'Glen or Glenda' is legendary Ed Wood's first feature film as director/writer/actor. The film was originally meant to be based on the life of Christine Jorgensen produced by George Weiss. Wood convinced Weiss the he would be the best guy to direct such film, because he himself was a transvestite. So, Wood wrote the screenplay and 'Glen or Glenda' became semi-autobiographical docudrama that actually touched the subject of sex change briefly. What a rebel filmmaking!Widely considered as the worst film ever made. Well, I personally don't think so. 'Glen or Glenda' is incoherent mess, badly written and directed with lousy editing and awful acting mixed with stock-footage, but there is some certain charm in that movie. The heart of the filmmaker. And all that mess has a clear and strong message. If this film would have been directed by some renowned artist/writer/director 'Glen or Glenda' would be considered as an avant garde masterpiece.Edward D. Wood Jr. was untalented in every aspect of filmmaking (well, maybe as an actor he might have had a chance) and he proved it with his later efforts, but the man was in love of movies (and angora sweaters). If 'Glen and Glenda' would have stayed as his only directorial work the film would be considered the work of a genius. I actually think it anyway - the surreal scene with a man whipping a woman, and other women dancing and in the bondage, is just magnificent.Unintentionally funny ans surreal, but deliberately enjoyable mess.P.S. And all of you who think I'm nuts (I might be), 'Glen or Glenda' is one of the favorite films of no other than legendary David Lynch.

GLEN OR GLENDA is a hilariously conceived mockumentary that comes to us courtesy of bad film director extraordinaire, Edward D. Wood, Jr. While not as iconic as the director's own PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it's certainly a remarkable - and memorable - film with plenty of jaw-dropping content to see it through. It's a film that deals with the then-controversial topic of transvestism, although I'm sure the exploitational handling of the subject matter would make this offensive in these politically correct times.GLEN OR GLENDA is a mish-mash of various sub-plots and random footage which has been edited together. There's a narrator trying to make sense of the proceedings and the stories of two different cross-dressers who are trying to come to terms with their 'problems'. When one of the characters joins the army in WW2, five minutes of stock war footage fills the screen. Elsewhere there are cops, bizarre dream sequences that offer tame stripteases, and plenty of wooden acting, not least from Wood himself who plays the titular character. My favourite part of the film involves Bela Lugosi playing a crazy scientist who sits in his study and has no interaction with other cast members. He intones various lines such as "Pull the strings!" and is a real hoot, sad as it is to see him in the midst of his drug addiction.

The world of cross dressing took a beating in this Ed Wood debacle, the first to feature long faded horror star Bela Lugosi, still reduced to touring in wretched productions of "Dracula". In need of quick cash, Lugosi took what he could get to quote non-Edgar Allan Poe poetry that started off with "Bevare!" and concludes with his melodramatic cry of "Pull da strings!". Those who saw this film probably thought, hey that guy reminds me of that dead actor who played Count Dracula, not realizing that like Abe Vigoda, the actor was still very much alive.Lovingly recreated by Tim Burton for " Ed Wood", this film has achieved a legend all its own. Yes, it is wretched, the cross dressers (obviously the transvestites of their day) are sad looking and desperate. Times have changed for men who long to live as women, and in a sense, this film did more harm than good. Wood at this point wasn't the trollish looking man he would ultimately be a decade later, and his efforts to tell what he considered an important story is respectable if ill-advised.Lugosi stands out of course, as a shell of himself, but determined to have some sort of dignity, even if they just meant paying off creditors. In the first of his three Ed Wood appearances, he remains commanding even if the vehicle he prayed would be his comeback failed. Every serious moment Wood intended just brings on laughs, and ultimately, that is why Wood is remembered today.

Over half a century before Bruce Jenner decided to step out as a woman, Edward D. Wood Jr. came out with this daring, yet incompetently filmed would-be documentary about cross-dressing and sex changes. Wood, a notorious cross-dresser, insisted he was the perfect director for this subject, and with a budget smaller than the amount of change in a normal person's couch cushions, he sort of made a little movie about these themes. At just over an hour, this hodgepodge of stock footage, poorly written and acted scenes, odd fantasy sequences, and old Bela Lugosi rambling on about life and death is truly a finished product that defies a typical synopsis. "Pull the stringk!!" Lugosi shouts, and he theoretically represents some sort of a puppet master presiding over the human condition. Though Wood should be applauded for his courage in dealing with these subjects, one cannot forgive the incredible ineptitude with which this thing was thrown together. Some of its more interesting and racy moments were apparently thrown in post-production by the producer who obviously wasn't expecting any attempt at a thoughtful documentary from his director. The dramatic scenes deal with a young man (played by Wood under the pseudonym Daniel Davis) engaged to be married, but he's hiding a huge secret. The man loves to wear women's clothing, particularly angora sweaters! Should he tell his fiancée? How should he tell her? What if she doesn't want to marry a guy like that? The horrors! The scenes dealing directly with this plot make up about a third on the screen time. The biggest chunk of time has a doctor narrating about the differences between transvestites/homosexuals/hermaphrodites among many other things while at the same time explaining them to a police detective. It is in these scenes where some of the most laughable use of stock footage ever can be found. The funniest is perhaps where Wood has inserted footage of a steel mill and two off-screen blue collar types are talking about transsexuals while railroad rails are being forged out of molten steel and sparks are crashing all around! Other random shots of traffic and stampeding buffalo are thrown in. There is a suggestion that some random guy changing a light bulb in a rail yard might be wearing pink satin panties or something... hilarious!! The fantasy scenes go on for about 15 minutes, and make very little sense.Finally, we see the story of a WWII veteran who goes through a sex change. I'm sure they thought this was graphic back then, but its mostly a shot of doctors looking down at the patient while the narration explains in very general terms what is taking place. And the WWII veteran angle only gives Wood even more chances to throw in stock footage of soldiers in battle. The film's conclusion would probably not satisfy the militant LBGT (or is it LGBT?) community of today. It seems the doctor thinks and recommends that the young transvestite man can somehow be cured from his fetish, but I forgot how. Somehow his wife ends up taking the place of Glenda (his cross- dressing alter-ego) and they live happily ever after. Whatever. Anyway, give Wood some serious props for attempting to take a thoughtful look at trans-gender and transvestite issues at a time when they were probably only hinted at within the moldy pages of dime detective novels. 4 of 10 stars.The Hound