freakboy on film: GLEN OR GLENDA (1953)

written & directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.

Hetero-centric love, of sort

Glen is engaged to Barbara, but Glen has a secret.  He enjoys wearing women’s clothing, even an uncomfortable brassiere*.  Will Glen confess his desire to wear her angora sweater?  Will Barbara accept his cross-dressing ways?  Will marriage kill Glen’s feminine alter ego Glenda?  My painted lips are sealed.

I wish I looked this good in drag 

*(I wore a bra for the abandoned video version of my soap opera parody PRIVATE IDAHO and it felt like a torture device designed by a sadistic man, in my opinion)  

As I’ve said before, GLEN OR GLENDA is shockingly progressive, but weirdly backwards.  The story is told by a psychiatrist and has an open mind, to a degree, about gender reassignment surgery and men dressing as women.  Well, hetero-centric men.   It is made abundantly clear that Glen is not a homosexual, accompanied by scenes of “predatory” queer men approaching so called “normal” men.  It would be easy to be offended by this, but I believe these moments were born out of ignorance, unlike the mean and nasty homophobic crap found in more than a few 1980’s films.  

Another element that could be offensive to modern audiences is how Glen’s transvestitism seems almost like dissociative identity disorder (split personality) than simply a man who feels more comfortable in women’s clothes.  Maybe this was out of ignorance or maybe Ed Wood saw his feminine side that way.  Then again, maybe as a filmmaker, he may have simply been adding a heightened sense of drama in the story.  

Save your drama for your mama

To muddle the issue and  the audience even further, the psychiatrist tells of two other transvestite cases.  The first one tragically ends in suicide, but the other story ends happily with a man successfully transitioning to a woman.  Yes, the message, whatever exactly it is, is all over the place.  However, there’s a lot of openness for a 1950’s film. 

Is anyone really this comfortable wearing a bra?

Then there is Bela Lugosi, who receives top billing!  The man who became famous playing Dracula ended his career in the Woodverse.  In GLEN OR GLENDA, he is a god-like scientist watching over humanity from an armchair.  His favorite pastime is to “pull the string,” which I assume makes us mere mortal puppets dance to his omnipotent whims.  All I really know is Bela Lugosi is far more entertaining here than in the snooze-fest that is 1931’s DRACULA.  

So many strings, so little time

Nobody won any acting awards for this delirious film, obviously.  Though perhaps Dolores Fuller as Barbara could’ve won a Razzie if they had been a thing in 1953.  Timothy Farrell as the psychiatrist gives a matter-of-fact performance and has an excellent droll voice for the role.  Ed Wood himself plays the title role of Glen/Glenda and he’s not half bad.  He has a somewhat natural ease with his dialogue and even more ease dressing as Glenda.  Though nothing will beat his performance as “that drag queen Alecia” in TAKE IT OUT IN TRADE! 

I must also mention the dream sequence, or whatever you might call it.  This WTF? montage includes Satan attending Glen and Barbara’s wedding, extreme femininity and some light bondage.  It also shows a group of men and women pointing accusing fingers at Glen, but then back away in awe, or at least silent respect, as Glen becomes Glenda.  Is it Glen’s way of accepting the Glenda inside?  I think so, maybe.  It’s all very confusing in the best way possible. 

Me at your wedding

In conclusion…
This was going to be a 4-in-1 post where I briefly blog about my Halloween tradition of watching three films of Edward D. Wood, Jr. and then Tim Burton’s cinematic love letter to Wood, but I found I had a lot to say about GLEN OR GLENDA.  I think this is because GLEN OR GLENDA is my favorite of his creations.  The story is trying to be sincere and sort of open-minded, while also being bizarre and almost hallucinogenic at times.  GLEN OR GLENDA may or may not do much in favor of the LGBTQ+ community, but it clicked with a young, queer freakboy who has always flashed a sardonic smirk at traditional gender roles.  So, slip into something comfortable (yes, even a bra, if that’s your bag) and open your mind to the shocking, surreal and sublime nature of Ed Wood’s GLEN OR GLENDA!    

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. Happy Halloween! 🎃 

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My books & blogs…  
http://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-collective.htm

Got Wood?

For a long time I didn’t know much about him, other than he was a director who wore women’s clothing.  Then I saw Tim Burton’s loving bio-pic, but figured there was more to the story.  Over the years I heard of a darker, depressing side beyond his compulsively watchable low-budget films.  Finally, I read THE book and was faced with the startling truth from the eccentric folk who survived this exuberantly tragic ordeal. 

Can your heart stand the shocking facts about…NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY (The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.) by Rudolph Grey?!?! 

