The earliest cross dressing film in the British Film Catalogue is; Oct 1898, BFC 00157. Title; "ALLY SLOPER" (75ft-1.5ft per second); d. G A Smith. Synopsis; Man dresses up as woman, then film is reversed.
In Novemeber 1900, Phono-Bio-Tableaux Films released a series of 3 minute short films with, among others, Vesta Tilley, the male impersonator. These 9 films were the first British sound films,being synchronised to gramaphone records. Vesta Tilley sang the following; "The Midnight Son", "Algy the piccadilly johnny", and "Louisiana Lou",BFC 00390.
In April 1907 Miss Tilley appeared in the following Chronophone film series, again sync. to gram. records, singing "Please conductor,don't put me off the train", BFC 01547.
A Vesta Tilley Bio-pic was filmed in 1957.
The following may also be of interest.
SLINTERS, Dec 1929, BFC 07826. Synopsis; France,1916. Soldiers form concert party. Among the acts was Reg Stone, Female Impersonator, who sang"I'll be getting along", and "There's room in my heart".
SKIMPY IN THE NAVY, BFC 10383. Synopsis;Friends join navy to seek treasure on Mediterranean island. The film featured Vic Ford And Chris sheen, drag artists, who sang "Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty". Nov. 1949.
A LITTLE OF WHAT YOU FANCY, BFC non-fiction catalogue 12179.
Synopsis; History of the music hall. The film featured Barry Chat and Terri Gardner, drag artists, who sang; "Why do they always say no?", "Somebody loves me", and "I wonder where my baby is tonight?".
The following British films are all about the Transgendered.
BOYS FROM BRAZIL. 1993, B.B.C. DOC.
THE CRYING GAME. 1992.
EAT THE RICH. 1987.
I WANT WHAT I WANT. 1971.
JUST LIKE A WOMAN. 1994.
LADY BOYS. 1992 CHANNEL 4 DOC.
LILY SAVAGE LIVE - PAYING THE RENT. 1993, COMEDY VIDEO.
A LITTLE BIT OF LIPPY. 1992. MADE FOR TV.
ORLANDO. 1993.
PRIVATES ON PARADE. 1984.
SEX CHANGE - SHOCK! HORROR! PROBE!. 1989. CHANNEL 4.
SHINJUKU BOYS. 1993. DOC.
STONEWALL. 1995. US/GB CO-PRODUCTION.
TRIPLE ECHO. 1972.

The above is a small amount of the information I have on this subject, and, as time permits I will contribute more. If anyone is interested in any of the above, then please message me for more details, though, because of other commitments, I may be slow in replying.
Elly H.

Meredith, in your warm appraisal of "Glen Or Glenda", you omitted the film's central premise. The central characters love of Angora sweaters - a love shared by Ed Wood. Legend has it that Wood went ashore on D-Day wearing bra and panties under his uniform not being too concerned about being killed, but terrified that he might be wounded! If you haven't already seen it, I heartily recomend Tim Burton's Bio-Pic of Wood. A film both sad and funny with a superb perfomance (as is usual) from
Johnny Depp as Wood and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, not to forget Bill Murray.

I stand corrected Meredith. I should have said "A" not "THE" central premise, etc. On Mr Wood's war experiances, I did preface the anecdote with the phrase "Legend has it"...Nuff said. Yes, Rudolph Grey's is an interesting book. As for the film, here we differ. I see "GLEN OR GLENDA" as a typical Poverty Row exploitation movie, on a par with the 30's "Classic",
"REEFER MADNESS" I mean,...Vat are little boys made ov? Is it puppy dog tails? Big fat snails? Or maybe brassieres! high heels! garter belts!". Is hardly the stuff of social conscience.
And nowhere in the rest of Mr Wood's output is there any hint of same. EG. CROSSROADS AT LAREDO (48), JAIL BAIT (54), BRIDE OF THE MONSTER (55), PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (59), all the way to NECROMANCY (75). Mind you, Mr Wood's films are infinitely more enjoyable than such clinkers as "THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD" with centurion Wayne popping up at the end drawling "Truly this man was the son of God".

Suggested reading; HALLIWELL'S FILM AND VIDEO GUIDE.
HALLIWELL'S FILMGOERS COMPANION.
THE MACMILLAN INTERNATIONAL FILM ENCYCLOPEDIA.
THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS (Cruel but useful).
IMAGES IN THE DARK-AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GAY AND
LESBIAN FILM AND VIDEO.
AND OTHERS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION.

Much Love.
Elly.
XXXX

Let's not forget the American film called "Glen or Glenda" by the infamous director Ed Wood. Wood was a CD himself, and the film was orginally supposed to capitalize on the Christine Jourgensen (sp?) story. Ed turned it into his own little drama, and even played the lead role himself. It was the story of a CD who didn't know how to tell his girlfriend, and it explored what it meant to be TG. Sure, Wood didn't know much about proper filmmaking, and his films are notorious for bad direction, bad dialog, inconsistencies, etc., but they sure are fun!

It was one of the first U.S. films, if not the first, to plead for understanding of the Transgendered.

While Ed did have an angora fetish, and angora was in the film, the fetish itself was not the central premise of "Glen or Glenda." I have a copy of the film and have seen it many times so I know this. It was trying to get people to understand and accept. But, you are right to some extent. Angora usually made an appearance somewhere in his films.

Yes, it is true he was scared of being wounded and not killed in WWII. And he was a parachuting into France when it happened.

Tim Burton's film on Ed was, for the most part, pretty accurate, altough he did change a few things. Read "Nightmare of Ecstacy" if you want to know more.

Elly,
I agree with you completely that is was an exploitation film. That's what George Weiss had in mind. I happen to love "Reefer Madness" as well. But let's remember that Ed Wood wanted to tell his story. The funny part about it is that he wanted understanding, yet acted under a different name. It was a lot moredangerous back then by to TG than it is now. It's still dangerous, but, you know.....

As for what you said, I must disagree. Ed Wood did indeed use angora in many of his films. For instance, in both "Bride of the Monster" and "Night of the Ghouls" angora made an appearance. In one of his last films he appeared as a woman (Alicia), and many of his writings often discribed TG, or gay, activities.

Do you want to talk stinkers? How about the second version of "The Ten Commandments?' Bad writing (scriptures aside), bad direction, bad acting....oh my....and I watch it every year!

Something tells me we'd make a good film team. Do you have any television shows there that showcase bad movies? Here in Chicago we have "Svengoolie," and his bad movies are BAD!!!!! That's what makes them so much fun!

Mere XXXOOO