Glen or Glenda

Plot synopsis:
Glen or Glenda tells two stories. One is about Glen (Edward D. Wood Jr.), who secretly dresses as a woman but is afraid to tell his fiancée. The other is about Alan ('Tommy' Haynes), a pseudohermaphrodite who undergoes a painful operation to become a woman.Both stories are told by Dr. Alton (Timothy Farrell). There's a second narrator, called the Scientist (Bela Lugosi), whose commentary on the action contains more philosophical pronouncements than facts. The movie will also have flashbacks-within-flashbacks and a strange dream sequence.The introductory title card reads: "In the making of this film, which deals with a strange and curious subject, no punches have been pulled--no easy way out has been taken. Many of the smaller parts are portrayed by persons who actually are, in real life, the character [sic] they portray on the screen. This is a picture of stark realism---taking no sides---but giving you the facts---All the facts---as they are today....You are society---JUDGE YE NOT....."When the first scene opens, we see the Scientist sitting in a large chair with some kind of netting over it. He is shot from the shoulders up as he looks down. The shadow of the camera falls on the right side (his right) of the chair. Behind him, and above his head, we see three shelves. The top shelf has two skulls on either end and a lion's head in the middle. The second has a shrunken head on the left side (his left). Sticking out from the back of the chair is a long, cylindrical object with a round head.The camera pulls back. The shadow of the camera disappears from the chair and from the wall behind the Scientist. We see more of the room. On the Scientist's left is a skeleton hanging from the ceiling. On his right is a figure, also hanging from the ceiling, that looks like a native African in a loin cloth. We hear the sound of a violent wind.The Scientist is reading a large book. He closes it and looks up at us. He speaks: "Man's constant probing of things unknown, drawing from the endless reaches of time, brings to light many startling things. Startling? Because they seem new? Sudden! But most are not new. The signs of the ages!"A shot of the sky as lightning tears through it. We dissolve to the Scientist mixing chemicals in test tubes. He pours the results into a beaker and is happy with the result. "A life has begun!" he declares. He laughs.A busy city street. Via a trick shot we the Scientist on the top half of the screen as he looks down. "People!" he spits. "All going somewhere! All with their own thoughts! Their own ideas! All with their own personalities! One is wrong because he does right. One is right because he does wrong. Pull the string! Dance to that which one is created for!" He looks ready to pounce, but then laughs and then sighs ironically."A new day is begun," he continues. We hear the sound of a baby. "A new life is begun." A shot of an ambulance and the wail of its siren cut him off; but he reappears, superimposed on the screen. "A life is ended."We meet a corpse lying on a daybed. The corpse is of a man wearing women's clothing. Insp. Warren (Lyle Talbot), who is investigating this case, quickly sees this is a case of suicide. A note left near the body confirms it.This note, read aloud in a voice-over, says, "The records will tell the story. I was put in jail recently. Why? Because I, a man, was caught on the street wearing women's clothing. This was my fourth arrest for the same act. In life, I must continue wearing them. Therefore, it would only be a matter of time until my next arrest. This is the only way. Let my body rest in death forever in the things I cannot wear in life."Later, Insp. Warren seeks to know more about transvestites and transsexuals. He goes to a psychiatrist, Dr. Alton, for the facts.By this time the story has hit the papers. "Let us get our stories straight," says Dr. Alton. "You're referring to the suicide of the transvestite?"Warren replies, "If that's the word you men of medical science use for a man who wears woman's clothing, yes.""Yes, in cold, technical language, that's the word, as unfriendly and as vicious as it may sound. However, in actuality it's not an unfriendly word. Nor is it vicious when you know the people to whom it pertains."Insp. Warren brings up the case of a man's recent sex change, which Dr. Alton was involved in. "[Will an] operation do these people any good?""Some cases yes, some no. [...] You can only fully understand the sex change by taking two entirely different cases, two men with exactly the same background from childhood to manhood and onto their own decisions and destinations."Insp. Warren says, "I'd like to hear the story to the fullest."Dr. Alton rejoins, while