''The Christine Jorgensen Story'' is a 1970 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
and a fictionalized biographical film about
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. She had a career as a successful actress, singer and re ...
. While the overall premise of the film is accurate, many of the details are fictionalized for the continuity of the film. It was directed by
Irving Rapper
Irving Rapper (16 January 1898 – 20 December 1999) was a British-born American film director.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family and based on Christine Jorgensen's autobiography.
Plot
Cast
* John Hansen as George Jorgensen, Jr./Christine Jorgensen
*
Trent Lehman as George at 7
*
Joan Hopkins
Joan Hopkins (31 August 1915 – 27 December 2002) was a British stage and film actress. During the late 1940s she appeared in starring roles in several productions, including Princess Charlotte in '' The First Gentleman'' and as Helen in the box ...
as Aunt Thora
*
Quinn Redeker as Tom Crawford
*
Pamelyn Ferdin
Pamelyn Wanda Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and a former child actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later ...
as Dolly as a child
*
Elaine Joyce
Elaine Joyce (born Elaine Joyce Pinchot) is an American actress.
Early life and education
Elaine Joyce Pinchot was born in Cleveland, Ohio, of Hungarian ancestry, the daughter of Iliclina (née Nagy) and Frank Pinchot.
Career
She made her fil ...
as Loretta
Production
A film based on the book was proposed in 1960. Edward Small bought the film rights in 1968. Jorgensen later claimed under the contract she would be entitled to 10% of the gross and 3.5% of the budget.
"Every female impersonator in the world came flying into Hollywood demanding he was Christine", said Jorgensen later.
George/Christine is played by John Hansen.
Irving Rapper said Small gave him the job as director because it required someone who had sensitivity.
Release
Reviews were mixed.
Jorgensen later unsuccessfully tried to get a restraining order to stop Small's estate from exploiting the film, claiming Small diverted $100,000 owed to her for his own use.
Jorgensen said she was worried United Artists would exploit the film as a
B movie.
Home media
''The Christine Jorgensen Story'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by
MGM Home Entertainment
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC ( d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
History ...
on October 12, 2011, through its Ultimate Collection
DVD-on-demand service.
See also
*
List of American films of 1970
This is a list of American films released in 1970.
''Patton'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The top-grossing film at the U.S. box office was ''Airport''.
__TOC__
A–B
C–F
G–I
J–M
N–S
T–Z
See also
* 1970 in ...
*
Transgender in film and television
This is a list of films with transgender people and transgender fictional characters. This does not include documentaries, which are listed on the lists of LGBT-related films by decade or animated characters, which are noted on the List of fi ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christine Jorgensen Story
1970 films
American LGBT-related films
1970s English-language films
Films directed by Irving Rapper
Films about trans women
United Artists films
1970 LGBT-related films
Films produced by Edward Small
Cultural depictions of Christine Jorgensen
Films scored by Paul Sawtell
Biographical films about LGBT people
1970s American films