Glen or Glenda?

1953

Glen or Glenda?

Critics Consensus

Glen or Glenda? remains an interesting artifact from one of Hollywood's more colorful careers -- albeit not one that holds up particularly well as a movie.

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Glen or Glenda? Photos

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Movie Info

In his heart-felt cinematic debut, Edward D. Wood, Jr. himself stars under the pseudonym Daniel Davis as a young man with a dilemma: should he tell his lovely young fiancee (played by real-life girlfriend Dolores Fuller) about his burning desire to cross-dress? She has begun to notice articles of clothing missing from her closet; the suspense builds...what should he do? Bela Lugosi plays the omniscient narrator; note his conviction as he "pulls the strings." Amidst this unintentionally hilarious mish-mash of melodrama, social commentary and inexplicable stock footage, there is something for every taste: countless cross dressers, hallucinatory dream sequences, sex-change surgeries, spirited cat fights, borderline-pornographic simulated sex scenes, poetic monologues, a haunted house, and a stampede of wild buffalo. Released under various titles across the country -- I Lived Two Lives, I Changed My Sex -- this fiasco bombed across the board but managed to gain Wood enough notoriety in the "B"-movie world to launch a career that is today the stuff of legend. Hailed by most critics as the worst film of all time, Wood nearly matched his first effort with such atrocities as Bride of the Monster, Night of the Ghouls, the infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space, and, perhaps the world's first topless horror film, Orgy of the Dead. Although few may count Wood among the best American cinema has to offer, Glen or Glenda certainly places him among its most memorable.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Classics, Drama
Directed By:

Edward D. Wood Jr.
Written By:

Edward D. Wood Jr.
In Theaters:

Jan 1, 1953 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Feb 15, 2000
Runtime:

65 minutes
Studio:

Screen Classics Inc.

Cast

Bela Lugosi
as Scientist

Edward D. Wood Jr.
as Glen/Glenda

Lyle Talbot
as Inspector Warren

Dolores Fuller
as Barbara

Tommy Haynes
as Alan/Ann

Timothy Farrell
as Dr. Alton

Charles Crofts
as Johnny

Conrad Brooks
as Banker / Reporter / Pickup Artist

Henry Bederski
as Man with Hat and Receding Hairline

Donald Woods

George Weiss
as Man at Transvestite's Suicide (uncredited)

Charles Crafts
as Johnny

Connie Brooks
as Banker

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Critic Reviews for Glen or Glenda?

All Critics (23) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (15)

What distinguishes it from other low-budget efforts are the occasional mad flights of fancy.

Mar 26, 2009 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic
This well-meaning disaster, rescued from the obscurity it surely craves, is without doubt a candidate for one of the worst films ever made.

Feb 9, 2006

Chris Petit
Time Out
Top Critic
It isn't quite a camp classic, although it's dreadful enough to have a certain comic appeal. ''Glen or Glenda'' is also a film of great conviction in its way, and that tends to interfere with the fun.

Dec 6, 2004 | Full Review…

Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic
not really a real movie

Apr 24, 2008 | Rating: 0/4

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
as insanely bad as this movie is, it retains perverse pleasures that serve it well as a cult icon

Mar 9, 2007 | Rating: D | Full Review…

John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews
The passage of time has not transformed Glen or Glenda? into a good movie; it has, however, revealed it to be a braver film than anyone had ever imagined.

Aug 29, 2006 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

TV Guide
Even in the camp cult genres this is still dreadful.

Mar 15, 2005 | Full Review…

Film4 Staff
Film4
Funny to watch, but not as funny as you might remember.

Dec 11, 2004 | Rating: 2/5

Kevin Carr
7M Pictures
Excellent movie to laugh at. Rent it and have a ball!

Aug 12, 2003 | Rating: 3/5

Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum
It baffles science and logic and rudimentary narrative skills, but it's fascinating.

Mar 19, 2003 | Rating: 3/5

Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
An Ed Wood classic! Pull the string!

Sep 9, 2002 | Rating: 0/5

Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat
Terrible and inept, but, oh God, is it funny!

Aug 22, 2002 | Rating: 0/5

Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

View All Critic Reviews (23)

Audience Reviews for Glen or Glenda?

May 26, 2014

A documentary, of sorts, about a closeted transvestite named Glen who struggles over whether to tell his secret to his fiancée. The story is interrupted by a bizarre 14-minute dream sequence with bondage and the Devil, and numerous incomprehensible bits with omniscient "scientist" Bela Lugosi yelling "pull the string"! It's terrible, and it's great, so the rating averages out. A must-see for adventurous viewers, but those with more conventional tastes will find its lack of plot and structure to be torture.

Greg S Super Reviewer
Jan 23, 2013

A complete waste of time and stands as one of the worst films ever made, but Ed Wood's films are just silly enough to do that.

Bradley W Super Reviewer
Jan 11, 2013

I simply love Ed Wood for his work, his unique style and weird ideas always surprise his audience. In this debut film, Ed Wood explored touchy subjects like Transvestism and Sexuality which would be quite controversial at the time. Bela Lugosi as the scientist was just perfect. As much as I want to say nice things about this film, I simply just cannot do so. it's a Z-movie, the editing was horrible, acting was disgusting, but it's fun and hilarious to watch though. The dialogues did not make any sense at all... but I suppose that's the charm of it. If you like kitsch then this would be a good pass time option.

Sylvester K Super Reviewer
Nov 12, 2012

With awful performances and ludicrous dialogue, this atrocious movie has a lot of heart but sadly no brains, and so it is repetitious, full of nonsensical stock footage and unintentionally surrealistic without making much sense as a narrative whatsoever.

Carlos M Super Reviewer