Jail Bait / Glen or Glenda 2006 Horror Movie Review

JAIL BAIT (1954) is inept filmmaking of little value. The other half of this double feature is a classic by comparison.



GLEN OR GLENDA (1953) - Bela Lugosi, Edward Wood Jr., Dolores Fuller, Lyle Talbot, ‘Tommy’ Haynes, Conrad Brooks


Infamous movie that began Ed Wood’s reign as “worst director of all time” is an autobiographic semi-documentary on transvestism (now called “crossdressing”). Wood as Glen also boldly appears in his second self, here named Glenda. Fuller, playing girlfriend Barbara, is a really bad actress. Bela’s “puppy dog’s tails” speech and later “Pull da string! Pull da string!” narration over a superimposed buffalo herd are unforgettable. An extended sequence of wordless action with music track perhaps reveals the director’s other idiosyncracies.


Here, as Glen and Barbara get married, a sports jacketed Satan nods his approval. The next curious segment is of an hourglass shaped stripper then a supine woman being whipped and bound by another girl. The previously tied up girl freely writhes on a couch in a sheer negligee, clearly aroused. A man enters and forces himself upon her; at first she resists but then kisses him back. All this as Lugosi watches with raised brows.


The sequence continues: a small crowd points accusingly at Glen and surround him as the devil urges them forward. He’s now Glenda when they back away. Barbara slowly approaches but suddenly turns into Satan. Glenda recoils. An amused Barbara reappears in an overturned chair; she rises and mocks Glenda. A montage of laughers, plus their hands and grinning faces, segues to the devil repeating Lugosi’s “Beware” soliloquy.


All this is preface to Glen’s decision to reveal his dark secret to Barbara. Will she laugh for real and make Glen’s nightmare a reality? Will she end their engagement? Before we find out, another case is presented plus there’s lots more stock footage to use up! (Hint: Wood’s story incorrectly concludes that love cures CDers.)