Christine Jorgensen Story, The (1970)
BOMB (out of 4)
Dreadfully awful bio-pic about George Jorgensen (John Hansen) who just didn't feel like playing football or building things as a small child. No, he preferred playing with dolls and putting his sister's dresses on. As an adult he went to Denmark where he had a sex reassignment operation and became known as Christine Jorgensen. People might not know it but originally Ed Wood and company where going to make a film about Jorgensen but due to legal reasons they couldn't so that film ended up being turned into GLEN OR GLENDA? and I must say that Wood was way ahead of his time and actually delivered a much better and (believe it or not) more serious picture. Director Rapper worked with Bette Davis countless times including NOW VOYAGER and I think it's very safe to say that he had no idea what to do with this story. The movie is completely embarrassing due to how poorly made it is and how awful the acting is. I guess we can start with the downright horrid direction which never seems to know what it wants to do. At times the movie seems like something meant to make fun of gays. The next minute it wants to educate you yet it tells us nothing. The next minute it wants to be a love story about the "new" woman and the man in her life. Then it wants to be about the troubled boy and his father who overlooks the obvious problems. All of it is handled so poorly that you can't help but roll your eyes. I really never knew if this thing was meant to be taken serious or if they were simply making fun of the situation. At least GLEN OR GLENDA? wanted to be taken serious but the poor filmmaking put it into a different category. This thing here is just awful without a single thing going for it. Hansen is downright awful in his roles but you really can't blame him too much since the screenplay is so bad and this was his first movie after all. As a man he is way too woman-like and as a woman he's way too manly so his performance doesn't work no matter which character he is. As a man you can't help but wonder if we're suppose to be laughing at him because of all the stereotypes going on plus you get more laughs from the sorry performances. The support cast aren't much better but I give everyone credit for being willing to do this film. THE CHRISTINE JORGENSEN STORY has pretty much been forgotten, although to be fair it really wasn't noticed when it was originally released. The movie might appeal to those who enjoy horrid movies but I found this thing to be so bad that I couldn't have any fun with it.
BOMB (out of 4)
Dreadfully awful bio-pic about George Jorgensen (John Hansen) who just didn't feel like playing football or building things as a small child. No, he preferred playing with dolls and putting his sister's dresses on. As an adult he went to Denmark where he had a sex reassignment operation and became known as Christine Jorgensen. People might not know it but originally Ed Wood and company where going to make a film about Jorgensen but due to legal reasons they couldn't so that film ended up being turned into GLEN OR GLENDA? and I must say that Wood was way ahead of his time and actually delivered a much better and (believe it or not) more serious picture. Director Rapper worked with Bette Davis countless times including NOW VOYAGER and I think it's very safe to say that he had no idea what to do with this story. The movie is completely embarrassing due to how poorly made it is and how awful the acting is. I guess we can start with the downright horrid direction which never seems to know what it wants to do. At times the movie seems like something meant to make fun of gays. The next minute it wants to educate you yet it tells us nothing. The next minute it wants to be a love story about the "new" woman and the man in her life. Then it wants to be about the troubled boy and his father who overlooks the obvious problems. All of it is handled so poorly that you can't help but roll your eyes. I really never knew if this thing was meant to be taken serious or if they were simply making fun of the situation. At least GLEN OR GLENDA? wanted to be taken serious but the poor filmmaking put it into a different category. This thing here is just awful without a single thing going for it. Hansen is downright awful in his roles but you really can't blame him too much since the screenplay is so bad and this was his first movie after all. As a man he is way too woman-like and as a woman he's way too manly so his performance doesn't work no matter which character he is. As a man you can't help but wonder if we're suppose to be laughing at him because of all the stereotypes going on plus you get more laughs from the sorry performances. The support cast aren't much better but I give everyone credit for being willing to do this film. THE CHRISTINE JORGENSEN STORY has pretty much been forgotten, although to be fair it really wasn't noticed when it was originally released. The movie might appeal to those who enjoy horrid movies but I found this thing to be so bad that I couldn't have any fun with it.