Glen or Glenda? Reviews

In 1953, the incomparable Edward Wood Jr. made his directorial debut with GLEN OR GLENDA, a heartfelt apologia for transvestism. Disappointing the grind house audience for which this film was intended, Wood simultaneously offered a sober look at society's twilight world, began an unholy alliance with faded star Bela Lugosi, and unleashed the trademark visual style that has unfairly earned him the reputation as the worst director of all time. Although Wood's technical ineptitude shouldn't be excused by fans, neither should he be cavalierly trashed; GLEN OR GLENDA boggles the mind. Throughout GLEN OR GLENDA, a mysterious commentator, The Scientist (Bela Lugosi), interrupts the story line to place societal disapproval of transvestism into perspective. After investigating the suicide of a cross-dresser, a sensitive police inspector (Lyle Talbot) seeks the advice of a psychiatrist (Timothy Farrell), who regales him with two case histories of dissatisfied men in drag. The principal bio concerns Glen (Edward Wood Jr.), a masculine-appearing heterosexual with a life-long proclivity for feminine frills. Well-versed in keeping his fetish a secret, Glen faces a turning point when he becomes engaged to Barbara (Dolores Fuller) and ponders how to reveal his alter-ego "Glenda" to her. Tormented, Glen suffers from nightmarish visions of Barbara rejecting him, of straight people taunting him, and of a satanic figure bedeviling him; that demon represents Glen's disapproving father. After Glen fesses up, Barbara demonstrates her compassion by handing over to Glen her angora sweater which he's always coveted. While explaining the finer points of feminine masquerade, the psychiatrist also relates the true story of a drag aficionado named Alan/Ann (Tommy Haynes). Unlike Glen, Alan feels compelled to undergo a sex change operation in order to live totally as a woman. Meanwhile, Barbara's tender-loving-care enables Glen to slowly jettison his "Glenda" persona; if only mainstream society were as nonjudgmental as Barbara. If there hadn't been a surrealistic film movement earlier in history, GLEN OR GLENDA would surely have started one. Even considering that the distributor's running-time constraints forced Wood to pad his film to feature length, consider what the director does to lengthen this, his most personal movie. In addition to shoehorning in Bela Lugosi as a spokesperson for rattled humanity, Wood incorporates stock footage only a deranged person could thematically link to a saga of cross-dressing (e.g., shots of stampeding buffalo). This is truly the cinema of expediency. Coming from out of the blue, Lugosi's scenes add a discordant note by pushing the film into the realm of horror. Although Lugosi was only used for marquee value, his rich association with fright films transforms GLEN OR GLENDA into a monster movie about Glen's id. Rather than gain sympathy, GLEN OR GLENDA often pushes gender-bending into the old FRANKENSTEIN realm of man foolishly tampering with nature. Still, one has to admire the impudence of Ed Wood Jr. in seizing an opportunity to use an exploitation flick forum to come out publicly as a drag aficionado--at the start of his career! Purporting to analyze two case histories of cross-dressers, Ed Wood connects the dots of his own obsession in a style marked by primitive art direction, "wooden" performances by clueless actors, aposiopetic writing, a refusal to shoot additional footage to cover technical gaffes, and a childlike enthusiasm in capturing on celluloid any image that comes into his head. GLEN OR GLENDA represents automatic filmmaking uncluttered by artfulness. When Wood closes the film by having the hero's girlfriend sacrifice her favorite sweater for Glen's sartorial peace of mind, the audience goes beyond poverty-row cinema into a nirvana of audacious tastelessness. Despite Wood's conventional failings, audiences continue to respond to his oeuvre because he was a true naif. Undeterred by daunting financial setbacks, Wood always demonstrated an unshakable belief in his opinions. Whether tackling pornography in THE VIOLENT YEARS (1956), governmental abuse of the atomic bomb in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959), or transvestism in GLEN OR GLENDA, Wood's conviction in his theses is unmistakable--even passionate. If one can charitably view Wood's movies as philosophical improvisations for the logic-challenged, then they even make a great deal of sense. Why do his films inspire affection whereas other "bombs" pander to an audience's bullying, derisive side? It must be that even sophisticated movie-lovers respond to Wood's innocence as a man and filmmaker. Having refashioned a tangential reality in his own cockamamie image, he even found a coterie of groupies (Vampira, Tor Johnson, Bela Lugosi) to inhabit his peculiar demi-showbiz cult with him. In a strange way, Wood's contemporary devotees also want to fit in with his clan of misfits. Thus, GLEN OR GLENDA can be viewed as a splintered mirror reflection of Hollywood glory, a movie that succeeds by sheer virtue of the chutzpah of those who completed it against all odds. Whereas howlers such as THE CONQUEROR (1956) or VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967) qualify as camp, GLEN OR GLENDA is too sincere for that. Defying the mainstream heterosexual prejudices of its time, GLEN OR GLENDA doesn't whimper for its share of tolerance; it insists upon a live-and-let-live coexistence with conservative thinkers. The passage of time has not transformed GLEN OR GLENDA into a good movie; it has, however, revealed it to be a braver film than anyone had ever imagined. (Adult situations, sexual situations.)