turning to us in close-up, "Only the infinity of the depths of a man's mind can really tell the story."The picture goes blurry. We cut to flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder. Presently we're looking down at the Scientist who squints at us and says, "Dr. Alton, a young man though he is, speaks the words of the all-wise." He goes on to say, "No one can really tell the story. [Presumably he means the story of Glen/Glenda.] Mistakes are made. But there is no mistaking the thoughts in a man's mind. The story is begun!"Now we see Glen, dressed as Glenda, walking down the street. He's wearing a skirt and an angora sweater, while looking into a shop window. Dr. Alton (not the Scientist) says in a voice-over, "One might say, 'There but for the grace of God go I.'"We see a newspaper with the headline, "WORLD SHOCKED BY SEX CHANGE." "Why," asks Dr. Alton, "is the world shocked by this headline?""Airplanes!" we hear an old woman say in a voice-over, as we watch a plane dropping cargo. "Humph! Why, it's against the Creator's will. If the Creator wanted us to fly, he'd have given us wings."Dr. Alton says, "But we fly. Maybe some of you may still remember an even sillier remark.""Automobiles!" says an old man in a voice-over, as we see a field worker in a sombrero. "Bah! They scare the hosses [sic]! If the creator hadda meant for us to roam around the countryside, we'da been born with wheels!""Silly?" Dr. Alton chides. "Certainly. We were not born with wings. We were not born with wheels. But in modern [sic] world of today, it's an accepted fact that we must have them. So we have corrected that which nature has not given us. Strangely enough, nature has given us all these things. We just had to learn how to put nature's elements together for our use, that's all. Yet the world is shocked by a sex change!"We see Glen (as Glenda) at home. "Give this man satin undies, a dress, a sweater and a skirt," Alton continues, "or even the lounging outfit he has on, and he's the happiest individual in the world. He can work better, think better. He can play better. And he can be more of a credit to his community and his government because he is happy. These things are his comfort."But why the wig and makeup?" Alton continues. "He dares to enter the street dressed in the clothes he so much desires to wear, but only if he really appears female: the long hair, the makeup, the clothing, the actual contours of a girl."Do transvestites want to change their bodies? "Many of them simply want to change the clothing they wear to that [which] is worn by the opposite sex."We meet Barbara (Dolores Fuller), Glen's fiancée. She and Glen seem happy together, but Glenda casts a shadow over his mind. Barbara is blissfully ignorant, but she does notice that Glen needs his nails trimmed. They're almost as long and as pretty as hers.Dr. Alton continues his lecture: "Modern man is a hardworking human. Throughout the day his mind and his muscles are busy at building the modern world and its business administration. His clothing is rough, coarse, starched, according to the specifications of his accepted job."At home," he continues, "what does modern man have to look forward to for his body comfort? The things provided for his home, a wool or flannel robe, his feet encased in the same thick, tight-fitting leather that his shoes are made of. These are the things provided for his home comfort."Dr. Alton has an explanation for baldness: "Men wear hats, which cut off the blood flow to their heads." His statistic? "Seven out of ten men wear hats. ... Seven out of ten men are bald."Just for comparison, let's go native. Back to the animal instinct." We see African natives, beating drums and dancing. Surrounding them are skulls affixed to posts. The men have fancy masks. The women are unadorned."There in the lesser civilized part of the world, it's the male who adorns himself with the fancy objects, such as paints, frills and masks. The true instinct. The animal instinct. Bird and animal life. Is it not so that it's the male who is the fancy one? Could it be that the male was meant to attract the attention of the female?"What's so wrong about that?" he asks as a male carries off a female. "Where is the animal instinct in modern civilization? Female has the fluff and the finery, as specified by those who design and sell."Little Miss Female," says Dr. Alton, "you should feel quite proud of the situation. You of course realize that it's predominantly men who design your clothes, your jewelry, your makeup, your hair styling, your perfume. But life, even though its changes are slow, moves on. There's no law against wearing such apparel on the street, as long as it can be distinguished that man is man