Review of Tell Your Children (1938) by Bob V — 06 Apr 2011

Astounding as it sounds, this film was originally intended to warn 1936's audiences of the dangers of marijuana, the complete and utter nonsense that is given as fact, is not meant in a satirical way, or as a parody, it's meant to be cold hard fact. Many of these types of films existed, they came to pass by the uneasy marriage of God-fearing governmental agencies, or Church Councils, (or just a rich individual who wanted to Send A Message to the Kids) with an opportunistic film maker who thanks to the recently enforced Hays Code (introduced earlier on, but starting from 1934, I believe, it was vigorously mandated and controlled) could no longer make smutty movies. However, if it was meant to be educational, and prohibitive of smut, then the rules were much more relaxed, hence the truly.

Impressive amount of educational pictures about weed, pre-marital sex, speeding, masturbation, alcohol, basically all the fun things in life, popping up in the latter half of the Thirties. Most are now completely forgotten and in effect lost, so why is this particular one still well known enough to attract modern viewers, and inspire a stage version, a stage musical version and a movie adaptation of that musical version?

Well, in part it has to do with the fact that this is one of the "better" ones, which means in a lot of ways it's the worst, and in part it's sheer coincidence. Lost for decades, it was found and bought by a man in 1970. He began showing it at colleges, and it was a comedy hit, fitting in perfectly with the wave of exploitation films that were flooding the cinemas at the time. The teenage drug drama became a laugh riot due to the insane statements, the horrible over-acting, and the ridiculous plot. Before you could finish your joint, it was a cult film sensation.

I was personally surprised to hear that the movie musical version, released via Showtime in 2005, actually takes very large chunks of dialog & plot from the original without altering a single word. Of course, the way in which they are used, and staged is vastly different, but I never would have believed that some writer at one point in history actually thought he was penning down dramatic lines full of pathos. It's definitely interesting to watch them both, if you enjoyed the musical, and it' definitely interesting to watch this one, if you find all areas of cinematic history intriguing, but whether it's worth sitting through the whole thing for its own merits, I haven't quite decided yet.