Ed Wood's ANGORA FEVER: "Big Man—Little Man" (1971)

I think a mannequin somehow got in there.

NOTE: This article continues my coverage of Angora Fever: The Collected Short Stories of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (BearManor Bare, 2019).

The story: "Big Man—Little Man," originally published in Illustrated Case Histories: A Study of Group Sex Practices, vol. 3, no. 3, October/November 1971. Credited to "Dick Trent."

Synopsis: Joyce has newly arrived in New York City from a small town, and she's impressed by the tall buildings, but the men are a disappointment. They're no different from the ones she knew back home. She secures a job in the lingerie section of a department store, and she has a recurring customer named Harry who fondles the bras and panties and talks dirty to Joyce. She is very excited by this and even more excited when he takes her out to his place in the country. After donning her panties, he reveals that, despite his diminutive height, he has an enormous penis and a harem of beautiful women at his disposal!

Wood trademarks: Country bumpkin comes to the city (cf. "That Damned Faceless Fog," Hollywood Rat Race); lingerie section of a department store (cf. Glen or Glenda); orgy in weird old house (cf. Necromania); shop clerk (cf. "Like a Hole in the Head"); panties (cf. "The Loser"); nylon (cf. "Try, Try Again"); snakes (cf. "Witches of Amau Ra").

Excerpt: "It was then she knew she had to try this little guy on for size… just like she tried on her own panties for size. And the words he whispered in her ear were words she had heard from the boys when they wanted to talk dirty or make some girl think they knew everything there was in the world about sex. They knew all the dirty words and she had to admit she liked hearing them."

A strange room from Necromania.

Reflections: One of the oddest, most haunting details in Ed Wood's Necromania (1971) arrives at about the 40-minute mark. Danny (Ric Lutze) and his girlfriend Shirley (Rene Bond) have come to the palatial estate of Madame Heles for some much-needed sexual instruction. Upon failing to make love to each other, Danny and Shirley temporarily split up and have separate sexual encounters. Danny is seduced by Madame Heles' assistant Tanya. After they have sex, Tanya asks Danny to look through a curtained window. Ed then cuts to blurry footage of an orgy, presented through a kaleidoscopic lens. Danny's first reaction is to scoff.

"Not all react to the treatment successfully," Tanya explains. "There are those who will never find satisfaction in their... their universal language."

"Universal language?" dumbbell Danny replies.

"Sex," Tanya clarifies. "Some want too much, others too little."

"I didn't react very well, did I?" says Danny, now looking sheepish.

Tanya smiles slyly. "There is always the future."

"Like them and their future?" Danny retorts, pointing at the orgy room.

"Not like them. They're lost forever. Not like them. They can never return to a world which will reject them. They are happy here."

She closes the curtain and leads Danny by the hand to a session with Madame Heles herself. The movie never mentions these people ever again. So what's their deal? Are they going to live in this house forever? Do they have the run of the place or do they have to stay in this one room? Do their families miss them?

I guess we're not supposed to wonder too much about the people in the orgy room from Necromania, but I thought about those "lost" souls while reading "Big Man—Little Man," which is probably the shortest story in all of Angora Fever. I think the twist here is supposed to be that "little" Harry is so well-endowed, but I couldn't help speculating about the lives of the women who apparently live in his home. Ed compares them to "snakes in a snake pit," writhing around on a bunch of pillows. What kind of life is that?

Next: "Spokes of the Wheel" (1971)