Editing Glen or Glenda

{{short description|1953 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Glen or Glenda
| image          = Glen or Glenda.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical film poster
| director       = [[Ed Wood]]
| producer       = [[George Weiss (producer)|George Weiss]]
| writer         = Ed Wood
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Bela Lugosi]]
* Ed Wood (as Daniel Davis)
* [[Timothy Farrell]]
* [[Dolores Fuller]]
}}
| narrator       = [[Timothy Farrell]]
| music          = [[William Lava]] (uncredited)
| cinematography = [[William C. Thompson (cinematographer)|William C. Thompson]]
| editing        = Bud Schelling
| distributor    = Screen Classics
| released       = {{Film date|1953|04}}
| runtime        = {{indented plainlist|
* 65 minutes (director's cut)
* 71 minutes (producer's cut)
}}
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $20,000 ({{Inflation|US|20,000|1953|fmt=eq|r=-3}}{{inflation/fn|US}})
}}
'''''Glen or Glenda''''' is a 1953 American [[Independent film|independent]] [[exploitation film]] directed, written by and starring [[Ed Wood]] (credited in his starring role as "Daniel Davis"), and featuring Wood's then-girlfriend [[Dolores Fuller]] and [[Bela Lugosi]]. It was produced by [[George Weiss (producer)|George Weiss]] who also made the exploitation film ''[[Test Tube Babies (film)|Test Tube Babies]]'' that same year.<ref name="Weldon, Michael 1983">Weldon, Michael (1983). ''The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film''. [[Ballantine Books]]. {{ISBN|0-345-34345-X}}. Page 284</ref>

The film is a [[docudrama]] about [[cross-dressing]] and [[transvestism]], and is semi-[[Autobiography|autobiographical]] in nature. Wood himself was a cross-dresser, and the film is a plea for tolerance. It was widely considered [[List of films considered the worst#Glen or Glenda (1953)|one of the worst films ever made]] upon release. However, it has since been reevaluated and has become a [[cult film]] due to its low-budget production values, [[Idiosyncrasy|idiosyncratic]] style, and early cinematic themes of [[Transgender rights movement|transgender acceptance]].

==Plot==
[[File:Glen or Glenda (1953) by Ed Wood.webm|left|thumb|''Glen or Glenda'' (1953) by Ed Wood]]
[[File:Ed wood glen or glenda.jpg|thumb|[[Ed Wood]] as Glen]]
A police inspector investigating the suicide of a [[Transvestism|transvestite]] named Patrick/Patricia seeks the advice of Dr. Alton, who narrates for him the story of Glen/Glenda.

Glen started out by asking to wear his sister's dress for a [[Halloween]] party. The narrative explains that Glen is a transvestite, but not a [[Homosexuality|homosexual]]. He hides his cross-dressing from his fiancée, Barbara, fearing that she will reject him. She voices her suspicion that there is another woman in his life, unaware that the woman is his feminine alter ego, Glenda.

Alton narrates that Glen is torn between the idea of being honest with Barbara before their wedding or waiting until after. Glen confides in a transvestite friend of his, John, whose wife left him after catching him wearing her clothes.

Glen/Glenda is caught in a storm. The sound of [[thunder]] drives him to collapse to the floor. An extended [[dream sequence]] begins, containing several vignettes symbolically depicting Glen's struggle with his sexuality. Glen/Glenda wakes and decides to tell Barbara the truth. She initially reacts with distress, but ultimately decides to stay with him. She offers him an [[Angora wool|angora]] sweater as a sign of acceptance.

Back in Dr. Alton's office, he relates another narrative, this one concerning a [[World War II]] veteran named Alan who underwent [[sex reassignment surgery]] to become "a lovely young woman" named Anne.

