“A
CREEPY EXPLOITATION DOUBLE-BILLâ€
By
Raymond Benson
Here
we go again! Another entry in the “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the
Exploitation Picture†series, this time it’s Volume 5. Presented by Kino Lorber
in association with Something Weird Video, we have for your viewing pleasure
the double-bill of Tomorrow’s Children, released in 1934 and directed by
Crane Wilbur, who went on to do an impressive amount of writing and directing
for (mostly) B-movies, and Child Bride, released in 1938 and directed by
the notorious Harry J. Revier, a practitioner in cinema sensationalism dating
back to the silent era. Note: Some online sources such as Wikipedia incorrectly
state that the running time of Tomorrow’s Children is 70 minutes (here
it’s 56 minutes and there doesn’t seem to be anything missing), and that Child
Bride was released in 1943 (nope, it was 1938).
First
up—Tomorrow’s Children, the subject matter of which is eugenics and
sterilization. Believe it or not, there was quite the movement in those days
that perpetuated the sick belief that people who might be alcoholics or have
disabilities or be criminally inclined should not be allowed to procreate. You
know, it’s what Hitler and the Nazis actually practiced. The picture,
surprisingly, settles on the side of “it’s wrong,†but it goes about portraying
the unfortunates who do become sterilized as stereotypical miscreants and
misfits. Diane Sinclair plays Alice, who is the daughter of alcoholics and
sister to siblings who are either physically or mentally impaired. Thus, when
she desires to marry her sweetheart, Jim (Carlyle Moore), the court deems that
she must undergo sterilization to prevent the further breeding of undesirables.
Enter the honorable Dr. Brooks (Donald Douglas), who fights to help Alice and
stop the surgery from taking place.
The
picture must have been somewhere in the realm of a respectable B-picture
production, albeit produced independently of Hollywood, for none other than
acclaimed actor Stanley Holloway appears as comic relief as one of the doctors
at the hospital. Douglas was also a hard-working actor who appeared in over 100
films. Director Wilbur at least knows how to put a movie together, and the
acting isn’t terrible (but certainly not award-worthy). That said, the picture
indeed has a creepiness factor that justifies its inclusion in the exploitation
film genre.
On
the other hand, Child Bride is exceptionally creepy and wince inducing. It
is presented as an “educational†treatise on the horrors of child marriage,
which the movie postulates as common in such American backwater areas as the
Arkansas Ozarks, where the story takes place. Twelve-year-old Jennie (Shirley
Mills, who went on to play one of Henry Fonda’s kids in The Grapes of Wrath),
is innocent and just entering puberty. Her best friend (and boyfriend) is young
Freddie (Bob Bollinger), and their relationship is wholesome. However, there
are men in her little mountain community who take “young’uns†as brides. When
Jennie’s father is murdered, the heavy of the movie, Jake (Warner Richmond),
threatens her mother (Dorothy Carrol) with blackmail unless she allows Jennie
to be forcibly married to him. Meanwhile, the schoolteacher, Miss Carol (Diana
Durrell) is advocating against child marriage in the village, which attracts the
wrath of the menfolk. Child Bride is as salacious as it sounds,
especially today. The picture became infamously banned for its brief,
gratuitous nude swimming scene featuring the star. Sure, the film’s message is
“child marriage is bad,†but director Revier isn’t above throwing some red meat
to the perverts in the audience. Child Bride is a shocking—yet
fascinating—piece of cinema history that shines a light on moral (and immoral)
attitudes of the late 30s. Of note is the inclusion of dwarf actor Angelo
Rossitto (credited here as Don Barrett; he was prominent in Tod Browning’s Freaks)
as one of the heroes of the picture.
Kino
Lorber does the best they can in restoring the films in high definition
considering the poor source material. Tomorrow’s Children looks the
best, despite a brief courtroom sequence that appears as if it is fifth
generation YouTube video. Child Bride is choppy and full of scratches,
but we’re to expect this coming in. The first feature has an audio commentary
by Eric Schaefer, author of Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!: A History of
Exploitation Films, and the second has a highly informative feminist take audio
commentary by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. Unfortunately, there
are no supplements other than the trailers for this and other Kino Lorber
releases.
For
those interested in the history of exploitation films and fans of the other
titles in the Forbidden Fruit series, then Tomorrow’s Children/Child
Bride is for you. Just be sure to take a shower after viewing.
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