16:49","slug":"glen-or-glenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/07\/13\/glen-or-glenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Glen or Glenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Glen or Glenda<\/strong> (1953)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screen Classics\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 71 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No MPAA rating (mature themes, some sexual material, brief partial nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Edward D. Wood Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: William Lava\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: William C. Thompson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 1953 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Bela Lugosi, Edward D. Wood Jr. (as \u201cDaniel Davis\u201d), Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Tommy Haynes, Charlie Crafts, Conrad Brooks (as \u201cConnie Brooks\u201d), William M.A. deOrgler (as \u201cCaptain DeZita\u201d), Henry Bederski, Carol Daugherty.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0I must be out of my mind awarding four stars to Glen or Glenda<\/strong>. It\u2019s easily one of the worst films ever made, yet quite brilliant at the same time. It was definitely radical for its time. No respectable filmmaker dared broach a subject as controversial as transvestitism, especially not with the Production Code (aka the Hays Code) in effect.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The term \u201crespectable\u201d doesn\u2019t actually apply to Edward D. Wood Jr. who jumped at the chance to write and direct a movie about something near and dear to his heart. A cross-dresser himself, Wood felt he was the most qualified man for the job. This is the pitch he gave to producer George Weiss, the purveyor of exploitation movies like Test Tube Babies, Too Hot to Handle and Paris After Midnight. Weiss was about to start work on a film about Christine Jorgensen, the individual who made headlines after undergoing a sex-change operation. He became a she and shocked a nation not yet accustomed to reading tawdry tabloid tales in the morning paper. Wood lobbied hard and got the gig, his first feature film.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A funny thing happened on the way to the cinema. The movie, originally titled I Changed My Sex, changed direction in the incompetent hands of Mr. Wood. It was supposed to be a loose telling of Jorgensen\u2019s story, but Ed had loftier intentions. He saw an opportunity to make a sensitive and informative docudrama about transvestitism. Semi-autobiographical in nature, it would also be a plea for tolerance. He didn\u2019t abandon the Jorgensen angle altogether; he just set it aside to make way for his story about Glen and his female alter-ego Glenda. And who better to play the lead role(s) than the man himself under the pseudonym \u201cDaniel Davis\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Wood shot Glen or Glenda<\/strong> in four days guerilla style. This means he didn\u2019t have the necessary permits to shoot on public streets, so he and his crew had to work fast to get the shots before the cops chased them away. Charitable guy that he was, he cast his good friend Bela Lugosi in a key role. The former Dracula star fell on hard times later in life. He was penniless, in poor health, addicted to drugs and unemployable when Ed met him by chance. A fervent fan of the actor, Wood was only too happy to include him in Glen or Glenda<\/strong>. He plays an omniscient overseer who comments on the action in the film. He gets to say things like \u201cPull the strings!\u201d and \u201cBeware of the big, green dragon that sits on your doorstep.\u201d It makes about as much sense out of context as it does in, but it sounds cool when spoken with a Hungarian accent.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bela is one of two narrators in Glen or Glenda<\/strong>. The other is Dr. Alton (Farrell, Test Tube Babies), a psychiatrist who relates the story of Glen\/Glenda to a police detective (Talbot, Plan 9 from Outer Space) looking to better understand transvestitism in his investigation of the suicide of a drag queen. His rambling narration is something else. He sounds exactly like the guy that narrated all those boring educational films they used to make us watch in school. I kept waiting for a lecture about the practical uses of zinc. He makes astute observations like, \u201cThe world is a strange place to live in. All those cars. All going someplace. All carrying humans, which are carrying out their lives.\u201d He makes this deep statement over stock footage of cars on a freeway. Quite a bit of Glen or Glenda<\/strong> is composed of unrelated stock footage. We get shots of buffalo stampeding, steel mills pushing out hot metal, kids playing ball and a military battle. What does it all mean? It either means Wood is some kind of thrifty genius or the biggest cheapskate in the world. Either way, it\u2019s nothing more than filler meant to pad out a film with little in the way of substance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Finally, we get to the \u201cplot\u201d of Glen or Glenda<\/strong>. \u201cGlen\u201d is engaged to his girlfriend Barbara played by Wood\u2019s then real-life girlfriend Dolores Fuller. He\u2019s in love with her and has a big decision to make. Should he tell her about his feminine side (aka \u201cGlenda\u201d) or keep it to himself? He\u2019s afraid she might reject him if he tells her about his predilection for women\u2019s clothing, specifically her angora sweater. He struggles with this dilemma mightily before deciding what to do.<\/p>\n