and woman is woman."But if man dresses as woman? We ridicule him, says Dr. Alton. We see a woman reading the newspaper with the ubiquitous headline, "WORLD SHOCKED BY SEX CHANGE." The paper is covering her face. When she sets it down, it turns out "she" is a man (Conrad Brooks) wearing a dress, earrings and a long, thick beard."You're doing it now," he says. "Laughing. Yet, it's not a situation to be laughed at."Dr. Alton turns back to Glen. Young Glen wore his sister's dress to a Halloween party and won first prize. "Then one day," says Dr. Alton, as we see Glen lounging in his sister's clothes, "it wasn't Halloween any longer."Glen is a transvestite, but he is not a homosexual," he continues. "Transvestism is the term given by medical science to those persons who desperately wish to wear the clothing of the opposite sex, yet whose sex life in all instances remains quite normal."Barbara starts to realize that something is wrong. She asks Glen, with more irony than she knows, if the trouble is ... another woman?We abruptly cut to a shot of stampeding buffalo. Then we dissolve to the Scientist crying, "Pull the string! Pull the string! A mistake is made. The story must be told!" (The meaning of this brief scene is open to interpretation.)Glen goes to his friend Johnny (Charles Crafts) for advice. Johnny is also a transvestite, whose wife divorced him when she found him wearing her clothes. Johnny advises Glen to tell Barbara about "Glenda."Dr. Alton explains that Glen should have seen a competent psychiatrist. He notes that some transvestites take their secrets to the grave. We proceed to a flashback-within-a-flashback in which Dr. Alton rhetorically asks "Glenda" if she remembers the time, a year before, when Glen and Barbara had accepted each other. We see Glen and Barbara accepting each other.We return from the flashback-within-a-flashback to the flashback. Glenda rushes into her house and then collapses as we hear a thunderclap. We dissolve into the Scientist delivering a cryptic warning: ""Bevare! Bevare! Bevare of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys! Puppy dog tails and big, fat snails! Bevare! Take care! Bevare!"Next is a dream sequence.We see shots of Glen (dressed as Glenda) alternating with those of Barbara. Glenda's hand gestures indicate that she wants Barbara to draw nearer. Barbara is in mental agony, which she indicates by holding her head in her hands and then dropping to the floor and slapping it with her palms. Glenda leaves the frame and the picture goes black.An effect, that's partly an iris out and partly a wipe, reveals Barbara struggling underneath something that looks like a tree. Glenda tries to pull it off her, but then she disappears, leaving Barbara to struggle alone. Glen appears and manages to pull off the tree and save her.We dissolve to a preacher. Barbara and Glen enter from behind the camera, facing the preacher and away from us, the audience. The preacher opens his book and then looks to his left. Satan appears. The preacher reaches toward Satan who gives him a ring. (Presumably, that is. Glen is obscuring the view.) The ceremony continues as Satan nods approvingly. Glen and Barbara kiss and walk toward the camera.We dissolve to the Scientist. "Tell me, tell me, dragon! Do you eat little boys? Puppy dog tails and big, fat snails?"We dissolve to a close-up of Glen, lit from underneath, as smoke rises from behind him. He looks up at us, shaking violently. A child's voice says, "Puppy dog tails! Puppy dog tails! Puppy dog tails! Everything nice. Everything nice. Ha, ha, ha! Puppy dog tails!"We abruptly cut to the Scientist. We alternate between shots of him, looking disgusted and outraged, shots of Glen looking frightened, and shots of women employed in various sado-masochistic activities. Both Glen and Bela seem to be reacting to the women.The vignettes: A half-dressed woman is whipped by a shirtless man. A woman stands at a pole, inviting some unseen person to come closer, as her dress nearly falls off. A woman in a flower-print dress seems bothered by it, so she rips it off. A woman performs a semi-dance routine as she slowly lifts up her dress to reveal her underwear. A woman with her mouth gagged frees another gagged woman whose hands are tied to a bamboo pole that's set across her shoulders. A woman writhes on her couch in ecstasy. A second woman sneaks up and ties her hands together and then gags her. A brunette sits at her vanity combing her hair. Later, she's nearly nude on her couch as she writhes around on it. A man with a pointed beard appears and rapes her. The vignettes end with a shot of Lugosi giving an expression of amused resignation.