Like i said in my last installment on this series, I'm kind of stretching it when it comes to reviewing these two movies (after all, they aren't horror). But they are essential in explaining Ed Wood's quirky genius.
First up is Ed Wood's first feature film, "Glen or Glenda"
starring Bela Lugosi, Dolores Fuller (Ed Wood's then-girlfriend at the time), Lyle Talbot, Timothy Farrell, and Ed Wood himself (credited as "Daniel Davis") as the title character.
Originally under the titles "I Changed My Sex", "He or She", and "I Led Two Lives", this movie was planned to be a biopic about real-life person Christine Jourgenson, the world's first publicly known sex-change recipient. However, once Ed Wood was hired, he changed it to be a movie about himself, and his love of dressing in women's clothing. Bela Lugosi gets top billing as "The Scientist", a weird character who serves as an all-knowing figure who we assume is suppose to be God. He narrates over the other characters lives, and is able to change the course of the story. Glen is trying to get the courage to tell his girlfriend Barbara about his secret transvestism, but he's scared how she will react. The movie also has ANOTHER narration by Timothy Farrell, who makes it seem like a documentary and a film at the same time.
This is easily one of the most bizarre movie's i've ever seen. 20% of the running time (the movie is only 68 minutes long) is stock footage of cars, bison running, shots from WWII, and airplanes. They weirdest part of the film is a 15 minute nightmare scene, which is bewildering and at times really disturbing. Bela Lugosi's narration doesn't help, as he keeps saying cryptic lines that make no sense... such as:
This is easily one of the most bizarre movie's i've ever seen. 20% of the running time (the movie is only 68 minutes long) is stock footage of cars, bison running, shots from WWII, and airplanes. They weirdest part of the film is a 15 minute nightmare scene, which is bewildering and at times really disturbing. Bela Lugosi's narration doesn't help, as he keeps saying cryptic lines that make no sense... such as:"Beware! Beware of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys... Puppy dog tails, and BIG FAT SNAILS... Beware... Take care... Beware!"
"Pull the strings! PULL THE STRINGS!!!"
After watching this movie, I really have to applaud Ed Wood. He had the balls to make a film about something really taboo, and make himself the subject character. He was telling the world not to judge others, and to accept everyone's quiks no matter what they are. This is probably the most heartfelt and personal movie of any director i've ever seen.
Up next is Ed Wood's tribute to crime noir gangster films, "Jail Bait"
which once again stars Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell, and Lyle Talbot and bringing in Steve Reeves (star of the famous "Hercules" series) and Herbert Rawlinson in his last performance (he died the morning after filming his last scene). It was originally titled "Hidden Faces" (one thing worth mentioning now is that every single Ed Wood movie had their title changed at the last minute).
The movie centers around Don and Vick, two guys on the wrong side of the law. Don, the epitome of a "good-for-nothing kid", is the son of world famous plastic surgeon Dr. Boris Gregor. Vic one night shoots a cop after Vick robs a safe inside a theatre house, and they try to hide from the cops as long as possible. Vick kills Don, and orders his father to perform plastic surgery on Vick so he can no longer be identified after having a different face.
This movie, co-written with screen legend Alex Gordon, is probably the most competent film Ed Wood made, with the least amount of mistakes and weirdness. It's just an average crime noir, that keeps your interest the whole way through. Strangely enough, the tagline is "She's a good girl... to leave alone!" although none of the female characters are the focus of the story, or even do anything dangerous.
There is one scene i can't forget to mention... about 15 minutes or so in the movie, it cuts to a minstrel show with one of the most hilariously racist characters i've ever seen named Cotton Watts. But this scene is unrelated to anything before or after, and this comical scene is in stark contrast to the deadly serious mood of the rest of the movie. No one mentions it at any point of the film. It's like it's a scene from another movie, that was accidentally added in.
If you see Jail Bait to be an example of Ed Wood's awful film-making, you're going to be dissapointed as it isn't THAT bad. Not to say it isn't, but it at least is somewhat legitamite.
Ah.. the ratings. Well, for this series i've decided to judge each film on their creativity, their originality, and their all-around entertainment value. I will NOT be judging them on their quality.
Glen or Glenda: 8 out of 10.
Jail Bait: 6 out of 10.
tune in next time when i'll go over Ed Wood's most famous movies, his horror trilogy cosisting of Bride Of The Monster, the infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Night of The Ghouls. See ya then!
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