Glen or Glenda
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Movie Reviews of Glen or Glenda
Movie Review: The Genius Capitulated
Summary: 5 Stars
"What would he have given us next?" "Would he have been among the great American auteurs?" These are the questions we'd be asking ourselves if E.D. Wood Jr. had made "Glen or Glenda?" and died!Movie Review: What a drag!
Summary: 5 Stars
The essential drag queen film! Ed really did it with this celluloid eyesore. It screams to be made into a musical!Movie Review: Not a perfect print; Ed's meisterwerk still shines
Summary: 4 Stars
Glen or Glenda is, of course, Edward D. Wood Jr.'s autobiographical exploitation anti-masterpiece. If you've already seen it and you're reading this, you're no doubt a fan. If you haven't seen it, let me try to describe the indescribable: imagine one of those creaky old 16mm Coronet instructional grade-school films, only about transvestism, featuring Bela Lugosi, and codirected by Bunuel and Warhol. When they were both twelve years old. Dizzingly absurd dialogue and imagery abound, intercut with dry clinical discussions of transvestism, transsexuality, and hermaphroditism, delivered in tones of heartfelt tolerence. What really amazes me is the guts it must have taken for Ed Wood to make this movie at all in the moral and political climate of the early 50s. Wow! I love the (autobiographical) part about the TV soldier going into battle with his ladies' undies on underneath his uniform! As noted by others, the "lost" scenes of bondage although they serve no real purpose and just slow the film down). This is one that really has to be seen to be believed; every bad film fan needs a copy of this in their collection.Of course the question on every GoG fan's mind is: how's the print quality? I was curious myself, but wary of buying after reading a very negative review in Scarlet Street last year complaining about the quality of the source print. After viewing the disc, I am glad to report that overall it's quite acceptable, if not pristine. The worst of the damage amounts to a half dozen or so noticeable jump cuts, some sporadic scratching, and the usual light speckling throughout. Tonal values and detail range from very good to excellent throughout and the print is fairly sharp (if not as crisp as Image's Bride of the Monster transfer). The original "Glen or Glenda" title card has been cobbled together from freeze-frames (does no intact high-quality footage exist?), though Wade Williams has this time tastefully placed his copyright notice elsewhere. Despite the SS reviewer's claims that much better prints of the film are widely available on video, I've yet to run across one. This DVD easily blows away the numerous TV prints and VHS pre-records I've watched, owned, and rented over the years, including Rhino and Video Yesteryear's VHS editions. Large sections of the DVD are nearly blemish-free and the audio is clear. Extras include 16 chapter stops and a longer, cleaner trailer than I've seen before. Unless you're holding out for a truly flawless copy, I think this will do nicely for most viewers; I am not at all unhappy with the purchase.
Movie Review: Man On a Mission
Summary: 4 Stars
I'll try not to repeat what Amazon reviewers have already said about this film. Were it a minute longer, it would be unbearable for even a single viewing. But as it stands, "Glen or Glenda" is worse than "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and consequently more enjoyable (it's also shorter). Three additional points about the film:
1. Ed Wood has the magnified "didactic" sensibility of a preacher or compulsive rhetorician. His primary mode of development is repetition. The story never gets under way because Ed keeps announcing the "premise" of his movie, postponing the impossible challenge of telling a story on film. In effect, we never get beyond the title. Not only his voice-over narration but his manipulation of stock footage and use of non-narrative montage mark him as the ultimate cinematic huckster or pitch man.
2. Ed's choice of scenes tells us virtually nothing about "Glen" but probably reveals a lot about Ed. From the World War II footage to strip-tease and B&D scenes (mild) Ed shows that he's a "slightly" deviant, cross-dressing heterosexual but sufficiently "alternative" to have empathy for transsexuals. He's also clearly an individual who has struggled with his share of desires and demons.
3. However bad, the film must be judged daring for a 1953 film, a time when the word "virgin" and even "sex" was taboo on the screen. (The film even discusses and represents homosexuality.) Moreover, apart from the treatment, Ed's choice of subject matter insures the film will be taken with more than a little seriousness by viewers who share Ed's urges and interests. In that respect, "Glen or Glenda?" is more "relevant" than ever, since I can't think of any other commercial movie that approaches the same subject as head-on as this one. In fact, most gender-bender movies, from "Some Like It Hot" to "The Bird Cage," are far more exploitive of their subject matter than is Ed Wood. Make no mistake: he's clearly a man on a mission.
Movie Review: The RESTORED Version of GLEN OR GLENDA with Missing Footage!
Summary: 4 Stars
The dvd release (and presumably the vhs version as well, since both are from the same distributor) is the best presentation yet of Glen Or Glenda. Out of all the reviews that customers here have posted, they've all apparently missed something I just realized. A reviewer who wrote "a close to 15-minutes long, totally unrelated, episodic dream sequence containing lots of women wearing lingerie while performing various acts (like one woman pouncing upon another woman, binding and gagging her), all to the tune of "Czardas", the most rushed piece of violin music ever, while Wood's dream ego looks horrifiedly at the proceedings" was unaware of what that footage really is... There exists a famous reel of "outtakes" from the film, running about 5-6 minutes. That's what the footage is that the other reviewer described! Apparently, Wade Williams (who released this version on dvd) did a "restoration" of Glen Or Glenda and reinserted the footage at the appropriate point in the film (during Glen's dream/nightmare near the end). That also accounts for the difference in the running time between this release (68 minutes) and any other previous releases (generally 62 minutes). Fans of Ed Wood and this film in particular no longer have to search for the "missing" footage...it's all here on the dvd! I didn't realize this at first, until a friend who is a collector described the outtakes to me, and I remembered them from this dvd. So there you have it, Ed Wood and grade-z cheese film fans!