(Note: the sequence in italics is missing from some prints. Originally, the producer inserted this soft-core pornography into the film against the director's wishes. Ed Wood had nothing to do with it. Note also that in some prints the dream has a bit more footage than what is described here, and it runs in a slightly different order.)Then we're back to the dream sequence. We see Glen in his house, only the furniture has been turned upside down and the fireplace is tilted, giving the place an air of surreality. A sinister voice (not the Scientist's) says, "Big green dragons and big fat snails. Beware! Take care!""I'm a girl!" says the smug little child's voice. Then, "I'm not! You're a boy! A puppy dog tail! Ha! Ha! Ha!"A man with a pitying expression appears out of thin air. Glen reacts with fright. Then he sees the ghostly image of a woman looking angry. "Everything nice!" says the disembodied girl-voice. "Puppy dog tails, puppy dog tails, puppy dog tails!"A man and a woman, both looking censorious, fade into the scene, as they stand in front of a chalk board. An older woman, equally disapproving, pops in behind them.The girl repeats her nursery rhyme phrases as others, including Glen's sister, appear. They all point to him and surround him, lead on by Satan. When they disburse, we see that Glen is now Glenda again. He, as she, is now happy. The music is sweepingly romantic. Barbara walks in and gestures for Glenda to come near. She does, but then changes to Satan. Barbara reappears on a tipped-over love seat, and her outfits change supernaturally. She beckons Glenda again, and then laughs in Glenda's face. A sad Glenda's mental state is represented by the superimposed image of several hands with wiggling fingers. The various people reappear and laugh as they wiggle their fingers menacingly.Satan is pleased by all this. Then the male voice says, "Beware! Beware! Beware of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys. Puppy dog tails and big fat snails. Beware, take care! Beware." The delighted expression leaves Satan's face. The Prince of Darkness looks frightened. The dream ends with Glenda falling down and upsetting the tipped-over love seat.Glen has decided to tell Barbara of his dual personality, "to tell her of the nighties and negligees, the sweaters and skirts, the robes and dresses, the stockings and the high-heeled shoes, the wig and the makeup. All that goes to make Glen into Glenda. He tells Barbara he cannot cheat her of the knowledge that she as his fiancée should possess. All the facts. He tells her softly, hurriedly at first, then slowly as he becomes more technical. His hands move to caress the smooth material of her angora sweater, which he has so long, so desperately wanted to put on his own body. He tells of this to her, and she looks to the sweater and to his hands. Then, when it is all over, and that much of the story he knows is told, Barbara is not sure of her own thoughts."Glen appears to the Scientist, kneeling down with a silent plea. The Scientist, who has had no interaction with the other characters until now, makes a gesture of contempt that causes Glen to disappear.Barbara makes a decision. She takes off her angora sweater and hands it to Glen.Next we hear the story of Alan/Anne. Alan's parents always wanted a girl. Instead they got a pseudohermaphrodite, who was more boy than girl. Dr. Alton explains: "[A] hermaphrodite is one who has the organs of both the female and the male in plain sight. A pseudohermaphrodite is one who has one perfectly formed organ of either sex, and one imperfectly formed one that's difficult to detect."Alan's main comfort during his stay in the army was a suitcase secretly filled with women's clothes. "Wherever Alan went," says Dr. Alton, "the suitcase was sure to go."Eventually, Alan gets a sex change. "Never was there a whimper from [Alan]," says Dr. Alton of Alan's surgery and hormone shots, "because he knew that at the end of it all, he would at least be that what he had always dreamed"--a woman.The Scientist waves his hand over Alan and causes him to disappear. Then he waves his hand again and causes him to reappear as Anne.Anne does become a woman and society accepts her. But what of Glen/Glenda? Glenda, Dr. Alton explains, is a fictitious character created by Glen to take the place of the love he never received from his mother or father. Barbara "kills off" this character by becoming everything to him that Glenda was: his mother, little sister and wife."But what of the hundreds of less fortunate Glens the world over?" asks Dr. Alton.We return to the Scientist and hear the ominous rumbling of thunder. "Yes, but what of the others, the less fortunate Glens the world over?" he asks. "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails!"

