| She-Man | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Bob Clark |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Harris Anders |
| Produced by | Charles W. Broun Jr. |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Gerhad Maser |
| Edited by | Holt Gurnstein |
| Music by | George Backahle |
Production company | Southeastern Pictures Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 68 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
She-Man is a 1967 American film directed by Bob Clark and starring Leslie Marlowe. [1] In this film, a former soldier becomes a cross-dresser. [2]
The film opens with a psychologist presenting the film as an account from the files of a research project, presented in story form. The psychologist emphasizes that the "type of individual" presented is factual, and an accurate account of a type of "deviation", encourages the audience to broaden their minds and sympathize with this type of person.
Albert Rose is introduced as a normal American man who is wealthy, athletic, handsome, and popular with women. One day Albert receives a mysterious letter, and quickly goes to a predetermined location in a motel. In the motel room, he is played recordings of statements that Albert deserted under fire during the Korean War. He is also played a recording of him talking with a prostitute. Albert is revealed to have paid a large sum of money to have a fellow soldier blamed for desertion instead. The speaker is revealed to be a mysterious woman named Dominita, who wants to force Albert to become her servant for one year, and pay her a sum of $20,000. Albert reluctantly accepts, pays Dominita the money, and accompanies her to her estate.
Albert is given four white estrogen pills each daily, and Dominita's assistant Ruth instructs Albert on becoming Dominita's maid. At first Albert protests, saying that he won't be turned into any "drag queen". But he then gradually accepts, shaving his entire body, having his eyebrows plucked, and wearing makeup, a wig, breast forms, and a French maid outfit. Albert insists that he will not take any more pills, but Ruth assures him that it is only a game.
Albert begins working for Dominita as a maid, using feminine pronouns, and using the name Rose Albert. When Albert begins to serve Dominita, she criticizes him and strikes him with a riding crop. After Albert leaves, Dominita tells Ruth that Albert "wanted" the punishment, and "needs to be dominated", but it took a traumatic situation to bring that out.
Albert and Ruth begin a romance, and Albert begins talking about a future together, in which he can continue to cross-dress in private, but lives as a man otherwise. Ruth reveals that she may not be attracted to Albert as a man, and she tells him about her upbringing, and how life events resulted in her becoming a lesbian. Albert tries to convince Ruth that he still has a "passive" and "feminine" side.
Albert continues to serve as Dominita's maid. While serving her a drink, Albert sees a scar on Dominita's leg. He finds a camera and secretly takes a photo of the scar, and has Ruth develop the photo, and to have copies made. Albert arranges for the staff of the house to meet the next morning. When Dominita finds the staff members gathered in one room, she becomes angry, and strikes a staff member with her riding crop. Albert confronts Dominita and pulls her wig off, revealing that she was Dominique Festro, a soldier who deserted in Korea, and who was shot in the leg by Albert. The staff members subdue Festro.
The psychologist appears again at his desk to give a summary and states that Albert is a "transvestite" who enjoys cross-dressing, with no change to his sexual orientation or to his emotions. Albert is contrasted with Dominita, who also desired power and superiority. The psychologist gives a disclaimer that the riding crop used was not about sadism, but merely a symbol of power and authority. The psychologist states that transvestism is considered a "perversion" punishable by law. He says that it is ridiculous for transvestism to be illegal, because many world leaders and religious officials wear robes and tunics similar to women's clothing, and many women wear clothing such as shorts, slacks, and jackets. He pleas for acceptance and understanding of transvestism.
The cast members are as follows: [1]
Leslie Marlowe, who played Albert Rose, was a well-known female impersonator, or professional drag queen. [3] He did drag performances throughout the country, including at well-known venues in San Francisco and New York City. [3]
She-Man was filmed in Lehigh Acres, Florida, with a funeral parlor and a greenhouse providing the main sets. [4] Locals played most of the roles, with the exception of the cross-dressers, who were professional female impersonators. [4]
In a review of She-Man in an issue of LadyLike magazine from 1995, the reviewer considered She-Man to be a "must see" for those who enjoy cross-dressing and cross-dressing themes in film. [4] The review characterized the film plot as typical for cross-dressing fantasy: [4]
The storyline reflects a typical CD fantasy. The "hero" is forced to "dress" and finds out rather quickly that he enjoys the transformation into femininity. He meets a GG who is attracted to his feminine side and they become lovers. This theme, in various forms, is often the plotline in most CD fiction.
An encyclopedia of gay and lesbian films described She-Man as "hilariously bad in all respects". [5]
The Southeastern Pictures Corporation initially released the exploitation documentary film Queens at Heart in 1967 along with She-Man. [6] This short documentary film provides a rare look at four trans women in New York City, prior to the Stonewall riots. [6]
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express oneself.
