DVD# 1: OLD TIME KIDS FILMS VOL. 1 - KIDS! 1950s SOCIAL GUIDANCE FILMS
What Baby Boomers Were Taught About Who They Were & How To Behave - Over 110 Minutes Of School Day Classics!
AM I TRUSTWORTHY? (1950, B&W, 10:20)
A young boy learns to do what he's told, keep his promises and to return what he borrows.
BEGINNING RESPONSIBILITIES: TAKING CARE OF THINGS (1951, B&W, 9:18)
The little ones learn to take care of their stuff properly.
BETTER USE OF YOUR LEISURE TIME (1950, B&W, 10:31)
Appropriate use of free time is one of the most important lessons a person can learn, and this film ensures young adults learn it early.
DON'T BE AFRAID (1953, B&W, 11:30)
A psychological journey through what makes a child frightened and why.
HELPING JOHNNY REMEMBER (1956, COLOR, 10:07)
Johnny thinks the world revolves around him, and his friends have had enough, and through a psycho-drama worthy of "The Prisoner" television series, Johnny is brought back into the fold.
HOLIDAY FROM RULES? (1959, COLOR, 10:10)
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A "Lord of the Flies" story copy, dramatizing the need for children to have clear rules they must be made to abide by.
HOW QUIET HELPS AT SCHOOL (1953, B&W, 10:11)
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This film could also be called "THIS IS WHAT PLAYGROUNDS ARE FOR", which is where the noise & horseplay of the kiddies are supposed to be banished to.
LET'S BE GOOD CITIZENS AT SCHOOL (1953, B&W, 8:45)
Neat, clean-cut and practicing good citizenship skills - that's the ideal student this film intends to produce.
LET'S SHARE WITH OTHERS (1950, B&W, 10:25)
Share and share alike & you'll get along & profit by it, as Jimmy's lemonade stand experiences teaches.
OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY (1951, B&W, 9:55)
Three young boys horse around a little too much & their childish prank results in big, big trouble.
WAYS TO SETTLE DISPUTES (1950, B&W, 10:06)
Alice, Jerry & Eddie learn how to get along by practicing the art of compromise and playing according to the rules.
DVD #2: OLD TIME KIDS FILMS VOL. 2 - OLD TIME KIDS FILMS 1934-1967
33 Years Of Childhood Memories In Media Century Celluloid - 3 Full Hours Packed Into 13 Films On 1 All Regions DVD!
A CHILD WENT FORTH (1942, 19:46)
A National Association of Nursery Educator's film distributed by the New York University Film Library artistically rendering a day in a kid's life at a progressive summer camp.
ALL-AMERICAN SOAP BOX DERBY (1934, 10:26)
A great Jam Handy Organization movie short produced as the official film document of the 1934 Soap Box Derby Competition at Dayton, Ohio.
THE 1936 ALL-AMERICAN SOAP BOX DERBY (1936, 10:27)
A 1936 rework of the same great Jam Handy Organization movie short of 1934.
DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS (LATE 1950s, 13:06)
A child safety film of unknown origin dramatizing the danger of child stalkers to both children and adults alike.
JOURNEY THROUGH A DAY (1967, 16:55)
How a child subjectively experiences the objective realities of the day is dramatized by following Ralph through a beautiful countryside to his favorite fishing spot in this unnarrated stream-of-conciousness film so significant of its day.
ONE GOT FAT: BICYCLE SAFETY (1963, 14:48)
Narrated by Edward Everett Horton in the great manner for which he was famous in so many 1960s cartoon series & films, this strange & wonderful educational piece looks at first like a primitive storyboard for "The Planet Of The Apes" as ape-masked kids dramatize how-not-to ride their bikes.
PLAYING TOGETHER (1947, 10:00)
How-to and how-not-to play with each other post-war style is dramatized as two boys go through their playing day riding bikes and going swimming.
PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF DISEASE (1940, 10:48)
A Film made on the eve of America's involvement in WWII and reflective of the values of exactly that period, the National Motion Picture Company produced this clinical hodgepodge of images intended to show people in general and kids in particular doing things you don't see them doing today and demonstrating how doing those things will lead to disease in strange ways.
SAFETY PATROL (1937, 9:24)
The Chevrolet Division of General Motors produced this story of an avuncular police sergeant who quizzes a safety patrol boy on the finer points of crossing guard responsibilities over an ice cream soda.
SCHOOL HOUSE IN RED (1945, 23:11)
A small town is no longer able to afford its local school house and chooses to accept centralized school districting in its place, dramatizing the important issue of those World War II days over centralized versus decentralized education.
SOCIAL CLASS IN AMERICA (1957, 14:50)
A slightly frightening and disturbing social engineering film that seeks to validate hierarchical social castes within a democratic society by telling the story of three school chums that come from very different upper, middle and lower class families; it is nonetheless essentially a film seeking to validate elitism as a viable social order.
THE STRANGER (1957, 14:55)
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department of California sponsored this cautionary color film tale of a young girl who is abducted and then murdered by a child stalker.
