BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.

Subject: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 06:03 PM

I picked up "Glen or Glenda" from the library the other day, and was prepared for something hugely funny and in very bad taste (after four years you KNOW how dark my sense of humour is!) but instead, I (Heather too) found it fascinating.

Yes, it's unbelievably bad, chintzy, poorly made, exploitive (with Bela Lugosi mumbling childrens' nursery rhymes from a cue card that's no where NEAR the camera) and in general lives up to it's reputation as the worst movie ever made. (if you haven't seen "Plan Nine From Outer Space" or "Braveheart")

But....do ya know what? Wood is SERIOUS! He really WAS trying to address the transvestism issue in a respectful way. Correct me if I'm wrong but was Christine Jorgenson's fame around this time? (1953-1954)

Ed, (calling himself Daniel Davis in the film) of course makes a horridly ugly woman when he's wearing his outfit of angora sweater, bra, heels and makeup, and the dialogue is probably mostly inaccurate as well as badly written... but there's something quite poignant about the whole thing. Heather and I both have friends who deal with these and other related issues, and I wonder how THEY view a film like this.

Well I went to the store and rented the Tim Burton film "Ed Wood" a couple of hours ago, and I've spent about five hours on the net with Eddie. Believe me there's a TON of fascinating information about him....including the CHURCH OF ED WOOD, which given another fifty years could actually be legit to those who are lookin' for cross-dressing Messiahs.

Anyway.......any other Catters have any Ed Wood stuff? JEEZUS...did anyone ever MEET him??!!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: harvey andrews
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 06:09 PM

Rick, you have an infallible ability to find the lost diamond of interest hidden in the dark recesses at the back of the sofa of life. You've ferreted about again and come up with another sparkler to add to your list. Wouldn't life be dull without them?

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 06:22 PM

Perhaps I do Harve, but you have half the women on Mudcat wanting to get their hands on your capo!

I should mention folks that both Harvey and I have an absolute fascination for interesting folks who are not exactly what they seem. We've shared books on Ken Williams the comic, Benjamin Hayden the painter and several other amazing people.

Yup, Edward D wood fits right in there. He didn't write a diary like the other two did, but his story (and WHAT a story) is in the films he made (serious and trashy), the books he wrote (all trashy) and his friends (Strippers, porno actors, juicers and dopers)

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 07:20 PM

Both "Plan 9" and "Braveheart" are bad -- but for entirely different reasons. "Plan 9" is "good bad." "Braveheart" is just really bad history and inexcusable.

Ever see "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" or "Over-Sexed Rugsuckers From Mars" or "Polish Vampire In Burbank"? (Not to mention "Vampire Hookers.") None of which are by Ed Wood, of course. Oh, gawd, Rick, our "taste" runs along the same lines. (By the way, I have a spare, pristine copy of "Ed Wood" for sale if anyone is interested. Somehow I ended up with two copies.)

Our "taste", by the way, is shared by John Waters, whose films I also love. (Especially the early ones: "Mondo Trasho", "Multiple Maniacs," "Female Troubles" . . .)

I also like Peter Greenaway, Luis Buñuel, Kenneth Anger, David Lynch, Almodovar, etc.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: KarlMarx
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 07:37 PM

If you like Ed Wood, you'll probably adore William Castle. Castle made such jems as "The House on Haunted Hill," "13 Ghosts," "The Tingler," and "Strait Jacket," to name but a few, and he later worked on "Rosemary's Baby." His gimmicks, such as buzzers in seats and weird 3-D effects, were parodied by John Goodman in "Matinee." I heard that someone is making a movie about Castle's life, ala Johnny Depp's "Ed Wood." That ought to be a hoot. Then there's always Roger Corman, and Russ Meyer . . .

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 08:25 PM

I have my own copy of "Glen Or Glenda". Supposedly, Wood got the funding to make it from a religious group who thought he was producing a social commentary of some sort - which he was. Poor Bela. "Snips and snails and puppy dogs' tails". Talk about crappy dialogue. But he was in a drug induced stupor and probably never noticed.

The movie is semi-sutobiographical. Wood's second wife says she was content to share her angora sweaters with him. It is somewhat poignant, especially if you know someone who has similar tendencies.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Art Thieme
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 08:45 PM

Rick,

Back then, I don't think there was a transvesiteism issue to (as you said) raise. I doubt Ed was raising anything. He just knew what he liked. And he liked to show it off so he figured "Hell, why not use this new visual medium." Those who were, did. The rest kept it locked in the closet or swept under the rug. Ed died and others followed their own needs for another half century or so before you could find that film at a public library. To everything there is a season.

Art

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 09:44 PM

I never came close to meeting him, but my favorite line from Plan 9 is (policeman talking on the phone) "He's dead alright...murdered...and SOMEBODY'S RESPONSIBLE!!!"

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 09:49 PM

I have seen Plan Nine about three times, I saw Ed Wood, but have never been able to find Glen or Glenda in the video store. Rick, where did you get it? I have wanted to see it for ages.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 10:11 PM

Steve, Amazon.com has Glenn or Glenda on video for $9.95.

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 10:19 PM

Ahaa Steve! The library! Specifically the one at Lawrence and Don Mills. (This is in Toronto folks)

The movie "ED WOOD" was wonderful....we're still chuckling. I'm about to go Google-searching for Lisa Marie (who plays Vampira but is probably MUCH more interesting!).

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Jeri
Date: 12 Jan 03 - 11:02 PM

Rick, did you find this Lisa Marie site? Got a filmography and a link to a nude photo. There are some strange-sounding film titles there. Maybe good 'uns.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 08:10 AM

Chanteyranger.

I usually don't buy videos as I rarely watch a movie more than once, but if I can't rent G or G I might have to make an exception.

Rick, I don't have a Toronto Library Card, but I have a fellow I work with who lives pretty close to that branch, I'll ask him if he can get it for me. I can almost guarantee that the Whitby Library won't have it.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: JJ
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 08:41 AM

Rick, get your hands on the Ed Wood bio, "Nightmare of Ecstasy" by Rudolph Grey. The rest of Wood's life was just awful, culminating in death by heart attack on someone else's couch after being evicted from his own apartment. Another interesting source is the video bio, "Look Back in Angora."

Poor Ed possessed every attribute of the serious artist save one -- talent.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 11:44 AM

I'm going to try JJ.

Heather figures that Lisa Marie had to have had a rib removed in order to look the way she does (at least in The Wood movie). Stuff like that scares me as much as the more standard cosmetic surgery does. Yuchhhhh!

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Micca
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 12:02 PM

Bat Godess, I KNEW there is a good reason to like you....Almodovar,Peter Greenaway, Luis Buñuel, Kenneth Anger, David Lynch,et al!! and Plan 9!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 01:20 PM

Jeez, once ya start reading about Ed, it's hard to stop! He croaked while watching an NFL football game in his sleazy apartment.

The most fascinating tidbit I've come up with is that he'd ALREADY made 125 commercials before he did any movie directing. The Tim Burton film implies that he's this very young naieve guy humping potted plants at the studio.

The worst part of this damned internet, is now I'm fascinated with Bela Lugosi, Bunny breckinridge, Delores Fuller and Tor Johnson.

My Gawd, why couldn't I just admire straight ahead beloved figures like margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan??!!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: 'Glen or Glenda'. 'Plan 9..' Ed Wood jr.
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 13 Jan 03 - 01:40 PM

to get any real sense of how bad a film maker Wood was you need to hunt down a copy of "Orgy of the Dead". It was Wood's last, and his only color film. As cheesey (and fun) as his stuff was, black and white film his a multitude of even his sins.

Stephen Lee