FILM REVIEW

THE CHRISTINE JORGENSON STORY

Joyce 41-B-1 FPE

The Christine Jorgenson Story is the autobiography of George Jorgenson's transformation into Christine. It touches all of the bases, TS and HS, except ours. This may or may not be a good thing. The movie is, I think, a rather obvious plea for understanding the plight of TS's. Unfortunately, it falls short of audience acceptance. Most of the audience I was in seemed singularly unimpressed. That is too bad, for understanding TS's would indicate that people may be becoming more tolerant of TV's.

The semi-documentary style of the film is a problem in audience acceptance. The dialogue tended to be hackneyed and almost totally unrealistic. For example, after Christine signs the paper applying for the operation, the friendly doctor says, “You have great courage. You are going to need it." Some of the photography is quite good, although many of the scenes are filmed in the dimly lit, grainy effect so common to documentaries.

From the TV's point of view, the second half of the film can be quite interesting, especially when we realize that John Hanson (the young actor playing Christine) is dressing as we all love to. Here is an oppor- tunity to watch a man dressed in feminine attire for extended periods of the film without the dirty joke or lewd curiosity approach of films like Candy or The Damned.

Mr. Hanson has some problems in portraying a woman. (Don't we all?) His voice is close, but lacks feminine inflections most of the time. Make-up was excellent, although facially he only looked truly feminine from certain angles. The mannerisms were too controlled, and he seemed very uncomfortable most of the time. His general appearance wasn't helped by the chunky clothing styles of the fifties.

All in all, it is worth the price of admission, but Some Like It Hot is still the best TV film.

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