==Cast==
* [[Bela Lugosi]] as Scientist/Spirit
* [[Ed Wood]] as Glen/Glenda
* [[Timothy Farrell]] as Dr. Alton/Narrator
* [[Dolores Fuller]] as Barbara
* 'Tommy' Haynes as Alan/Anne
* [[Lyle Talbot]] as Inspector Warren
* Charlie Crafts as Johnny
* [[Conrad Brooks]] as Banker/Reporter/Pickup Artist/Bearded Drag
* William M. A. deOrgler aka Captain DeZita as The Devil

==Production==
Shot in four days, the film was loosely inspired by the [[sex reassignment surgery]] of [[Christine Jorgensen]], which made national headlines in the U.S. in 1952. [[George Weiss (producer)|George Weiss]], a [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] producer of low-budget films, commissioned a movie to exploit the case. Originally Weiss made Jorgensen several offers to appear in the film, but these were turned down.<ref name="rhodes">
{{cite book | last = Rhodes | first = Gary D. | title = Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers | year = 1997 | publisher = McFarland| pages=142 | isbn = 0-7864-0257-1 }}</ref> Wood convinced Weiss that his own transvestism made him the perfect director despite his modest resume. Wood was given the job, but instead made a movie about transvestism. Nonetheless, posters for the film still claimed it was based on Jorgensen's case.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-g/glen_or_glenda_poster_03.jpg|title="I Led 2 Lives" Based on the Lives of Christine Jorgensen|access-date=2017-08-10|archive-date=2021-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708095308/http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-g/glen_or_glenda_poster_03.jpg|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wood persuaded Lugosi, at the time poor and [[drug addiction|drug-addicted]], to appear in the movie. Lugosi's scenes were shot at the Jack Miles Studios in [[Los Angeles]]. He was reportedly paid $5000 for the role, although some stories state the actual amount was only $1000.<ref name="rhodes"/> 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]].<ref name="Peary"/>

This was the only film Wood directed but did not also produce. Wood played the eponymous character, but under the [[pseudonym]] "Daniel Davis".<ref name="Peary">{{cite book | title = Cult Movies 3 | first = Danny | last = Peary | year = 1988 | publisher = Simon & Schuster Inc. | location = New York | pages = 97–101 | isbn = 0-671-64810-1}}</ref> His then-girlfriend, [[Dolores Fuller]], played Glen's girlfriend/fiancée Barbara. Wood later returned to ''Glen or Glenda'' in his [[pulp novel]] ''Killer in Drag'' (1963). The plot features a transvestite called Glen whose alter-ego is called Glenda. He is executed in the sequel ''Death of a Transvestite'' (1967) after a struggle for the right to go to the [[electric chair]] dressed as Glenda.

The erotic-themed striptease/bondage vignettes were not created by Wood. They were reportedly added by producer [[George Weiss (producer)|George Weiss]]. He needed extra scenes to add to what he felt was an overly-short film.<ref name="Craig">Craig (2009), p. 30-68</ref> While not organic parts of the narrative, they seem to tell their own tales of gender dynamics and so fit in with the general themes of the film.<ref name="Craig"/> The [[whip]]ping scene suggests a [[Master/slave (BDSM)|master/slave]] relationship. That the man is [[Top (BDSM)|dominant]] and the woman [[Bottom (BDSM)|submissive]], seems to reflect [[Chauvinism|male chauvinism]].<ref name="Craig"/> The flirtatious and striptease-themed vignettes were typical of 1950s [[exploitation film]]s, as was the rape scene.<ref name="Craig"/> Wood's original director's cut of the film without those added scenes runs 65 minutes. The producer's cut of film with the added scenes runs 71 minutes.

The film has [[deleted scene]]s. In the theatrical trailer, included in [[laserdisc]] and [[DVD]] editions, the scene in which Fuller hands over her [[Angora wool|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 (clothing)|drag]], mouthing the word "Cut!"<ref>[https://archive.org/details/sinema-trailer_glen-or-glenda Trailer on Internet Archive]</ref>

The second part of the film, titled ''Alan or Anne'', is much shorter, told largely through [[stock footage]], and was made to meet the distributor's demand for a [[Sex reassignment surgery|sex change]] film. Alan is a [[Intersex|pseudo-hermaphrodite]] who fights in [[World War II]] wearing women's underwear. After returning, Alan undergoes surgery to become a woman.