Tags: cult, psychedelic, flashback

Review:
It's telling that the extreme-religious-conservative Medved brothers were the ones who named Ed Wood "worst director of all time." They must have thought they were really sticking it to Ed Wood for making all those subversively weird films involving crossdressing and homosexuals and society's outcasts.
If you're looking for the worst movie ever made, go watch "Armageddon" or "Crossroads." If you're looking for THE pioneering moment in GLBT film history, the greatest and most underrated American DIY avante-garde feature of its time, or an experience that just might change the way you view movies and the world at large, start right here..
While I was first watching Tim Burton's fantastic film, recreating the making of "Glen Or Glenda", I noticed that there were things in it that seemed rather familiar to me, even after 30+ years have passed, and that is what partly interested me in looking into both the book, and Ed Wood's films.
However, this is certainly not to say that the film is irrelevant to today's social standards, regulations, and expectations, on the contrary it proves to be quite pertinent to life in the 21st century.'Glen or Glenda' opens with a character simply cast as 'Scientist' (Bela Lugosi) prophetically speaking of the society in which we live and its and loathing of the seemingly abnormal or unknown.
Alton continues to tell Inspector Warren of the internal struggle within Glen: whether to tell Barbara of his secret lifestyle or to keep it to himself or to entirely stop wearing the clothes which make him feel so much like himself?Although the subject matter, upon first glance, may seem to some a tongue in cheek jab at the transvestites and other "oddballs" of the world, it was not intended that way - nor does it come across as such after viewing the film.
Glen or Glenda proves to be entertaining and intriguing, full of obscure characters and a fresh subject matter: a film far ahead of it's time..
Plus, you get Bela Lugosi as God (he's nice and campy), several out-of-place striptease and cheesecake scenes (pretty graphic for 1953), and Dolores Fuller (Wood's real-life girlfriend) as Glen's fiancee.Too many people rated this movie with a 1.
Like in "plan nine outer space" ,Ed Wood tries to put a message across in his film.In his sci-fi flick,he made his E.T. blame the human race for their self-destruction :it was not unlike Robert Wise's "the day the earth stood still" and not more naive than the latter.The main difference lies in the fact that Wood had a shoestring budget with his cardboard flying saucers and his shower curtain in the "plane" "Glen or Glenda" is anything but stupid.Just tell me the name of a director (in the USA or elsewhere) who dared to treat such a taboo subject: the transvestites -not necessarily homosexual- and even the transsexuals.His film ,with voice over galore,although dated today of course was a plea for tolerance.The fact that Ed Wood himself used to dress himself as a woman (see Tim Burton's eponymous movie) is proof positive that he knows what he is taking about.Bela Lugosi's part,on the other hand,gets in the way.Is he a scientist?
Not only it was produced significantly before the so called "sexual revolution" of the '60s, but also certain gender issues that were carefully covered in the movie seem to be still beyond the understanding of certain narrow-minded and prejudiced people today.I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to get to know Edward Wood and his work and also to people interested in the history of approach to gender studies and the society..
