Glen or Glenda

Plot

Dr. Alton, a psychiatrist, narrates two interconnected stories to an investigating police inspector about gender identity. The first story follows Glen, a man who secretly enjoys wearing women's clothing and struggles with whether to confess this to his fiancée Barbara. The second story tells of Alan/Anne, a pseudohermaphrodite who undergoes gender confirmation surgery to become a woman and find happiness with her boyfriend. Throughout these narratives, the mysterious Scientist appears in surreal segments delivering cryptic commentary about nature and human identity. The film ultimately presents an unusually sympathetic (for its time) view of transgender and transvestite individuals, arguing for understanding and acceptance of those who don't conform to traditional gender roles.

Historical Background

Made in 1953, during the height of McCarthyism and social conformity in America, 'Glen or Glenda' was extraordinarily ahead of its time in addressing transgender issues. The early 1950s was a period of intense social conservatism, with the Hays Code strictly enforcing moral standards in Hollywood films. Gender nonconformity was virtually never discussed in mainstream media, and when it was, it was typically portrayed as deviant or criminal. The Christine Jorgensen story had recently made headlines, bringing public attention to transsexuality for the first time, but most coverage was sensationalistic. Against this backdrop, Wood's film, while flawed and often bizarre, attempted to present a sympathetic view of gender variance. The film emerged during the golden age of exploitation cinema, when independent producers made films about taboo subjects that major studios wouldn't touch. It also came at a time when psychology was gaining cultural prominence, with Freudian ideas influencing how society understood human behavior and identity.

Making Of

The making of 'Glen or Glenda' was as unconventional as the film itself. Producer George Weiss approached Ed Wood to direct an exploitation film about Christine Jorgensen, one of the first people to undergo gender confirmation surgery. However, Wood, who was secretly a transvestite, saw this as an opportunity to tell his own story. He wrote the script in a feverish three-day session, expanding beyond the Jorgensen story to include his personal experiences. The production was extremely low-budget, with Wood filming in borrowed spaces and using friends as crew. Bela Lugosi, by then struggling with drug addiction, was hired for a day's work to add marquee value. His scenes, featuring nonsensical monologues about 'pulling strings' and 'beads of sweat,' were completely disconnected from the main narrative but became the film's most memorable elements. Dolores Fuller, Wood's girlfriend at the time, played Barbara without knowing about Wood's transvestism, leading to tension when she discovered the truth during filming. The film was completed in just five days of principal photography, with Wood employing every trick in the book to stretch his meager budget, including extensive use of stock footage and public domain material.

Visual Style

The cinematography by William C. Thompson (who worked on many of Wood's films) is characterized by its primitive technical quality but surprisingly ambitious visual style. The film employs a mix of conventional narrative sequences, documentary-style interviews, and surreal dream sequences with wildly different visual approaches. Thompson uses dramatic low-angle shots for Lugosi's monologues, creating an atmosphere of bizarre authority. The dream sequences feature expressionistic lighting and strange compositions, including the famous image of Lugosi surrounded by bubbling beakers and electrical equipment. The film makes extensive use of stock footage, often jarringly inserted without regard for continuity or visual consistency. Despite the technical limitations, Wood and Thompson attempted to create visual metaphors for gender confusion through distorted perspectives and unconventional framing. The film's most memorable visual motif involves strings and puppets, representing societal control over individual identity.

Innovations

While 'Glen or Glenda' is hardly known for its technical excellence, it does feature some innovative editing techniques for its time. Wood employed jump cuts and abrupt transitions between different narrative styles, creating a disorienting effect that actually serves the film's exploration of gender confusion. The film's use of multiple narrative perspectives - the psychiatrist's narration, Glen's story, Alan/Anne's story, and Lugosi's abstract monologues - was structurally ambitious for a low-budget exploitation film. Wood also experimented with superimposition and visual effects during the dream sequences, creating layered images that, while crude, effectively convey psychological distress. The film's most technically innovative aspect is its blending of documentary and fiction techniques, using interviews and direct-to-camera narration alongside traditional dramatic scenes. While these techniques were often poorly executed due to budget constraints, they demonstrate Wood's willingness to push formal boundaries in service of his personal vision.

Music

The film's music was composed by Gerald Fried, who would later become known for his work on 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' and 'Star Trek.' The score is a bizarre mixture of dramatic orchestral pieces, library music, and seemingly random musical cues that often don't match the on-screen action. The soundtrack prominently features a theremin, giving the film an eerie, science-fiction quality that contrasts strangely with its domestic drama elements. During Lugosi's scenes, the music becomes particularly dramatic and overwrought, emphasizing the character's mysterious nature. The film also makes extensive use of stock sound effects, including incongruous sounds of thunder, explosions, and animal noises during key dramatic moments. The narration, delivered by Wood himself, was recorded at such a fast pace that it had to be artificially slowed down in post-production, giving it an unnaturally deep and ponderous quality that has become one of the film's most distinctive features.

Memorable Scenes

• The opening scene with Bela Lugosi as The Scientist, surrounded by bubbling beakers and delivering cryptic monologues about pulling strings
• Glen's nightmare sequence featuring Satan, women in lingerie, and bizarre torture devices
• The scene where Glen tries on women's clothing for the first time, accompanied by dramatic narration
• The wedding scene where Glen struggles with whether to reveal his secret to Barbara
• The stock footage montage of nuclear explosions and car crashes used to represent Glen's internal turmoil
• The final scene where Lugosi dramatically delivers his 'bevare of the big green dragon' line
• The documentary-style interviews with 'real' transvestites and cross-dressers
• The scene where Alan transforms into Anne through crude special effects

What Critics Said

Upon release, 'Glen or Glenda' was almost universally panned by critics. Variety called it 'a weird, confused, and confusing melange' while The Hollywood Reporter described it as 'as mixed up as its subject matter.' Most critics dismissed it as exploitative trash, though some noted its unusual sincerity compared to other exploitation films of the era. The film was a box office disaster and quickly disappeared from theaters. However, in subsequent decades, critical opinion has undergone a dramatic reappraisal. Modern critics and scholars now recognize the film as a groundbreaking, if technically inept, work of queer cinema. The New York Times, in a retrospective review, called it 'a sincere and surprisingly progressive plea for tolerance.' Film scholar Susan Stryker has praised it as 'perhaps the most honest transvestite autobiography ever filmed.' The film is now appreciated for its historical significance and Wood's passionate, if misguided, attempt to humanize gender variance.

What Audiences Thought

Contemporary audiences in 1953 largely rejected or ignored 'Glen or Glenda,' with the film failing to find its intended audience of exploitation film patrons. Many viewers were confused by its mixture of documentary-style narration, dramatic sequences, and surreal dream sequences. The film's subject matter was considered so taboo that it played primarily in grindhouse theaters and was often advertised under different titles to attract unsuspecting viewers. Over time, however, the film has developed a devoted cult following among fans of bad cinema, LGBTQ+ audiences, and Ed Wood enthusiasts. Midnight screenings in the 1970s and 1980s helped establish its reputation as a 'so bad it's good' masterpiece. Modern audiences often approach the film with a mix of amusement and admiration for its earnestness, with many finding Wood's personal investment in the material deeply moving despite the film's technical flaws.

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