The Christine Jorgensen Story

I was channel surfing for Steven King's Christine when Roku surfaced this chestnut from 1970. I was amazed that a movie had been made on Christine Jorgensen. Ed Woods dream come true. But in spite of its high production value and good acting it gave short shrift to gender dysphoria syndrome. In fact the story was almost surreal. It was hard to maintain belief that this was really what happened. Being a physician that treats transsexuals and other syndromes and having known Christine on a personal basis, the film was quite shallow but served a necessary purpose to once again remind the public that this is a medical problem deserving of respect not derision. The story is much more complicated than portrayed. It is not a laughing matter and victims of the syndrome do not have a happy ending. Many wind up in the sex trade, murdered regularly, and victimized by malpractice of surgeons. I'm glad Christine agreed to make the film but it is locked in its time and prejudices. Not up to date if you really want to know about this life shattering disease.

It's hard to believe that the director of the classic 'Now Voyager' directed this wastebucket. The story of the world's most famous sex change recipient (THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST SEX CHANGE! NOT EVEN CLOSE! Sex change operations had been happening since the 1920s at least! Can't people research things? Jorgensen was the first Sex change celebrity for sure.) is so very bizzare. We are first introduced to little George Jorgensen Jr. played by the uber creepy Trent Lehman (Butch on 'Nanny & The Professor', Who later at the age of 20 commited suicide by hanging himself with his belt from a middle school fence) Little Georgie grins like a maniac while looking at a eye rolling doll through a toy shop window and endures the taunts of his pudgie playmates who proclaim that his name is "Georgette" while making stereotypical limp wrist gestures (This is very odd, given that nothing in Lehman's mannerisms is particularly effeminate!) After abandoning his erector set (!?), Georgie decides he would rather play with his sister's dolls. After being discovered with a doll at school, his parents start to worry. Years pass and Creepy Trent has grown into a Hetero Surfer dude who seems to be doing a mediocre wispy gay imitation (Inconsistent with Lehman's performance). Chubby playmates give way to bitchy fashion models and taunting prostitutes. The burly bleached blonde George decides to consult with some kind of hormone expert and soon is off to Denmark to be changed into Grace Kelley's stunt double. Our hero/heroine soon finds brief romance with a handsome tabloid reporter (Quinn K. Redeker, a few years after his riveting tour de force in 'The Three Stooges Meet Hercules') Poor Christine finds the people back home in America to be ignorant, simple minded and insensitive (As does most of Europe). I have to stop here, as words are inadequate to describe this overly melodramatic soap opera/train wreck. I will say this, it is never boring!

This not to be missed camp classic directed by Irving Rapper is an attempt at a serious, informative and sympathetic biopic on the life of the world's first transsexual, but the result, as stated in a previous post, is genuinely bizarre and campy. Released by United Artists in 1970, the era of Easy Rider, M*A*S*H and A Clockwork Orange, the film seemed dated even then. Lead John Hansen is chubby and broad-shouldered, and as Christine he resembles Peggy Lee. No cliché in film-making, acting or dialog has been overlooked, and that combined with the solemn narration creates unintended laughter and derision. Surprisingly, the NY Times critic took the film seriously and gave it a respectful review. After its initial release. the film lapsed into obscurity. Critic Pauline Kael referred to Rapper's best known film, Now,Voyager(43), as "a campy tearjerker". In The Christine Jorgensen Story, the tears are caused by laughter.

In the early 1950s, George Jorgensen transitioned from a guy to a woman. I noticed some reviewers said he was the first to do so...but he was not, as some such surgeries were performed in Europe in the 1930s. Instead, he was the first to go public and openly admit they'd gone through the hormone replacement and operations. Now renamed 'Christine', she spent much of the rest of her live advocating for transsexual acceptance. Here in this 1970 film, Jorgensen's autobiography is brought to the big screen...with a caveat. The film was highly fictionalized according to several sources I read and I have no idea what was and what wasn't true. Sure, they wanted to make the film profitable and embellishing would make the project more cinematic...but it really calls for a more faithful film about her life. And, at this point, if you want the best version of Christine's life, try to find the book--and it is at Amazon (among other places).

As far as the film goes, it seemed from the beginning that the filmmakers really didn't try all that hard to get the look of the film right. Much of the movie is set in the 1940s...yet the hairstyles and clothes look like they're from 1970! In particular, the models George was photographing looked nothing like a 1940s or 50s woman. The guys in the film were dressed in clothes closer to the period...which seemed a bit odd. Also, the cars shown in 'Copenhagen' (circa 1950) are mid to late 50s American cars. As a retired history teacher, I tend to notice these things...perhaps most others won't. I can only assume they either didn't care to get it right or the project was so low budget they simply couldn't afford the extra cost of getting the details right.

The film stars John Hansen as George/Christine. He's not a particularly famous actor and only has a small number of film credits. But he was pretty good as the title character--rather feminine as a male but not campy or over the top. Once the transition's been made, Hansen does a fair job but looks more like a guy than Christine actually did-- modern makeup would have made the character more believable--but it was 1970 when they made the picture.

As far as the rest of the film goes, it worked pretty well because it did not come off as an exploitation film--something that could have happened very easily. Sensitively made, it is interesting to watch though I also know it's not a film for everyone! My only big regret is that I wanted the film to be a true biography...not a film with occasional embellishments and changes for the sake of marketing.

The comments posted here are uniformly derisive of this film. It does not deserve such derision.

I suppose I should confess that I haven't seen the film for about 20 years, or maybe longer, and that I only saw it by chance while channel-hopping one evening, so I suppose my memories of it are somewhat faded. However I was hooked by it, and it's stuck in my mind ever since.

What the other comments overlook about this film is its honesty. It is made with real feeling. It's true that the dialogue is campy and that the attitudes portrayed are stereotypical; but the writer -- who was Christine Jorgensen herself/himself -- lived and believed every word of it, and her sincerity shines through every line.

I'm not saying the film is perfect. Very far from it. I've given it only 6 out of 10. But if you watch it with an open mind, it's quite a revealing portrayal of the mind of a transsexual. I'd be interested to know what happened to the author in later life.