DVDs #3 & #4: JUVENILE DELIQUENCY FILMS 2 DVD SET
24 Classic Scare Films About Reckless Tender Youth - Over 6 Hours Packed Into 2 All Regions DVDs!
A CHANCE TO PLAY (1950, 18:05)
General Electric partnered with the National Recreation Association & had The March of Time produce this film to propagate the idea that floodlights were a bulwark against juvenile deliquency. It might sound daft at first, but one you watch this film, you'll see how nightime lighting provides for recreations that keep the younger members of the populace occupied in more wholesome activities than vandalism, drug-taking and criminal activity in general.
ACT YOUR AGE (1949, 13:22)
Jim doesn't like math, and as his mind wanders during his lessons, he carves his initials into his high school desk. The principal finds out and helps Jim understand that he's not a child anymore and gives him the means both to judge if he is acting like one or not and correct the problem if he is.
ALCOHOL TRIGGER FILMS FOR JUNIOR HIGH: THE PARTY, THE MOTHER, THE BRIDE (1979, 8:57)
Three dramatizations of situations youngsters will find themselves in with regard to drinking - the new kid on the block tries to make friends by opening his house up to a party when the parents are gone; a drunk mom picks up daughter & friend from school & goes to a mall; young kids are seduced into drinking by older kids & then go along for a car ride.
ARE YOU POPULAR? (1947, 9:53)
What are "good" and "bad" girls? What is proper dating ettiquette? How does a child treat their parents? Most of all, why are some kids popular and others not? This classic time piece indicates clearly the morés of the time and the social and psychological pressures they placed upon the post-war generation.
AS THE TWIG IS BENT... (1943, 10:50)
Classic World War II era scare film demonstrating the crumbling morals of youthful America resulting from the nation's diversion of attention away from the family unit as it focused upon winning the war.
ASK ME, DON'T TELL ME (1961, 20:55)
San Francisco gangland is the subject here, all the ethnic variety of it. Includes a survey of the sad, violent and hopeless world these youngsters live in, the turf fights they inevitably engage in, the punishments the law ultimately metes to them and, also, the vocational and social paths rehabilitation lies in.
BOY IN COURT (1940, 10:15)
The National Probation and Parole Association produced this film in order to convince the public that Juvenile Court was an enlightened, humane and effective means of dealing with youth crime. Its focus is upon 15-year-old Johnny, who goes straight after stealing cars with his hoodlum friends results in his being sentenced by an avuncular Judge to probation under the tutelage of a kindly probation officer. What wonders church & social services bred in 1940!
BOY WITH A KNIFE (1956, 19:15)
Richard Widmark narrates us through the story of Jerry, a young man wielding a knife in answer to the troubles brought on him by his wicked stepmother, and it takes an actor who wields a rifle on tv (Chuck Conners of "The Rifleman") to play the fairy godfather social worker who makes all work out right in the end. Sponsored by the Los Angeles Community Chest.
CHEATING (1952, 11:00)
Cheating on an alegbra test is a ticket to ones own personal hell, as John convinces Mary to help him perform the dirty deed. THIS could happen to YOU if YOU get in involved in school politics!
EMOTIONAL MATURITY (1957, 20:32)
Life's not going well for Dave - his Dad doesn't like him, his girlfriend left him, his football coach benched him and he just can't handle all the rejection. Slashing the tires of his rival isn't the way, but it's the way he chooses. This film seeks to analyze why he Dave made such choices as a cautionary tale to the young viewer.
LET'S BE GOOD CITIZENS AT SCHOOL (1953, 8:45)
The fifties have become known as the age of conformity, and it may well be that this film made a great contribution towards this age. Imagine Wally of "Leave It To Beaver" indoctrinated by Jack Webb of "Dragnet" and you'll get the picture of this picture.
OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY (1951, 9:55)
Three boys fooling around get themselves into serious trouble when they make a chemical smoke bomb to prank the school that works far more powerfully than anticipated!
PLAYING TOGETHER (1947, 9:59)
Yes Virginia, there WAS a Mister Rogers before Mr. Rogers. At least Donny & Duncan live in a world that grand old man must have come from, and the piano score that tinkles throughout serves very strongly to underscore this impression. They learn how to play with each other & others and as much about how not to play, too. Take a bike ride along with 'em as they make their way towards the community pool.
RIGHT OR WRONG? (MAKING MORAL DECISIONS) (1951, 10:11)
Harry's out with his hoodlum friends, who are throwing rocks at a warehouse window while Harry decides not to cast his stone. He gets caught by the cops anyway, though, after the night watchman I.D.'s him to the authorities. Sgt. Kelly wants Harry to talk, but Harry won't, and although this film doesn't actually come out and tell its young viewers "rat on your friends - an ommission that is an interesting and deliberate lesson in and of itself - it illustrates what forces can come to bear on making that decision, and it repeatedly requires the viewer to ask themselves what they should do in similar circumstances.
ANGRY BOY (1950, 29:38)
Ten year old Tommy's acting out the worst parts of his parents' behavior. A social worker helps his Mom come to terms with Tommy's problem, which is to say that she comes to terms with her own poor familial relations. Before there was "Rebel Without A Cause", there was much more sober psychodrama.
