Child Bride
| Child Bride | |
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 Child Bride DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Harry Revier |
| Produced by | Raymond L. Friedgen |
| Starring | Shirley Mills Angelo Rossitto Warner Richmond |
| Music by | Felix Mills |
| Cinematography | Marcel Picard |
| Release date(s) | 1938 |
| Running time | 62 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Child Bride, also known as Child Brides and Dust to Dust (USA reissue titles), is a 1938 American film directed by Harry Revier and produced by Raymond L. Friedgen. The film was promoted as educational and an attempt to draw attention to the lack of laws banning child marriage in many states.
The film is set in a remote town in the Ozarks. The film was very controversial both for its theme, and because of a topless and nude swimming scene by then 12-year-old Shirley Mills. The film bypassed the ban of onscreen nudity under the Hays Code by being produced and distributed independently of the studio system, and by claiming to be educational. Although it was banned in many areas, the movie's controversial nature gave it a certain infamy and it played on the so-called exploitation circuit for many years.
The film was one of Revier's final films. He had previously made a series of low-budget, independent movies including The Lost City series and Lash of the Penitentes.
According to an interview with Michael J. Nelson and Kevin Murphy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame, this movie was screened for the show, but it was considered too awful and disturbing by the crew.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Shirley Mills as Jennie Colton: This was Mills' first movie role. She went on to appear in many films over the next decade, mostly in supporting roles.
- Bob Bollinger as Freddie Nulty: This was Bollinger's only film role. According to Mills' website, now offline, the two young actors became friends, and Bollinger later asked her to marry him, which she declined.
- Angelo Rossitto as Angelo the dwarf: Rossitto had a long career in movies, stretching from the 1920s to the 1990s. He is perhaps best known for his role as Master in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985).
- Warner Richmond as Jake Bolby: Along with Mills and Rossitto, Richmond was one of the few actors involved in this film who had any sort of film career. He appeared in films between 1912 and 1946, including the Gene Autry serial The Phantom Empire.
- Diana Durrell as Miss Carol
- Dorothy Carrol as Flora Colton
- George Humphreys as Ira Colton
[edit] Plot
Miss Carol (Diana Durrell) is an idealistic teacher in a remote one-room school house. A native of the Ozarks herself, she is determined to stop the practice of child marriage, in which older men marry teen or preteen girls. Her campaign raises the ire of some local men, led by Jake Bolby, who drag her into the woods one night with the intention of tarring and feathering her. Before they can do this however, Angelo the dwarf and Mr. Colton arrive with a shotgun to save the day.
Following this, Jake Bolby comes across young Jennie swimming naked. When Jennie's father dies, Bolby decides to take advantage of the opportunity to blackmail her mother into letting him marry the girl, threatening that otherwise he will see her hanged for murder. After he "courts" Jennie by giving her a doll, the two are married. It later turns out that this marriage was unlawful, as child marriage had been banned several days prior, but this point quickly becomes moot. Before Bolby can consummate the union, he is gunned down by Angelo. Jennie leaves his house with Freddie, and the movie ends.
[edit] The nude swim scene
The movie is perhaps best known for the topless and lengthy nude swim scene by 12-year-old Jennie, which begins with Jennie and Freddie, Jennie's closest friend, sneaking slyly to a secluded pond in the woods, where they had swum naked many times in the past. Freddie tells Jennie that he will "beat (her) undressed," but Jennie tells him that they can no longer swim naked together. Freddie asks her why, and Jennie replies "because we're not what we used to be" and that because she is now grown up.
Freddie asks how they are different pointing out that he had seen her many times in the nude, and Jennie turns to answer him, briefly exposing her breasts and nipples to the camera. The film then cuts to a lengthy long shot showing Jennie and Freddie, both topless and separated by a stand of trees, as they discuss how these changes will affect their relationship. Freddie asks if he can still kiss Jennie; she replies that he can but only when she is wearing her clothes.
Jennie then removes her dress entirely, runs naked through the woods and dives into the water. The next two minutes consist of shots of Jennie swimming nude and frolicking with her dog. Jake Bolby appears on a ridge above the pond, and watches the naked girl. An old woman sees what Bolby is doing, and says to him "Purdy, ain't she?" Freddie hears this and alerts Jennie to the fact that someone is watching her, and she swims for cover.
She asks Freddie to bring her clothes to her, without looking at her. He uses a long stick to pass her the dress. She pulls the dress on, and climbs out of the water.
Some prints of the film have cut out the topless scene leaving only the long shot nude swim sequence.
[edit] Distribution
Child Bride was the first film produced by notorious exploitation film producer and promoter Kroger Babb, who marketed it as an educational film and who would reissue the film under various titles, including Child Brides, Child Bride of the Ozarks and Dust to Dust.
The movie is perhaps best known for the topless and lengthy nude swim scene, which Allmovie described as "completely gratuitous" and "obviously Child Bride's main selling point and the reason for its longevity on the exploitation circuit."[1]
Alpha Video's DVD release presents the film in its uncensored form, while Mill Creek Entertainment included a censored version of the film in their 20 Movie Pack Cult Classics collection. The film is now in the public domain.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Notes
[edit] External links
- Child Bride at the Internet Movie Database
- Child Bride is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- Child Bride at AllRovi
