Something Weird presented this collection of industrial shorts from the ‘50s aimed at and centered around teenagers and prospective juvenile delinquents. Some of these may be familiar to fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000. While the shorts themselves vary in entertainment value, you can still get a kick out of the antiquated advice and outdated attitudes.
“Make Way for Youth” (narrated by Melvyn Douglas) is about a boy who dies in a gang fight. His father is the editor of the paper and writes an open letter stating that racism and prejudice was the true cause of his son’s death. The town decides to give the teens their own “youth council” so they can address their issues pertaining to them.
This one starts out okay, and the delinquent riot is well done. However, from there it quickly becomes a teenage version of C-SPAN. I did like the part where they called “an emergency wiener roast meeting”.
“The Cool Hot Rod” has a young hot rodder moving to a small town. Almost immediately, he gets busted for speeding. Instead of facing a courtroom of adults, he is sentenced to a traffic school run by other teenagers who enlighten him in the ways of safe driving.
This one is fairly solid. Like the last short, it’s set in an odd town where the teens seemingly have as much power and control as the adults. There are also cameos by racing stars of the day, but I bet you’ve never heard of them.
“Making the Most of Your Face” follows the exploits of three teenage girls who try to make themselves more presentable. Their Home Economics teacher (who also acts as narrator) helps them initiate skincare regimens, find hairstyles that complement their face shape, and apply make-up.
This one is short and sweet and the narration is full of howlers. I especially liked the blunt way the narrator laid it on the line for poor Mary: “Mary’s skin needs CARE!”
“What to Do on a Date” finds the shy Nick asking Kay out on a date to a scavenger sale. Once there, he and his friend try to come up with more places to take his gal.
Most of the fun from this short comes from what an awfully awkward dullard Nick is. I also got a big laugh from when he suggested taking Kay to a weenie roast. Something tells me he’s going to have to wait a long time before Kay will ever look at his weenie, let alone roast it.
In “What About Juvenile Delinquency”, a boy quits a gang when he learns his fellow members beat up his father. He is then invited to speak at an emergency meeting about juvenile delinquency.
This is another one that’s pretty entertaining, mostly because of the contrived plot and maudlin acting. Add to that the fact that many of the so-called teenagers look about forty, and you have yourself a recipe for cheesy goodness. Too bad the ending is an open-ended cop-out.
The next short, “The Show Off” is about Jim, a smart aleck and class clown. His hijinks soon give the entire junior class a bad rap. The class representatives are soon tasked with dealing with the situation.
It’s funny how bent out of shape the adults get when Jim hoists a sign that says, “Yea Juniors”. Imagine if he did something you know, shocking. Like the previous short, it all ends with an unsatisfying “what would YOU do?” cop-out, which is disappointing.
The final filmstrip is “The Innocent Party”. Don and his pal pass up a chance to see a movie (Rio Bravo) to go out on the town with some girls with loose morals. Don winds up catching syphilis, much to the horror of his best gal, Betty.
This is the only color short in the bunch and features a few of the same actors from some of the other shorts. The adult subject matter also helps make for a good change of pace. All in all, it’s an entertaining (if downbeat) way to end the compilation.
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