Coronet Films
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Coronet Films (also Coronet Instructional Media Inc.) was a producer and distributor of educational films from 1946 to 1968 founded by David A. Smart. The company produced instructional short films aimed at young teenagers and high school students which were produced by dozens until the mid-1950s when production tapered off. Social guidance on topics such as dating, family life, courtesy and citizenship were typical themes of the films with occasional educational topics such as the solar system and the human body.
Correction: The date of 1968 seems too early, since Coronet was active during the 1973-1974 school year when they placed over sixty (60) titles for evaluation with Project METRO of the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), in central Connecticut. Titles included "A Is For Alphabet", Color, Color Everywhere", "Dating Scene", and "Understanding Shakespeare: His Stagecraft". Source: METRO's "1974 MULTI-MEDIA EVALUATION REPORT" (privately printed and distributed to member school districts in central Connecticut). I was an employee of METRO at the time, and Coronet was one of our more valuable (in terms of quantity of product placed for evaluation) film vendors. In defense of the following comments about their "mockability", many of the titles in their catalog were produced early in the post-war film boom and showed their age, but they were typical of the quality, production values, and content of media of the period: no better, no worse, and often humorous in the context of the post mid-60's "sexual revolution", but true artifacts of their time.
After entering public domain, the films of Coronet were recognized by many as notable kitsch, especially after a few became shorts for the cable TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 which mocked the films' production values and underlying messages. Shorts featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 include Are You Ready for Marriage? and What to Do on a Date. The 1947 film Shy Guy featured the debut of a 19-year-old Dick York. Many films were directed by Ted Peshak.
This is an incomplete listing of Coronet Educational films by year and name:
1. Making Word Pictures (1973)
2. Our Wonderful Body: How It Moves (1968)
3. Our Wonderful Body: How We Breathe (1968)
4. Our Wonderful Body: How We Keep Fit (1968)
5. Lunchroom Manners (1960)
6. Where Does Our Meat Come From? (1960)
7. Citizenship and You (1959)
8. Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1958)
9. Mother Goose Rhymes (1958)
10. Keeping Clean and Neat (1956)
11. Puritan Family of Early New England (1955)
12. Clothes and You: Line and Proportion (1954)
13. Facing Reality (1954)
14. Beginning to Date (1953)
15. Gossip (1953)
16. Health: Your Posture (1953)
17. How Quiet Helps at School (1953)
18. Mind Your Manners! (1953)
19. Selling as a Career (1953)
20. Taking Responsibility for Your Actions (1953)
21. Understanding the Dollar (1953)
22. Who Are the People of America? (1953)
23. Choosing Your Marriage Partner (1952)
24. Communism (1952)
25. Date Etiquette (1952)
26. High School: Your Challenge (1952)
27. More Dates for Kay (1952)
28. Personal Hygiene for Boys (1952)
29. School Rules: How They Help Us (1952)
30. Beginning Responsibility (1951)
31. Developing Self-Reliance (1951)
32. Getting Ready Physically (1951)
33. Going Steady? (1951)
34. Good Eating Habits (1951)
35. Good Table Manners (1951)
36. How Billy Keeps Clean (1951)
37. How Friendly Are You? (1951)
38. How to Say No (1951)
39. Introduction to Foreign Trade (1951)
40. Improve Your Personality (1951)
41. Marriage is a Partnership (1951)
42. Right or Wrong? (1951)
43. Self-Conscious Guy (1951)
44. Service and Citizenship (1951)
45. Snap Out of It! (1951)
46. Social Courtesy (1951)
47. Starting Now (Are You Ready for Service? No. 4) (1951)
48. What to Do on a Date (1951)
49. Am I Trustworthy? (1950)
50. Appreciating Your Parents (1950)
51. Are You Ready for Marriage? (1950)
52. The Benefits of Looking Ahead (1950)
53. Better Use of Leisure Time (1950)
54. Control Your Emotions (1950)
55. Developing Friendships (1950)
56. Developing Your Character (1950)
57. Earning Money While Going to School (1950)
58. Fun of Being Thoughtful (1950)
59. Fun of Making Friends (1950)
60. Fun that Builds Good Health (1950)
61. Good Sportsmanship (1950)
62. How Do You Know It's Love? (1950)
63. How Honest Are You? (1950)
64. How to Develop Interest (1950)
65. Let's Share with Others (1950)
66. Overcoming Fear (1950)
67. Plantation System in Southern Life (1950)
68. The Solar System (1950)
69. Understanding Your Emotions (1950)
70. Understanding Your Ideals (1950)
71. Ways to Settle Disputes (1950)
72. What Makes a Good Party? (1950)
73. Why We Respect the Law (1950)
74. Writing Better Social Letters (1950)
75. You and Your Parents (1950)
76. Ancient Rome (1949)
77. Act Your Age (1949)
78. Are You a Good Citizen? (1949)
79. Attitudes and Health (1949)
80. Choosing Your Occupation (1949)
81. Dating: Do's and Don'ts (1949)
82. Exercise and Health (1949)
83. Family Life (1949)
84. Friendship Begins at Home (1949)
85. How to be Well Groomed (1949)
86. How to Keep a Job (1949)
87. Law and Social Controls (1949)
88. Let’s Play Fair (1949)
89. Life in the Central Valley of California (1949)
90. Rest and Health (1949)
91. Sharing Work at Home (1949)
92. What is a Corporation? (1949)
93. You and Your Parents (1949)
94. Basketball for Girls Fundamentals (1948)
95. Basketball for Girls Game Play (1948)
96. Alaska: A Modern Frontier (Revised) (1948)
97. Are You Popular? (1948)
98. Banks and Credits (1948)
99. Build Your Vocabulary (1948)
100. Capitalism (1948)
101. Everyday Courtesy (1948)
102. Forest and Conservation (1948)
103. How to Be Well Groomed (1948)
104. Improve Your Spelling (1948)
105. Introduction to Electricity (1948)
106. Nature of Sound (1948)
107. Punctuation Mark Your Meaning (1948)
108. Safe Living at School (1948)
109. What is Business (1948)
110. Why Punctuate (1948)
111. Your Family (1948)
112. Your Thrift Habits (1948)
113. American Square Dance (1947)
114. Are You Popular? (1947)
115. Bookkeeping and You (1947)
116. Joan Avoids a Cold (1947)
117. The Mighty Columbia River (1947)
118. Powers of Congress (1947)
119. Secretary’s Day (1947)
120. Rivers of the Pacific Slope (1947)
121. Shy Guy (1947)
122. Trading Centers at the Pacific Coast (1947)
123. What is Money? (1947)
124. Ancient World Inheritance (1946)
125. You and Your Family (1946)
126. The Apache Indian (1945)
127. Southwestern States (1942)
128. Aptitudes and Occupations (1941)
129. I Want to Be a Secretary (1941)
[edit] Production
Coronet production are now available as public domain resources, here a few examples:
- Communism (1952) at Dailymotion
- Dating Do's and Dont's (1949) at Internet Archive
- Going Steady? (1951) at Youtube