THAT BOY JOE (1944, 17:27)
It's World War II America, and while the cat's are away at war work, the mice will play with their hoodlum friends all the more. But all this mouse play (and a good measure of drinking and smoking) puts little Joe in juvenile court, and boy, does the judge let his parents have it for not taking him to the Boy Scouts or to church to save him from his wastrel ways!
THE BULLY (1952, 10:22)
It is difficult to determine exactly what the message of this film is other than the fact that bullies are dangerous and a fact of life - an in many ways, that is as certain and definite a message as any on this subject, and one with continuing merit. There are kids like Chick in every school in every state in every nation - they almost certainly aren't as bad at acting as he and the rest of his cronies & victims in this film are, but as anyone who knows school bullying first hand, it may be surrealist theatre, but as Columbine shows, it's all too real. At least in this performance the target is the class picnic, and Chick's buddy successfully rats him out.
THE DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN (1955, 21:14)
The New York City Jewish Youth Organization PRIDE OF JUDEA produced this documentary on its successful efforts in assisting the wayward teenage boys of their community.
THE OTHER FELLOW'S FEELINGS (1951, 8:05)
An intelligent, thought-provoking analysis of how teasing can result in more than simply hurting another person's feelings, told through the person of Judy, who drops a bottle of perfume, and Jack, whose thoughtless teasing takes on a life of its own, growing and drawing others into it until Judy goes beyond simple embarrassment into a crisis of self-image.
THE OUTSIDER (1951, 11:33)
Susan Jane Smith is a nice, smart, pretty young lady who cannot figure out why she is so alienated from her schoolmates. Her schoolmates ignore her because her aloofness is interpreted as being stuck up. Anyone, especially women, who lived through this period can recognize how well this film captures the heart of this matter, while anyone from anytime and place can learn from this examination of and solution to teen social alienation.
THE SHOW-OFF (1954, 11:03)
A film devoted to the class clowns, pranksters & loud-mouths of the world, seeking to analyze and bring up for discussion the appropriate reaction to such folks & their follies. Speaking as an ex-class clown, fully reformed prankster & got-me-a-bully-pulpit-for-channeling-constructively-my-still-very-loud-mouth, this film goes far in exposing just how far fifties era social problem-solving techniques were, and were not, well met.
THE TROUBLE-MAKER (1959, 11:03)
This is the story about a kid with issues - the kind that don't get resolved but rather get projected onto others for simple but malicious attention. A quality study of the kinds of real problems that the degree past class clown and prankster brings about.
WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY? (1955, 10:41)
When Jamie's gang attacks his father, he decides enough is enough & promptly becomes the leaver of the pack. He then turns tail to fight City Hall's attempts to institute a curfew intended to put a stop to his former friends' delinquent ways.
WHY VANDALISM? (1955, 16:08)
We could also properly subtitle this film "I Was A Teenage Vandal". "I" is Jeff, who himself might call this film "I Was A Teenager Outsider". What dirty dishes & households can do to a child are merely symptomatic of the lack of love and attention Jeff gets at home, but what it compels him to do at school during the day and with the malt shop gang at night creates a host of other problems that this film sincerely tries to help solve.
DVD #5: TEENAGE DATING FILMS 1946-1958 DVD
Eight Classic Films On The Do's and Don'ts of Dating - Over 110 Minutes Packed Into 1 DVD!
BEGINNING TO DATE (1953, 11:20)
Studs Terkel plays a swimming coach who teaches a young student how to "take the plunge" into the world of dating.
DATING: DO'S AND DON'TS (1949, 11:55)
Roundly considered the best of the old time dating films, this classic how-to Kodachrome color picture guides Woody through the process of dating from the very beginning to (almost!) the very end, post-war generation style.
GOING STEADY? (1951, 10:34)
An attempt to "analyze" (criticize, really) "going steady", insinuating it is limiting to teen freedom while intimating it equates with promiscuity!
HOW DO YOU KNOW IT'S LOVE? (1950, 12:34)
You'll know how to tell after seeing this film - at least, the film's producers hoped so, and many agree with them over this agreeable and practical drama.
HOW MUCH AFFECTION? (1958, 19:48)
A time capsule of Fifties fear of sex, a frank analysis of how much loving a going-steady teen couple should get themselves up to when Jeff tries to be a nasty young man to Laurie and her mother puts in her two cents.
HOW TO SAY NO: MORAL MATURITY (1951, 10:30)
No, no, no - no to drinking, smoking and petting. But how to keep face in front of your friends at the same time? This film attempts and succeeds at showing you how.
JUNIOR PROM (1946, 20:16)
Lovely color film of two couples embarking on a double date, unaware that they were taking Emily Post along too for a real crash course in the manners & ettiquette of the age.
WHAT TO DO ON A DATE (1950, 10:45)
For those boys who are late in developing interest in girls, this very well-loved classic piece takes us from weenie roasts to bicycle rides on the practical aspects of developing a dating relationship.
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