==Release==
Domestically, the film was [[Limited theatrical release|limited in release]], having been pre-sold to some theaters (under alternative titles such as ''I Led Two Lives'', ''He or She?'' and ''I Changed My Sex''). Internationally, the film was also limited, and in [[France]] and [[Belgium]], the title was translated as ''Louis ou Louise'' and in [[Argentina]] as ''Yo Cambié Mi Sexo'' (I changed my sex); the film had a brief <!-- A few minutes? A few days? --> screening in the [[Republic of China]].<ref name="rhodes"/> It was re-released to theaters in 1981 by Paramount.<ref name="Weldon, Michael 1983"/>

According to Tim Dirks, the film was one of a wave of "cheap teen movies" released for the [[Drive-in theater|drive-in market]]. They consisted of "exploitative, cheap fare created especially for them [teens] in a newly-established teen/drive-in genre."<ref>Dirks,Tim. "Citing Website" The History of Film - The 1950s: The Cold War and Post-Classical Era, The Era of Epic Films, and the Threat of Television, Part 1. Accessed March 16, 2015,http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507085623/http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro.html |date=2016-05-07 }}</ref>

It was [[List of films banned in the United Kingdom|denied classification]] by the [[British Board of Film Classification]] upon submission on February 26, 1958.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/glen-or-glenda-1970-0 | title=''Glen or Glenda'' | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=February 26, 1958 | access-date=February 17, 2017 | archive-date=March 17, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317022954/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/glen-or-glenda-1970-0 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Image DVD release from 2000 was mastered from a censored print and is missing several salacious bits.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0045826/alternateversions/|title= Glen or Glenda (1953) - Alternate versions - IMDb|website= [[IMDb]]}}</ref>

In 2009, ''Glen or Glenda'' became the final film to be restored and [[Film colorization|colorized]] by [[Legend Films]], who subsequently released it on DVD.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legendfilms.com/retailProductPage.php?item_num=LF00440|title=Glen or Glenda (1953)|website=Legend Films}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
Describing the film as "a half-mad old movie Paramount hasn't so much rescued as disinterred", critic [[Janet Maslin]] wrote in a 1981 review of the film in ''[[The New York Times]]'' that "it's dreadful enough to have a certain comic appeal", that the Lugosi character "presides over the action like some sex change deity", that it is "impassioned [and] incoherent", but noted that "there is plenty of inadvertent humor in ''Glen or Glenda,'' with its weirdo homilies, rotten acting and frequent talk of underwear."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |title=Bevare! Bevare! It's Lugosi |work=The New York Times |date=22 May 1981 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/22/movies/bevare-bevare-it-s-lugosi.html |access-date=2023-10-25}}</ref> Writing in ''[[DVD Talk]]'', critic Ian Jane wrote that "Wood throws in all manner of strange stock footage of Buffalo and bound women alongside clips of Bela Lugosi freaking out", that the film is "so utterly messed up that it borders on arthouse rather than simple b-movie exploitation", but that it "holds up immensely for multiple viewings due to its total incoherence".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jane |first1=Ian |title=Ed Wood Box, The |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/13279/ed-wood-box-the/ |website=DVD Talk |publisher=DVDTalk.com |access-date=2023-10-25}}</ref> A review by Andrea LeVasseur in ''[[AllMovie]]'' described the film as a "showcase of Wood's infamous ineptitude", and noted that "the personal stories of two transvestites are spoken with ridiculous dialogue, terrible acting, and interspersed with irrelevant stock footage. Every so often, a drug-addicted Bela Lugosi would appear with some strange and pointless narration."<ref>{{cite web |last1=LeVasseur |first1=Andrea |title=Glen or Glenda? (1953) |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/glen-or-glenda-vm436056/review |website=AllMovie |publisher=Netaktion LLC |access-date=2023-10-25}}</ref>

The critic [[Leonard Maltin]] names ''Glen or Glenda'' as "possibly the worst movie ever made".<ref name="Maltin01211">{{cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Maltin |title=Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2004 |publisher=Signet |year=2003 |isbn=0-451-20940-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/leonardmaltinsmo00leon }}</ref>  Richard Barrios describes ''Glen or Glenda'' as "one of the funniest and worst movies ever made".<ref>Richard Barrios, ''Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall'', Psychology Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-415-92328-X}}, p. 235.</ref>