Unfortunately, Wood had neither the budget nor the know how to make the film.The story opens with a prologue by Bela Lugosi that makes little sense and then moves to the discovery of a dead transvestite Glen/Glenda (Daniel Davis aka Ed Wood).
We see endless stock footage shots of anything from freeway traffic to soldiers landing on the beach, interspersed with shots of Wood walking down the same street dressed as either Glen or Glenda and looking longingly at women's clothes in a store window.
Lugosi keeps saying, bevare, bevare...take care, take care, as well as, some gibberish about snakes and snails and puppy dog's tails.The story also deals with a transvestite who has a successful sex change operation and tries to explain the difference between that person and Wood's character(s).
When describing I Changed My Sex, or Glen Or Glenda as it is better known, I must echo the thoughts of Andrew Smith, who so hit the nail on the head when he wrote "If you haven't seen any of Ed Wood's other movies, this one is a completely bewildering experience.
Had Wood been able to sit back and think about what he is trying to do for a while, there is no telling what kind of heights he could have achieved.Wood himself appears in the film as the titular character, a confused transvestite who imagines himself as a woman named Glenda.
That is how little society has learned since Ed Wood was a boy.The other significant personality in Glen Or Glenda is Bela Lugosi, whom Wood shoehorned into the film.
Breathtakingly Bad. Sitting in a big wing chair with a huge book in his lap, the one and only Bela Lugosi looks into the camera and, in a dreadful vocal delivery that sounds as if he were mocking a reading of Shakespeare, intones sloooow-ly: "Man's constant groping of things unknown, drawing from the endless reaches of time, brings to light many startling things; (snicker); startling?, because they seem new (Lugosi's eyes now bulging, with raised eyebrows, and mouth sneering, he continues) but most are not new, the signs of the ages" (cue a visual of lightening, accompanied by the sound of thunder which then continues to rumble for an astonishing 86 seconds).And so begins what is arguably the worst film ever made.
One long sequence consists of some unknown woman wriggling on a sofa, followed by a man whipping a woman in what we would today refer to as S&M.Then, at odd moments Bela reappears, for no apparent reason, and babbles more inane dialogue, like: "When he's wrong because he does right, and when he's right because he does wrong; pull the string, dance to that." Huh?About twenty percent of the film's visuals consist of stock footage, accompanied by a VO that relates to the story motif but not the visuals.
His movie idol Bela Lugosi being the narrator makes perfect sense as do the strange and dreadful supporting actors and inspired use of strange stock footage.The is expressionistic film-making on par with the best in the genre.
Ed Wood is the one true auteur of bad film directors and this is his one true good movie.Like a line in this film states: "Only the infinity of the depths of a man's mind can really tell the story.".
Wood, Jr. talked an exploitation movie producer into hiring him to direct what was initially meant to be the story of Christine Jorgenson, the first (and heavily publicized) case of surgically induced transexualism; this project was alternately to be called "The Christine Jorgenson Story," and later (after Jorgenson changed her mind), "I Changed My Sex." Of course, after Ed Wood got his hands on the basic storyline, he altered it so as to tell the story of his own transvestitism and to plead for greater tolerance and understanding; set against the staid morals of the early 1950s, Ed's pleading was actually ahead of its time.Now, in wanting to tell this story, but in being constrained by both a shoestring budget and some rather bizarrely unusual filmaking instincts, Ed's efforts went sharply astray.
Glen or Glenda is more than likely the best of the bad Edward D Wood Jr movies.
The "Beware" speech, repeated a few times, first by "Scientist" Bela Lugosi, who was put in the film just for the purpose of having a mad scientist who is, maybe, like a God or something in this world, is howlingly funny, certainly more inspired than any of the "banter" between the policeman and the psychologist.And yet...
'Glen or Glenda' is legendary Ed Wood's first feature film as director/writer/actor.
'Glen or Glenda' is incoherent mess, badly written and directed with lousy editing and awful acting mixed with stock-footage, but there is some certain charm in that movie.