Glen or Glenda is a 1953 American independent exploitation film directed, written by and starring Ed Wood, and featuring Wood's then-girlfriend Dolores Fuller and Bela Lugosi. It was produced by George Weiss who also made the exploitation film Test Tube Babies that same year.
Charles Pierce was one of the 20th century's foremost female impersonators, particularly noted for his impersonation of Bette Davis.
Drag kings have historically been mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. As documented in the 2003 Journal of Homosexuality, in more recent years the world of drag kings has broadened to include performers of all gender expressions. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, either live or lip-synching to pre-recorded tracks. Drag kings often perform as exaggeratedly macho male characters, portray characters such as construction workers and rappers, or impersonate male celebrities like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Tim McGraw. Drag kings may also perform as personas that do not clearly align with the gender binary. Drag personas that combine both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits are common in modern drag king shows.
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender.
A gender bender is a person who dresses up and presents themselves in a way that defies societal expectations of their gender, especially as the opposite sex. Bending expected gender roles may also be called a genderfuck.
Tri-Ess is an international educational, social, and support group for heterosexual cross-dressers, their partners, and their families.
Cross-dressing and drag in film and television has followed a long history of cross-dressing and drag on the English stage, and made its appearance in the early days of the silent films. Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel brought the tradition from the English music halls when they came to the United States with Fred Karno's comedy troupe in 1910. Both Chaplin and Laurel occasionally dressed as women in their films. Even the beefy American actor Wallace Beery appeared in a series of silent films as a Swedish woman. The Three Stooges, especially Curly, sometimes appeared in drag in their short films. The tradition has continued for many years, usually played for laughs. Only in recent decades have there been dramatic films which included cross-dressing, possibly because of strict censorship of American films until the mid-1960s. One early exception was Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Murder!, where the murderer is a transvestite who wears particularly frilly dresses and petticoats. Cross-gender acting, on the other hand, refers to actors or actresses portraying a character of the opposite gender.
In the context of gender, passing is when someone is perceived as a gender they identify as or are attempting to be seen as, rather than their sex assigned at birth. Historically, this was common among women who served in occupations where women were prohibited, such as in combat roles in the military. For transgender people, it is when the person is perceived as cisgender instead of the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, someone who is a transgender man is passing if he is perceived as a cisgender man.
Joan of Arc, a celebrated French historical figure who was executed by the English for alleged heresy in 1431, is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. Joan was accompanied by an army during the Hundred Years War, then adopting the garb of a soldier, which ultimately provided a pretense for her conviction and execution. A number of contemporary commentators including some scholars have described her wearing of armor including certain articles of men's clothing most notably as described by priests and officials of the Catholic Church leading up to and during her trial, as crossdressing. Whether her so-called crossdressing, and that beyond which has been misconstrued regarding her lifestyle, have implications for her sexuality or gender identity is a matter of debate among historians and queer theorists.
First a Girl is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Victor Saville and starring Jessie Matthews. First a Girl was adapted from the 1933 German film Viktor und Viktoria written and directed by Reinhold Schünzel. It was remade as the 1982 American musical comedy Victor/Victoria starring Julie Andrews.
A transgender person is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual. Transgender can function as an umbrella term; in addition to including binary trans men and trans women, it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, conceptualize transgender people as a third gender, or conflate the two concepts. The term may also include cross-dressers or drag kings and drag queens in some contexts. The term transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers.
Cross-gender acting, also called cross-gender casting or cross-casting, is when actors or actresses portray a character of the opposite sex. It is distinct from both transgender and cross-dressing character roles.
Cross-dressing as a literary motif is well attested in older literature but is becoming increasingly popular in modern literature as well. It is often associated with character nonconformity and sexuality rather than gender identity.
Virginia Charles Prince, born Arnold Lowman, was an American transgender woman and transgender activist. She published Transvestia magazine, and started Full Personality Expression, which later became Tri-Ess, for male heterosexual cross-dressers.
This article details the history of cross-dressing, the act of wearing the clothes of the sex or gender one does not identify with.
It's a Boy is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Leslie Henson, Albert Burdon and Edward Everett Horton. It is a farce about a blackmailer who attempts to demand money from a young woman on the brink of marriage. It was based on the 1931 play It's a Boy by Austin Melford, an English adaption of the 1926 play Hurra, ein Junge by Franz Arnold and Ernst Bach. with sets designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky.
Ella Wesner was a celebrated male impersonator of the Gilded Age vaudeville circuit.
Lee Greer Brewster was an American drag queen, transgender activist, and retailer. He was a founding member of the pre-Stonewall activist group, Queens Liberation Front. In the 1970s and 1980s, he published Drag magazine. Brewster helped to raise funds for the very first U.S. celebration of Pride, Christopher Street Liberation Day in 1970. He continued to help raise funds and organize Christopher Street Liberation Day for several years. Lee Brewster was active in the homophile and gay liberation movements, working with the Mattachine Society of New York as well as the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.
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