Plot Summary for
Glen or Glenda (1953) More at IMDbPro »

"Glen or Glenda" tells two stories. One is about Glen, who secretly dresses as a woman but is afraid to tell his fiancée, Barbara. The other is about Alan, a pseudohermaphrodite who undergoes a painful operation to become a woman. Both stories are told by Dr. Alton, who also delivers an earnest lecture on tolerance and understanding. There is a second narrator, called the Scientist, whose commentary on the action contains more philosophical pronouncements than facts. The movie also has flashbacks-within-flashbacks and a strange dream sequence. We meet Insp. Warren, whose investigation of a transvestite's suicide leads him to learn more about men in women's clothes; Johnny, whose wife left him when she discovered what he wears when she's away; Barbara, oblivious to Glen's desire to wear her angora sweater; Satan, who invades Glen's nightmare; and others. Meanwhile, the Scientist will only offer cryptic advice. "Beware!" he warns. "Beware of the big, green dragon that sits on your doorstep. Beware! Take care! Beware!" Written by J. Spurlin

Upon discovering the suicide of a known transvestite, the police inspector seeks enlightenment from a psychiatrist familiar with the phenomenon. The psychiatrist tells him two tales. Glen is to be married to Barbara, but must find a way to tell her of his desire to wear her angora sweater, and of his cross-dressing needs in general. Another is the story of Alan, who decides to physically become a female via surgery (based on the contemporary story of Christine Jorgensen). Throughout the film a scientist inanely babbles about life and death in order to somehow elucidate the story. Written by Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>

Cross-dressing B-movie auteur Edward D. Wood Jr. was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world with this purportedly sincere attempt at understanding transvestism rendered unintelligible by Ed Wood's unfathomable script, bizarre pantomime-esque vignettes and a visibly morphine-addled Bela Lugosi shouting about big green dragons. Written by Anonymous

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