The sex reassignment surgery of Christine Jorgensen made national headlines in the US in 1952, and this was the inspiration for George Weiss, a Hollywood producer of low-budget films, to commission a movie to exploit it. Wood persuaded 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. When the finished movie was deemed too short and too divergent from what was requested, Wood tacked on a few extra scenes about sexual reassignment. The producer spliced in two unrelated soft-core sequences, one with some mild bondage, cutting in reaction shots of Wood and Lugosi. The film received a release only because it had been pre-sold to a number of theatres before it was made.
Behind the scenes
This was the only movie Wood directed but did not also produce. He persuaded Lugosi, at the time poor and drug-addicted, to appear in the movie. Wood himself played the eponymous character, but under the pseudonym 'Daniel Davis'.[1] 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!"
Plot
Glen or Glenda
The first part of the film begins with a narrator named The Scientist (Bela Lugosi) making cryptic comments about humanity. The film proper 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 more 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 women.
The film then cuts to the (in)famous 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 puppetteer, 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 proffers her 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 his return, the Scientist (the only character to appear in both parts), turns Alan into "Anne", a woman, apparently through magical means.
Idiosyncrasies
File:Lugosi Glwen or Glenda.jpgBéla Lugosi shouting "Pull the string!" amid stampeding bison.
Leonard Maltin's best-selling 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.[1] The Scientist is surrounded by horror movie trappings such as skulls and test tubes as he exhorts the audience to "beware of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep".[1] Stock footage of rampaging bison are superimposed over The Scientist's face at one point for no obvious reason. There are also various long, surreal dream sequences during which Glen is haunted by a devil-like character.[1]
File:Glen or Glenda box.jpgDVD cover for Glen or Glenda?
In popular culture
Another transvestite character named Glen with a female persona of "Glenda" appears in Wood's novel Killer in Drag and is executed in the sequel Death of a Transvestite after a struggle for the right to go to the electric chair dressed as Glenda.
Tim Burton's movie Ed Wood depicts the making of the film and includes reconstructions of several scenes with Johnny Depp in the role of Ed Wood.
Glen or Glenda was reissued with six minutes of additional footage in 1982. Restored scenes include Glen's rejection of a pass made by a gay man.
A pornographic remake of the film entitled Glen & Glenda was made in 1994 featuring much of the same script as the original film, but with explicit sex scenes added. [2]