\u00a0That\u2019s the Glen and Glenda portion of Glen or Glenda<\/strong>. What about Christine\u2019s story? It\u2019s in there. Near the end, Alton tells the detective about another case, that of a man named Alan (Haynes) who became Anne after a sex change operation. He explains that the two cases are different because Alan\/Anne was a hermaphrodite and Glen\/Glenda is not. It takes up approximately five minutes of the movie\u2019s 71-minute running time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Weiss was reportedly furious with the final product, even threatening Wood for not delivering what was promised. In order to salvage the f***ed-up film, the producer added erotic footage of strippers and bondage scenarios to spice things up, to make it more like the exploitation movie he wanted. Then it gets positively surreal with nightmarish images of people in Glen\u2019s life mocking him and a bearded demonic creature (Captain DeZita) staring at him from the abyss.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Getting back to my original statement, why on earth would I give Glen or Glenda<\/strong> a four-star rating when it\u2019s so damn bad? Everything about it is awful. The directing, writing, dialogue, music (so dramatic!), editing, cinematography and especially the acting- all terrible! Fuller is particularly bad as the understanding gf Barbara. Her casting is the very definition of nepotism although Wood probably thought she was a great actress deserving of an Oscar. He was delusional about a lot of things. This is one of his grandest delusions. The woman couldn\u2019t read lines to save her life. The scene where she expresses mental anguish over the bombshell dropped by her intended is a true howler. Fuller would ultimately move on to a successful songwriting career shortly after a bit part in Bride of the Monster. She originally had the lead role, but was demoted to bit player in favor of non-actress Loretta King who Wood mistakenly thought would be financing the movie. She left Ed and Hollywood for the bright lights of New York and never looked back.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For all its many, MANY shortcomings, Glen or Glenda<\/strong> is a lot of campy fun. I love what Lugosi does here. The role he plays and the dialogue- PURE INSANITY! And you know what they say about there being a fine line between genius and insanity, right? Wood had a way with dialogue. The man thought he was Shakespeare with lines like \u201cOnly the infinity of the depths of a man\u2019s mind can really tell the story.\u201d This is one of the brilliant insights offered up by the good doctor. It\u2019s right down there with Glen\u2019s self-analytical comment: \u201cMy mind is in a muddle. Like\u2026. thick fog. I can\u2019t make sense to myself sometimes.\u201d You\u2019re not alone, Glen (or Glenda). It makes no sense to us either.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Glen or Glenda<\/strong> would have likely faded into obscurity if not for the revival of interest in Wood\u2019s body of work brought about by the Medveds\u2019 book The Golden Turkey Awards. They named Wood as \u201cWorst Director of All Time\u201d and Plan 9 from Outer Space as \u201cWorst Movie of All Time\u201d. Paramount tried to turn Glen or Glenda<\/strong> into a cult film, re-releasing it to cinemas in 1981 only for it to close two weeks later. I guess the world wasn\u2019t yet ready for the demented delight that is Glen or Glenda<\/strong>. It\u2019s as inept as any bad movie ever made, possibly even more so. Wood loved movies, but that didn\u2019t mean he was any good at making them. He made movies that redefined the term \u201cschlock\u201d. That\u2019s what makes him so AWESOME! Is it any wonder Tim Burton made a biopic about him (still his best work!)? Perhaps the best way to watch Glen or Glenda<\/strong> (or Bride of the Monster or Plan 9 from Outer Space) is on a double feature with Ed Wood. No wait, NOT perhaps. It IS <\/em>the best way!\"\"<\/p>\n

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Glen or Glenda (1953)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screen Classics\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 71 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No MPAA rating (mature themes, some sexual material, brief partial nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Edward D. Wood Jr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: William Lava\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: William C. Thompson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 1953 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Bela Lugosi, Edward D. Wood Jr. (as \u201cDaniel Davis\u201d), Dolores Fuller, Timothy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cool-cult-flicks"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Glen-or-Glenda.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6238,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions\/6238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}