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Glen or Glenda

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Glen or Glenda
Film poster
Directed byEd Wood
Written byEd Wood
Produced byGeorge Weiss
StarringEd Wood (as Daniel Davis)
Dolores Fuller
Bela Lugosi
Lyle Talbot
"Tommy" Haynes
Narrated byTimothy Farrell
CinematographyWilliam C. Thompson
Edited byBud Schelling
Music byWilliam Lava (uncredited)
Distributed byColumbia Classics
Release date
1953
Running time
65 minutes
71 minutes (1982 reissue)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20,000

Glen or Glenda is a 1953 movie about a male transvestite. It was written and directed by Ed Wood. It stars Ed Wood as Glen and Glenda, and features Bela Lugosi and Wood's then-girlfriend Dolores Fuller.

The movie was inspired by the Christine Jorgensen's sex reassignment surgery in 1952. George Weiss was a Hollywood producer of low-budget films. He wanted a movie made to exploit the event. He made Jorgensen several offers to appear in the movie. These offers were turned down.[1]

This was the only movie Wood directed but did not also produce. Wood himself played the title character, but under the pseudonym "Daniel Davis".[2] Lugosi is credited as "The Scientist". He acts as a sort of narrator but gives no narration relevant to the plot.[2]

Glen is shown looking at women's clothes in a shop window. He reads about sex change operations in a newspaper. He meets with Barbara, his girlfriend. She asks if Glen's secret problem is another woman. A transvestite friend tells Glen how crossdressing ended his marriage. A dream sequence containing some BDSM scenes full of flagellation and bondage follows. Glen tells Barbara the truth. She offers Glen an Angora wool sweater as a sign of acceptance.

References

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  1. Rhodes, Gary D. (1997). Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0257-1.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Peary, Danny (1988). Cult Movies 3. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc. pp. 97–101. ISBN 0-671-64810-1.