Glen or Glenda (
1953) is an
exploitation film written, directed by, and starring
Ed Wood, and featuring
Bela Lugosi and Wood's then-girlfriend
Dolores Fuller. The title was originally
I Changed My Sex! and is often given as
Glen or Glenda? but the question mark is not present in the film itself. A new musical score for the film was composed in 2010 by Michael Penny.
The film is a docudrama about cross-dressing and transsexuality, and is semi-autobiographical in nature. Wood himself was a crossdresser, and the film is a plea for tolerance. It is widely considered one of the worst films ever. However, it has become a cult film due to its low-budget production values and idiosyncratic style.
Plot
Glen or Glenda
The first part of the film begins with a narrator called The Scientist (
Bela Lugosi) making cryptic comments about humanity. The film properly opens with Inspector Warren finding the corpse of a male transvestite named Patrick/Patricia, who has committed
suicide. Wanting to know more about cross-dressing, Warren seeks out Dr. Alton, who narrates for him the story of Glen/Glenda. However, at several points Alton appears to address the viewer rather than Inspector Warren, and the unclear role of the Scientist as narrator makes things even more confusing. Glen is shown studying women's clothes in a shop window. Dr. Alton points out that men's clothes are dull and restrictive, whereas women can adorn themselves with attractive clothing. He also makes some bizarre statements, such as that
baldness is caused by hats. Glen reads about
sex change operations in a newspaper, then meets with Barbara, his girlfriend, who asks if Glen's secret problem is another woman.
The film then cuts to the infamous shot of the Scientist shouting "Pull the string!" as bison stampede onscreen. It is not clear what this is meant to mean; perhaps that Glen should act as puppeteer, controlling his own life instead of letting others dictate it. Another transvestite friend of his, John, tells Glen how cross-dressing ended his marriage. A bizarre dream sequence, containing some BDSM pornography, follows. Glen then decides to tell Barbara the truth. She offers her an angora sweater as a sign of acceptance.
Alan or Anne
The second part is much shorter, and was made to meet the distributor's demand for a
sex change film. Alan is a
pseudohermaphrodite who fights in the
Second World War wearing women's underwear. After her return, Alan becomes the woman she always was through surgery.
Origin
The
sex reassignment surgery of
Christine Jorgensen made national headlines in the U.S. in 1952, and this was the inspiration for
George Weiss, a
Hollywood producer of low-budget films, to commission a movie to exploit it. Originally Weiss made Jorgensen several offers to appear in the film, but these were turned down. Wood convinced Weiss that his own transvestism made him the perfect director despite his modest resume. Wood was given the job and took the money, but instead made a movie about transvestism. Working titles during the film's production included
Behind Locked Doors and
Transvestite. His girlfriend,
Dolores Fuller, played Glen's girlfriend. Fuller was not aware of Wood's transvestism at the time: the nature of the film was not fully explained to her, and Wood rarely wore women's clothing when she was on set. Only at a screening of the finished product was the truth revealed, and Fuller claims to have been humiliated by the experience.
In the theatrical trailer, included in laserdisc and DVD editions, the concluding scene of the film, in which Fuller hands over her angora sweater, is a different take than the one in the release version — in the trailer, she tosses it to Wood in a huff, while the release version shows her handing it over more acceptingly. There is also a shot of Wood in drag, mouthing the word "Cut!"
Idiosyncrasies
Leonard Maltin's
Movie and Video Guide names this film as "possibly the worst movie ever made," a dubious honor previously held by another Wood film,
Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Lugosi is credited as "The Scientist", a character whose purpose is unclear. He acts as a sort of narrator but gives no narration relevant to the plot; that job is reserved for the film's primary narrator, Timothy Farrell.
In Seed of Chucky (2004), Chucky and his bride Tiffany decide to call their child "Glen or Glenda" as it lacks genitalia.
Glenda, the Plan 9 Bunny, the mascot of the distributed operating system Plan 9 from Bell Labs, is named after Glen or Glenda?. Plan 9 from Bell Labs is a reference to Plan 9 from Outer Space, another film by Ed Wood.
In Marvel Comics's Runaways Chase says to the team after Xavin calls them children "Did 'Glen or Glenda' just call us children?". A nod to Xavin's often shapeshifting from a boy to a girl.
See also
Transgender in film and television
Cross-dressing in film and television
List of films considered the worst
Edward D. Wood, Jr. filmography
References
The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1996), documentary film directed by Brett Thompson
Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstacy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992) ISBN 978-0922915248
External links
Category:1953 films
Category:Docudramas
Category:Films directed by Ed Wood
Category:Transgender in film and television
Category:Cross-dressing in film and television
Category:Sexploitation films
Category:English-language films