I actually think it anyway - the surreal scene with a man whipping a woman, and other women dancing and in the bondage, is just magnificent.Unintentionally funny ans surreal, but deliberately enjoyable mess.P.S. And all of you who think I'm nuts (I might be), 'Glen or Glenda' is one of the favorite films of no other than legendary David Lynch..
His message is emotional at times and the film never fails to catch your attention or entertain.Certainly not Wood's best movie but one that has a more visible, deeper meaning..
It's hard to watch "Glen or Glenda" and not think about the guy who made it...his own transvestism, war history, and his ultimately dubious movie-making legacy.
OK, the dialog is strange, the acting was goofy, the various metaphors didn't make much sense...but think about it: Bela Lugosi playing a mad scientist who narrates a documentary on transvestism which eventually turns into random scenes of soft-core lesbian bondage and stock WWII footage.
As a movie very low, as entertainment at least a little higher.The movie tries to explain what a transvestite is and it does this through a scientist (Bela Lugosi) and an inspector (Lyle Talbot) who talks to a doctor (Timothy Farrell) who knows about these things.
The first and longest story is about Glen (Ed Wood himself) who is in love and about to marry Barbara (Dolores Fuller) but he has never told her he like to dress as a woman, when he is named Glenda.
We start with a decrept Bela Lugosi warning us to 'bevare of the big Green Dragon..he eats little boys!' Then we find a police officer and shrink chatting over the recent suicide of a transvestite...long-winded dialogue commences before our hero is introduced, Glen.
After all, "Glen is NOT a homosexual, he is a transvestite but he NOT a homosexual" Wood's stream of consciousness, admittedly in better form in 'Plan 9' babbles on like stream, taking in ruminations about human nature, western civilization and mental illness, at times simply illustrated by stock footage of streets and factories!
"The rest is about some schmuck who likes Angora sweaters!" The film is a sad reflection of how low Lugosi had sunk at the end and it does make you wonder how accurate was the Depp-Landau portrayal of Wood as a nice, if talentless guy who just wanted to help out his idol.
Glen and Glenda was not a huge success in the 50s causing Ed Wood to be considered one of the worst directors out there at the time, but look at this film.
There are people that deal with situations like this all the time in our modern society.This had me thinking, was this just a cheap film for Ed Wood Jr., or was it nothing short of brilliant.
While his other films, like Plan 9 From Outer Space, drag a little, this one doesn't contain a single dull moment, although it is a bit long, I'll admit.Bela Lugosi is the star.
The film was originally slated to be a biopic on Christine Jorgensen, the propriety of the first publicly known sex change operation (in this case from male to female) Wood, however, took over production and instead turned it into a film about his own transvestism.Whether you're conservative or liberal on issue of cross-dressing and trans-sexuality, Glen Or Glenda manages to do something which I've seen many sacred cows fail to do, create emotional interest in its main characters, and succeeds to raise question on what it means to be normal, with an issue which is just as relevant today as it was in 1953.The movie's production values are surprisingly good for a film of this calibre.
Even the film's acting is decent, certainly better than in the likes of Plan 9 from Outer Space.Lugosi's character is widely regarded to be a scientist representing God. At first, I didn't understand the character's role in the movie (plus the use of the stock of footage is completely random).
However, I was impressed with how his catchphrase which he utters throughout the course of the movie actually finds its way to having relevance with the plot.I'm not the type of person who over analyzes movies looking for their deeper meaning, but in Glen or Glenda it really came through quite obviously and did leave an impression on me, as well as changing my opinions on Wood as a director.
Plan 9 From Outer Space may be the most popular of Ed Wood's film, but Glen or Glenda is...
Although "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Bride of the Monster" weren't nearly as good, "Glen or Glenda" seemed like a mixture between '50s propaganda and your average David Lynch movie which probably was the effect intended by Ed Wood.
