Glen or Glenda

(1953)

★ 4.7 IMDb · 160 votes

Genres: Drama

Year: 1953

Runtime: 71 мин

Country: United States of America

Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.

Cast: Timothy Farrell, Бела Лугоши, Edward D. Wood Jr., Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller, 'Tommy' Haynes, Charlie Crafts, Conrad Brooks, Henry Bederski, Carol Daugherty

Plot

Glen doesn't dare tell his fiancée Barbara that he is a transvestite known as Glenda; in addition, Alan is undergoing medical treatment to become a woman named Anne; both stories are told by a psychiatrist.

"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. A second narrator, The Scientist, delivers commentary which contains more philosophical pronouncements than facts. The film also has flashbacks-within-flashbacks and a strange dream sequence; Inspector Warren's investigation of a transvestite's suicide leads him to learn more about men in women's clothes; Johnny's wife leaves him when she discovers what he wears while she's away; Barbara is oblivious to her fiancé Glen's desire to wear her angora sweater; Satan invades Glen's nightmare; and The Scientist only offers cryptic advice like "Beware of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep."