“THE ALTAR OF IGNORANCE”

By Raymond Benson

The Pre-Code days of Hollywood (prior to July 1, 1934) sported numerous studio productions that raised eyebrows and caused consternation among the more Puritan segments of America’s population. This eventually led to the Hays Office overseeing Tinsel Town’s self-implemented Production Code that policed content in the motion picture business until the mid-1960s.

Before the Code—and after—there were also low-budget non-studio independent productions that went even further in exploiting (the key word here) sex, drugs, and violence under the guise of being “educational films.” They were often marketed guerilla style, as if the circus was coming to town, in which distributors would book a theater for a week, bombard the press with “adults only” advertisements, make a killing at the box office, and then move on to the next town. This scheme worked because, after all, prurient subject matter sells.

The Road to Ruin is one such exploitation film but it’s a bit different. In a way it’s a hybrid of the Hollywood B-movie and an independent production of dubious quality. In contrast to other pictures of its ilk, Road is a step above. There are aspects here that are admirable and worth a look, even if it’s a view backwards into a time and place that today is quaint, sensationalist, and laughable, which is why we enjoy these gems from the past. Therein lies the charm of these movies that have recently been restored and released on Blu-ray as a series called “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture,” from Kino Lorber Classics in association with Something Weird Video.

There are two versions of the film. First there was the 1928 silent production, directed by Norton S. Parker, written by Willis Kent, and starring a young, pretty blonde named Helen Foster, who had been working in numerous Hollywood silent pictures at the time and developed a name for herself through, at least, the 1930s. The Road to Ruin was a popular hit, so much so that a few years later, it was remade as a talkie in 1934, written and directed by “Mrs. Wallace Reid,” the credited name of Dorothy Davenport. Davenport had indeed been married to the actor Wallace Reid, who had died in 1923 from complications due to drug addiction. Interestingly, the 1934 talkie also stars Helen Foster in the same lead role of the innocent high school girl who becomes corrupted by (in this order) alcohol, drugs, and sex. In the 1928 silent version she is “Sally Canfield”; in the 1934 talkie she is “Ann Dixon.” Foster is quite believable as a 17-year-old in the silent picture… not so much in the talkie (she was 27 when that was made). Nevertheless, Foster’s performances in both versions are the main reason why both movies are notable. She is quite charismatic and not without talent.

The story in both movies is exactly the same (Davenport based the later screenplay on Willis Kent’s 1928 version). Sally/Ann is friends with Eve, another high school teen who is wilder mainly because her divorcing parents are wealthy and are too busy throwing parties and serving illegal booze (it was the Prohibition era at the time). Sally/Ann and Eve go out with some schoolboys who introduce Sally/Ann to alcohol… and one thing leads to another. Then, one night, dashing older man Don/Ralph spots Sally/Ann in a club and makes his move. Sally/Ann begins seeing him, and of course Don/Ralph offers the drugs and gets her pregnant. The sordid tale then goes into the dangers of unlawful abortion and the catastrophic results. As the tagline of the 1934 picture reads, it’s a movie about “modern youth burned at the altar of ignorance.”

The movies were meant to be cautionary tales to parents, imploring them to instruct their children in sex education and the ways of the world. Never mind that there are scenes of strip poker in the silent movie and strip dice in the talkie. It’s educational! That said, as opposed to other exploitation movies of the time such as Narcotic (1933) or Marihuana (1936), there is a tonal sincerity of intent by the filmmakers. They likely truly believed that The Road to Ruin, both versions, were not exploitation movies. This is why they might be viewed as a cut above others of the genre.

The new Kino Blu-ray presents a 4K restoration of the 1934 version and it looks quite good. It comes with an audio commentary by Eric Shaefer, author of Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!: A History of Exploitation Films. The 1928 version does not have the 4K restoration but it still looks marvelous for its age, and it comes with an audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide and a new musical score by Andrew Earle Simpson.

The Road to Ruin is for fans of Hollywood history, Pre-Code sensibilities, exploitation films, and the time capsule aspects of American family life in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Just don’t do anything we wouldn’t.

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