So given the accepted knowledge of the time, no doubt gleaned from his many visits to a psychiatrist, Wood fashioned Glen Or Glenda and gave himself the title role.The film is done documentary style as police detective Lyle Talbot investigates the suicide of a man found dead in women's clothes.
The storyline is very thin; some parts of the movie are not even related to the storyline and are inexplicable, such as the silent (with background music) scenes of one woman tying up another lying on a couch, or a guy whipping a woman lying on the same couch, or Ed Wood (as Glen/da) making a face that looks like he's being electrocuted while a little girl's voice echoes in the background "Puppy dog tails!
With Wood playing the title character in the movie Glen/Glenda.
Lugosi starts to get even more ridiculous as the movie rolls on with sayings that make no sense at all in light of the story that were seeing like "Dragon tell me, do you eat little boys and puppy dogs tails and big fat snails?".
As the movie draws to a close Dr. Alton and almost in cadence Bela Lugosi end the it saying sadly that there are other transvestites like Glen who's stories don't have that same happy ending; and just how many more are there?
The title of this tape was "I Changed My Sex, AKA Glen or Glenda".Many years later, I viewed this famously 'so-bad-it's-good' classic on public access television, when it slowly dawned upon me that i was watching the film from that silly advertisement!
Glen is NOT a homosexual.That is the most important thing about the film "Glen or Glenda?"  Never mind that this film is Ed Wood's masterpiece; a loopy, nonsensical hodepodge of exploitation film narrative, stock footage, and hammy narration from Bela Lugosi.
Bela Lugosi doesn't belong in this movie and the bizarre dream sequence that Glen has is more like a stag film and has little to do with the movie.
It just goes on and on and on, yet it's incredibly short in reality.When a film has as many names as "Glen or Glenda" does you know it's going to be bad (It's also known as He or She, I Changed My Sex, I Led Two Lives, and The Transvestite).
You can tell that Wood was so serious in trying to get people to understand him and this is made even clearer by the director playing the role and Glen and Glenda.
Glen or Glenda, however, is a painful and tedious disaster and - no matter how good Wood's intentions were - it's a strong contender for the title of worst movie ever made.
The result is a bizarre piece of movie history, and the beginning of Ed Wood's (undeserved) legacy as the most terrible director ever."Glen or Glenda" is a patchwork of bad ideas.
A psychiatrist tells two stories: one of a transvestite (Glen or Glenda), the other of a pseudohermaphrodite (Alan or Anne).Ed Wood is often seen as a bad director, and this is often seen as a bad film (though not his worst).
And "Glen or Glenda," his first and most confessional film, is probably his very worst."Glen or Glenda" is a deadening cult movie about a cross-dresser named Glen (played by director/writer Ed Wood himself) who despite his love for his fiancée Barbara (Dolores Fuller), cannot seem to conquer his lust for transvestitism, in which he dresses in women's clothing and a wig and thus becomes...Glenda!
Glen/Glenda's story is narrated by a doctor and he too is talked and watched over by a mysterious character called "The Scientist" played by veteran horror star Bela Lugosi.
I just recently watched Ed Wood Jr.'s autobiographical movie Glen or Glenda for the first time after having heard so much about it for so many years.
No one will doubt, "Glen or glenda" is the worst American film ever shot...from beginning to end, it's amateur quality scenes acted by Wood himself, cutted with stock shots of a bit everything (running bulls, lightnings,...
But the subject of the movie, the so poor production and the fact that Ed Wood wanted so much to tell the world a so difficult story for that time (The main plot is a kind of documentary about transvestites) makes it a major movie in the film industry history.
The best moments of this misguided monstrosity can easily be seen in other movies (Ed Wood, It Came From Hollywood, etc.), so there is no reason to sit through Glen or Glenda unless your life is coming to an end and you want time to pass much more slowly.
Okay, Glen or Glenda is a really bad movie, Ed's penchant for wearing fuzzy angora sweaters is definitely not enough to pull this film out of the trash heap.