Glen or Glenda (1953)

Director:

Edward D. Wood Jr.

Writer:

Edward D. Wood Jr. (story)

Release Date:

30 September 1995 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

"I Changed My Sex!"

Plot:

A psychiatrist tells two stories: one of a transvestite (Glen or Glenda), the other of a pseudohermaphrodite (Alan or Anne).

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Transvestite | Psychiatrist | Angora | Angora Sweater

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	Scientist
Lyle Talbot	...	Inspector Warren
Timothy Farrell	...	Dr. Alton / Narrator
Dolores Fuller	...	Barbara
'Tommy' Haynes	...	Alan / Anne
Edward D. Wood Jr.	...	Glen / Glenda (as Daniel Davis)
Charles Crafts	...	Johnny
Conrad Brooks	...	Banker / Reporter / Pickup Artist / Bearded Drag (as Connie Brooks)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Bederski	...	Man with Hat and Receding Hairline (uncredited)
Captain DeZita	...	The Devil / Glen's Father (uncredited)
Helen Miles	...	(uncredited)
Shirley Speril	...	Miss Stevens (uncredited)
Harry Thomas	...	Man in Nightmare (uncredited)
William C. Thompson	...	Judge (uncredited)
Mr. Walter	...	Patrick / Patricia (uncredited)
George Weiss	...	Man at Transvestite's Suicide (uncredited)
Evelyn Wood	...	Sheila, Glen's Sister (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward D. Wood Jr.

Writing credits
Edward D. Wood Jr.		(story and written by)

Produced by
George Weiss	....	producer

Cinematography by
William C. Thompson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
'Bud' Schelling

Set Decoration by
Jack Miles		(settings)

Makeup Department
Harry Thomas	....	make-up

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Clancy Malone	....	unit director (as Scott McCloud)

Sound Department
Ben Winkler	....	sound technician

Camera and Electrical Department
Bert Shipham	....	camera operator
Larry Smith	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Sanford H. Dickinson	....	music consultant (as Sandford H. Dickinson)

Other crew
Nathan Bailey	....	medical advisor (as Dr. Nathan Bailey)
George Weiss	....	presenter
George Weiss	....	produced under personal supervision of

Production Companies

• Screen Classics (II)

Distributors

• Screen Classics (II) (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1981) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Lumivision (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Rhino Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Englewood Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Englewood Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Catcom Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD) (on "The Ed Wood Box")
• Side Street (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Passport Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (on "The Bela Lugosi Box: 15 Frightful Films")
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD) (on "The Ed Wood Collection")
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD) (on "Weird Cinema: 15 Freaky Flicks!")
• Arte (2008) (France) (TV)
• Arte (2008) (Germany) (TV)
• BijouFlix Releasing (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS) (as Continental)
• Nostalgia Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Male or Female" - USA (poster title)

Runtime:

65 min | 74 min (1982 re-issue) | 68 min (DVD version) | 61 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2004) | Spain:T | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Australia:M | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (DVD rating) (2006) | UK:R (original rating) | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Jack Miles Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Screen Classics (II)

Trivia:

Stock footage totals 13 mins, 48 secs, or 20% of the total run time including credits. 73 seconds of stock run concurrently with new footage of Bela Lugosi. Stock scenes include "Fake Lightning", used 6 times, "Pedestrians" 3 times, "Highway Day" 3 times, "Highway Night" twice, "Playground" twice, "Superior Court" twice, "Ridiculous Soft Core", "Natives", "Bison Stampede", "Parking Lot", "Steel Foundry", "WWII", "Ambulance", "Airplane", "Signalman", "Milkman", and "Girls with Fuzzy Hats or Sweaters"

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the scene when Glen is talking with a friend at the kitchen table, Glen breaks the fork he is holding in his hand, but the breaking sound clearly occurs before the visual break.

Quotes:

Scientist:Beware. Beware. Beware of the big, green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys, puppy dog tails and big, fat snails. Beware. Take care. Beware.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Seed of Chucky (2004)

Brilliantly Bad!

GLEN OR GLENDA is uniquely bad. Suffice it to say, one has to witness it in order to really believe it. There's almost no point of writing a sensible review of this "movie" because it's beyond wonky. It's so bad that it's almost pure genius. Bunuel couldn't have created a more surreal film than Ed Wood's treatise on the merits of cross-dressing. The "movie" is 70% stock footage or stuff that has nothing to do with the main "story." A huge chunk of the amazing dream sequence is just a nudie cutie. The "acting" is abysmal. Dolores Fuller wins the award for worst actress of all time. The dialogue is so hilarious that it's endlessly quotable. But the whole thing is oddly frank and earnest and because of this, this kooky disaster of a movie actually has a heart, which is more than you can say about most movies out there. I love it. There's almost nothing like it.