''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 ...

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.

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