==Legacy==
In 1980, Wood was posthumously given the accolade of 'Worst Director of All Time' at the [[Golden Turkey Awards]], and a revival of interest in his work followed. This led to ''Glen or Glenda'' being reissued in 1982. This cut included six minutes of additional footage. One of the restored scenes features Glen rejecting a pass made to him by a man. At this point, the film was reviewed seriously, and reclaimed as a radical work, by Steve Jenkins in the ''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]''.<ref name="Peary 1988">{{cite book |last=Peary |first=Danny |author-link=Danny Peary |title=Cult Movies 3: 50 More of the Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird and the Wonderful |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-671-64810-7}}</ref>

In his book ''Cult Movies 3'', [[Danny Peary]] suggests this is actually a radical, if ineptly made, film that presents a far more personal story than is contained in films by more well-respected [[auteur theory|auteurs]].<ref name="Peary 1988"/>

In 1994, [[Tim Burton]] chronicled the troubled production of ''Glen or Glenda'' in ''[[Ed Wood (film)|Ed Wood]]''. The film includes re-creations of several key scenes, including Lugosi's narration and Glen's plea for his girlfriend's understanding at the end of the film.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The characters Glen and Glenda in the film ''[[Seed of Chucky]]'', the fifth film in the ''[[Child's Play (franchise)|Child's Play]]'' series, were named after the film.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Director [[David Lynch]] has named the film as one of his favorites.<ref>[https://www.spectacletheater.com/angora-rising-two-from-ed-wood/ "Angora Rising: Two From Ed Wood"]. Spectacle Theater.</ref>

The mascot of [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs]], the name of which is a reference to one of Wood's other films, ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]'', is a bunny named "[[Glenda,_the_Plan_9_Bunny|Glenda]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Glenda, the Plan 9 Bunny |url=http://p9f.org/glenda.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241017173610/http://p9f.org/glenda.html |archive-date=2024-10-17 |website=Plan 9 Foundation}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Transgender in film and television]]
* [[Cross-dressing in film and television]]
* [[List of cult films]]
* [[List of films considered the worst]]
* [[Ed Wood filmography]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation| last1=Craig| first1=Rob| title=''Ed Wood, Mad Genius: A Critical Study of the Films''| chapter=Glen or Glenda? (1953)| year=2009| publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]| isbn=978-0-7864-5423-5| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XrjzCGsiyWEC&pg=PA81| access-date=2016-10-22| archive-date=2019-04-28| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428121518/https://books.google.com/books?id=XrjzCGsiyWEC&pg=PA81| url-status=live}}
* [[Rudolph Grey]], ''Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.'' (1992) {{ISBN|978-0-922915-24-8}}
* ''The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr.'' (1996), a documentary film directed by Brett Thompson
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite thesis|last=Borja|first=Terry|title=TEACHING CASE: TRANSGENDER SAILORS, LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES, AND ETHICAL DILEMMAS|date=June 2018|degree=Master of Business Administration|publisher=Naval Postgraduate School|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1059763.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526173341/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1059763.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=May 26, 2019}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Glen or Glenda}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0045826|title=Glen or Glenda}}
* {{Rotten tomatoes|glen_or_glenda}}
* {{Internet Archive film|id=glenorglenda_201305|name=Glen or Glenda}}
* [https://archive.org/details/GlenOrGlendaTrailer ''Glen or Glenda'' trailer] is available for free download at the [[Internet Archive]]

{{Ed Wood}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glen Or Glenda}}
[[Category:1953 films]]
[[Category:1953 drama films]]
[[Category:1950s LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:1950s teen films]]
[[Category:American docudrama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ed Wood]]
[[Category:Cross-dressing in American films]]
[[Category:Films about dreams]]
[[Category:American sexploitation films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ed Wood]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Films scored by William Lava]]
[[Category:1953 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Films about trans women]]
[[Category:1950s exploitation films]]
[[Category:Films originally rejected by the British Board of Film Classification]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ-related documentary films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:1953 independent films]]
[[Category:American exploitation films]]