Although the Woman Inside is not a perfect film, it is really quite extraordinary for its time. The music and the direction are dreadful, some of the performances are quite good. Ms. Manon's performance as Hollis/Holly was quite powerful and courageous and definitely before its time. Ms. Blondell's performance was also quite good. I feel that this movie is an excellent commentary on the tortured lives of some people.
5 Reviews
throw this film in the garbage can. and then throw that garbage can in a bigger garbage can.
travisrex28 April 2005
this movie breaks new ground for terrible. i bought this for a dollar at a thrift store in south Florida and if i ever return to the area, i will return this movie to the shelf it was on. i used to watch it with friends just to laugh at the clumsy performances, incredible dialogue ("it's all so precious and right," "you're weird, weird! sick-weird!") and preposterously ham-handed treatment of the issues surrounding "transsexuality" but now, in 2005, it's just unacceptable. the only redeeming quality to this film is it's datedness- (the disco-strings montage of Hollywood landmarks as seen from a taxicab window, in particular, is priceless) but beyond that it's just a painful movie to watch. please don't even bother with this film. it's a garbage film.
Dated but Accurate
formertranskid29 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
If you are looking for the perfect date night film... or great drama... This film is NOT the film for you. But if you are looking for a film which sensitively and accurately portrays what it is like for "young transitioning" transwomen this is it. Even its dated production is dead on accurate. The film was made in 1981, using Los Angeles as a location. I lived in L.A. right at that time. I am also transsexual, having transitioned socially to living as a girl as a teenager... and having has surgery in 1981. Thus, this film spoke directly to me.
The portrayal is nearly perfect. Holly is ME! I was Holly! The ONLY wrong note in the whole plot is the silly notion that such an obviously feminine and androphilic (sexually attracted to men) individual would have been drafted and sent to Viet Nam. Yes, many transwomen have served in the military. But if you look at them carefully, you will find that they are universally gynephilic (sexually attracted to women) and are not particularly feminine in behavior or appearance.
But, interestingly, we actually see this difference between Holly and such "older transitioners" in the film. There is a painful scene in which Holly attends a transsexual / transgender support group. It is obvious to me that it was REAL. Those weren't actors, they were real "extras", "late transitioning" transwomen who really are like how they were portrayed. In a following scene, we hear Holly begging her doc not to require her to go back to that support group... which also strikes me as very realistic, given that she is NOT like those others. I too was uncomfortable meeting such 'older transitioners' the first time I did in 1976.
Yet, we also see the very realistic friendships that develop between transkids like Holly, and "older transitioners" as Holly is aided by a former trucker (a stereotypically masculine job that many "older transitioners" might have held).
Finally, (spoiler), Holly's ill fated romance goes sour when her boyfriend discovers that she is transsexual. This too is dead on accurate. I felt it hit me in the gut... having been there all to often myself.
No, this film is not great cinema... but it does have its place in trans* portrayals, being the single most accurate that I've yet seen out of Hollywood.
The portrayal is nearly perfect. Holly is ME! I was Holly! The ONLY wrong note in the whole plot is the silly notion that such an obviously feminine and androphilic (sexually attracted to men) individual would have been drafted and sent to Viet Nam. Yes, many transwomen have served in the military. But if you look at them carefully, you will find that they are universally gynephilic (sexually attracted to women) and are not particularly feminine in behavior or appearance.
But, interestingly, we actually see this difference between Holly and such "older transitioners" in the film. There is a painful scene in which Holly attends a transsexual / transgender support group. It is obvious to me that it was REAL. Those weren't actors, they were real "extras", "late transitioning" transwomen who really are like how they were portrayed. In a following scene, we hear Holly begging her doc not to require her to go back to that support group... which also strikes me as very realistic, given that she is NOT like those others. I too was uncomfortable meeting such 'older transitioners' the first time I did in 1976.
Yet, we also see the very realistic friendships that develop between transkids like Holly, and "older transitioners" as Holly is aided by a former trucker (a stereotypically masculine job that many "older transitioners" might have held).
Finally, (spoiler), Holly's ill fated romance goes sour when her boyfriend discovers that she is transsexual. This too is dead on accurate. I felt it hit me in the gut... having been there all to often myself.
No, this film is not great cinema... but it does have its place in trans* portrayals, being the single most accurate that I've yet seen out of Hollywood.
I Actually Liked This
BugisStreetAnnie13 January 2018
Despite the bad reviews this film got I actually like it. It does start out slow but gets better. I thought Gloria Manon was great as Hollis/Holly, and I must admit I did think she was a real transsexual at first.
I also had the same reaction that another reviewer had being a transsexual myself. Although, I must correct her that not all of the people in the transgender support group were transsexuals. Several of them were actors, like actor/comedian Jackie Vernon. I'm sure the other one was an actor also because they both looked like men in drag despite supposedly being post-op transsexuals that were living their lives as females. I will admit that was rather funny. I laughed out loud when I saw their "group.' No wonder Holly never went back.
Like the other commenter, I too was put off when I met transsexuals that made the transition later in life, like those in the support group. They came off as phony and only pretending to be a woman than actually having a natural feel for it. As they said in the movie, I don't think they were 'classic transsexuals' but heterosexual transvestites instead. Maybe why they used male actors.
I do wish more would have been explained, however, like how was Hollis/Holly's aunt able to live on her own in their house in Hollywood when Hollis was off fighting in a war? She claimed she had to start selling their furniture so she could eat, but how much furniture could she have had really. She does mention she never had a job, so those furniture sells must've gone a long way...
Also the way it ended with Holly in San Francisco but I never heard her say she was going to S.F. to have suddenly ended up there.
Always I was so glad I finally got to see this movie when I've wanted to see it for so long. But as someone on YouTube said, "I only wish making the transition was that easy," as Holly makes it seem. Ain't that the truth.
I also had the same reaction that another reviewer had being a transsexual myself. Although, I must correct her that not all of the people in the transgender support group were transsexuals. Several of them were actors, like actor/comedian Jackie Vernon. I'm sure the other one was an actor also because they both looked like men in drag despite supposedly being post-op transsexuals that were living their lives as females. I will admit that was rather funny. I laughed out loud when I saw their "group.' No wonder Holly never went back.
Like the other commenter, I too was put off when I met transsexuals that made the transition later in life, like those in the support group. They came off as phony and only pretending to be a woman than actually having a natural feel for it. As they said in the movie, I don't think they were 'classic transsexuals' but heterosexual transvestites instead. Maybe why they used male actors.
I do wish more would have been explained, however, like how was Hollis/Holly's aunt able to live on her own in their house in Hollywood when Hollis was off fighting in a war? She claimed she had to start selling their furniture so she could eat, but how much furniture could she have had really. She does mention she never had a job, so those furniture sells must've gone a long way...
Also the way it ended with Holly in San Francisco but I never heard her say she was going to S.F. to have suddenly ended up there.
Always I was so glad I finally got to see this movie when I've wanted to see it for so long. But as someone on YouTube said, "I only wish making the transition was that easy," as Holly makes it seem. Ain't that the truth.
Very Interesting film
jonasweisz28 April 2018
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