Reading this book in the same method as when Andy Milligan changed my life, I was initially confused by hearing a person’s name before each paragraph.  I quickly realized this wasn’t a typical biography written in the author’s words.  NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY is the story of Ed Wood as told by the people who knew and loved him, despite his faults or maybe because of them.  Each chapter is chock full of breathtaking memories and highly amusing anecdotes from his widow Kathy, his mom Lillian, actress Maila Nurmi (Vampira), actor Paul Marco (Officer Kelton) and so many others from Ed’s quirky entourage.  Personally, I think stories from and about PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE actor John “Bunny” Breckinridge and alleged psychic Criswell stand out in a most horrifyingly hilarious way! 

That alliteration might be the best overall description of this book.  It has the joyous, can-do spirit found in Tim Burton’s ED WOOD (1994), but also digs beneath the surface.  In NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY, you will learn aspects of Ed’s life that you might not want to know.  I’ll spare you specific spoilers, but be prepared for an emotional roller coaster ride.

While I was extremely entertained by the behind the scenes craziness during production of his celluloid wonders, I was seriously drawn to the intriguing fact that Edward D. Wood, Jr. was also a novelist!  Instead of sequels to his films, he wrote trashy pulp fiction meant to shock and titillate.  Tragically, most of his bibliography is out of print and expensive to purchase.  Thankfully, a few books have been reprinted and I ordered DEATH OF A TRANSVESTITE, originally published in 1967.  I am eager to read it, but worried I’ll be disappointed.  Out of all the jaw-dropping titles, I wasn’t able to locate either of the two I most want to read.  Hopefully some daring publishing house reissues 1967’s DRAG TRADE and 1971’s TO MAKE A HOMO.  Hey, a queer freakboy can dream! 

In conclusion, if you are interested in Ed Wood, obscure Hollywood or “the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable,” then Criswell predicts you will slip into your best angora sweater and cozy up with NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY!  

Can you prove that it wouldn’t happen?!?! 

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words!

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S.  Click the pic ⤵️ for more WOOD… 

freakboy on film: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (The Vincent Price Blogathon Edition)

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Thank you to Gill J. of Realweegiemidget Reviews https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/ & Barry P. of Cinematic Catharsis http://cinematiccatharsis.blogspot.com/ for including my blog in The Vincent Price Blogathon!) 

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10 cups of teenage awkwardness 

5 cups of teen angst 

4 cups of fairy tale snowflakes

4 tablespoons of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  

3 tablespoons of Vincent Price 

Fold ingredients together and shape dough into a heart 

Bake until golden brown 

Serve through Tim Burton's offbeat perspective

There you have the 1990 film EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. 

(story by Tim Burton & Caroline Thompson /screenplay by Caroline Thompson / directed by Tim Burton) 

I could blog about how this is my 2nd favorite Johnny Depp role in a Tim Burton film, ED WOOD being my favorite.  I could blog about how Winona Ryder shines as suburban teen Kim, but really only when she's alone with Edward.  I could blog about how perfect Dianne Wiest is as the Avon Lady (Kim's mom) who finds Edward alone in a mansion and brings him to  her suburban home.  I could blog about how shocking it is to see typically geeky Anthony Michael Hall as a jerk jockhead.  I could blog about how sweet, innocent Edward deals with the strangeness of suburbia and how suburbia deals with him, but today is all about Vincent Price! 

The classic actor, and master of the macabre, elevates EDWARD SCISSORHANDS from a good, but sometimes flawed film to something truly special.  He portrays an eccentric inventor in three poignant flashbacks.  Vincent Price is fully in his element within these scenes and it shows in his performance.

In the first flashback, we see The Inventor enjoying the wonder of his elaborate, and totally Tim Burton, cookie-making machine.  The Inventor picks up a cookie heart and holds it up to the chest of a nondescript mechanical creation.  

In the second flashback, The Inventor has begun transforming the mechanical creation into a person.  He reads from a book of social etiquette to Edward and can see the boredom in his burgeoning young man.  He then reads an amusing poem and, to The Inventor's delight, Edward smiles.

In the final flashback, Edward stands waiting as The Inventor retrieves an early Christmas gift.  He holds up a set of hands for his incomplete young man.  Edward is fascinated, gingerly touching the hands with his large scissorhands.  Suddenly, a look of painful realization flashes across the eyes and face of The Inventor.  Edward's scissors slice through the gift of hands as The Inventor collapses, presumably from a heart attack, leaving his creation unfinished and alone.  

Vincent Price, in one of his last roles, is more than enough reason to see EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.  In my opinion, he is the heart of this tragic story because we see Edward's soul through The Inventor's eyes.  It's regrettable Vincent Price was only in a few scenes, but the film and the viewers are rewarded by his unique presence.

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind review.

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. A different post from a different Blogathon...

https://freakboyzone.blogspot.com/2019/06/freakboy-on-film-daleks-invasion-earth.html 

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A Twitter thread of blogs & music...

https://twitter.com/jlh_collective/status/1245288246449446912?s=21