"Mom and Dad" is a so-called 'Roadshow Movie" and was rarely shown in actual movie theaters. Instead, the folks would travel the country with the film, showing it in various auditoriums. Why? Because the film is a sex education drama...and most theaters refused to show such 'filth'! Of course, many folks really WANTED to see the films...either to educate themselves or, more often, because they heard it was a 'dirty' film and wanted to see more! Many Roadshow movies weren't the least bit educational and were there simply to titillate. Others, like "Mom and Dad", were more well-meaning and educational.
Because this film was made in the 1940s and folks were extremely phobic about talking about sex AND because a 'sex film' MIGHT get you prosecuted by local authorities, the film, though well meaning, also hedges its bets. Many common words about sexuality simply aren't in the movie and euphemisms are often used. The only portion that is really educational is late in the movie when there is a very dry movie within the movie and it shows footage about childbirth and various STDs.
As for the rest of the story, it's about a nice girl whose mother is about as phobic and hung up about sexuality as possible. And, when the girl becomes pregnant, she cannot go to her parents to tell them what's happened because of this. Thanks to a nice ex-teacher who was fired for actually talking about 'social hygiene' (the euphemism the film uses for sex), the parents attend to the girl and everything works out fine...though, just to drive home how bad sex is, the girl and baby almost die!!
Overall, a film that is NOT bold nor shocking (words the film uses at the end) because of the time in which it was made. But for an exploitation film, it's pretty tame and actually has some decent production values for a cheap sex ed film of the mid-1940s. Not very good....nor all that bad. An interesting curio.
Because this film was made in the 1940s and folks were extremely phobic about talking about sex AND because a 'sex film' MIGHT get you prosecuted by local authorities, the film, though well meaning, also hedges its bets. Many common words about sexuality simply aren't in the movie and euphemisms are often used. The only portion that is really educational is late in the movie when there is a very dry movie within the movie and it shows footage about childbirth and various STDs.
As for the rest of the story, it's about a nice girl whose mother is about as phobic and hung up about sexuality as possible. And, when the girl becomes pregnant, she cannot go to her parents to tell them what's happened because of this. Thanks to a nice ex-teacher who was fired for actually talking about 'social hygiene' (the euphemism the film uses for sex), the parents attend to the girl and everything works out fine...though, just to drive home how bad sex is, the girl and baby almost die!!
Overall, a film that is NOT bold nor shocking (words the film uses at the end) because of the time in which it was made. But for an exploitation film, it's pretty tame and actually has some decent production values for a cheap sex ed film of the mid-1940s. Not very good....nor all that bad. An interesting curio.