Child Bride
- 1938
- 1h 2m
A schoolteacher in a rural community campaigns to stop the practice of older men marrying underage girls.A schoolteacher in a rural community campaigns to stop the practice of older men marrying underage girls.A schoolteacher in a rural community campaigns to stop the practice of older men marrying underage girls.
- Director
- Writer
- Harry Revier(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe only film the cast and crew of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988) refused to satirize after watching. During an interview, host Michael J. Nelson revealed that the crew considered the film "disturbing." In a separate interview with Frank Conniff, who selected films for the show, he cited it as the worst film he had watched as a potential selection for the show.
- Quotes
Freddie: I'll beat you undressed, Jennie.
Jennie: Freddie, you ain't goin' swimmin' with me no more. So don't you take your clothes off.
Freddie: Aw, you're teasin'.
Jennie: No, I'm not. I mean it.
Freddie: We've always gone in swimmin' together. Why not now?
Jennie: Teacher says not to.
Freddie: Why?
Jennie: Well, because... because we're not what we used to be.
Freddie: You mean, we're different. How?
Jennie: Naw. We're the same, only you can't see me without my clothes on.
Freddie: How come? I know how you look without your clothes on. I've seen ya lots of times, haven't I?
Jennie: Yes, I know, but now we're grown up and barin'. Teacher says that I shouldn't put bad ideas into your head.
Freddie: Aw, shucks. Now I can't kiss ya no more.
Jennie: Of course you can, silly. Only with my clothes on.
Freddie: Alright, but I wish that teacher would mind her own business.
Jennie: Now don't beg.
- Crazy creditsAngel Rossitto portrays diminutive moonshiner Angelo, but the credits identify him as "Don Barrett."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sleazemania III: The Good, the Bad and the Sleazy (1986)
Most of the actors are not trained, but the central family of mother (Dorothy Carrol), father (George Humphreys), and daughter (Shirley Mills) are riveting in their realistic depiction of dirt-poor farm life. Mills' diction and gestures in this film were obviously influenced by the acting style of her famous contemporary, Shirley Temple, a fact that helped her project sincere distress during the more violent and emotionally wrenching scenes. Given her role here, and the naturalness with which she plays it, it is no wonder that Mills was later tapped to play Ruthie Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath." Angelo Rossitto, as a moonshine stiller, is at his athletic best here, clambering up and down the "Republic rocks" and engaging in an intense fight scene with a full-sized heavy, thus bringing his usual liveliness to an unusual role.
There is quite a bit of animal acting in this film, as it is set on a farm. The early morning scene in which Mills goes out to feed the pigs and gets into the pen to "rescue" a piglet, is very true to life, as is her family's stern response to what might seem to modern eyes as a cute child-in-the-mud scene: Pigs, especially sows with piglets, can be dangerous if angered, and the film-makers knew that well enough that they did not actually place Mills in confrontation with the sow; a couple of jump-cuts show us what happened. I also enjoyed the uncredited Alsatian Police Dog who played Ritz, a well-trained canine actor with dark fur and long ears who, unless my eyes deceive me, was a Rin-Tin-Tin relative or understudy. There are also a couple of very much UNtrained milk goats in this film -- a white Saanen and a black Alpine -- who stand nicely to be milked (obviously the role for which they were cast), but provide some over-the-top emoting during a funeral march, as they react with panic and a determination to buck, butt, or escape whenever the dog Ritz (who is very docile) gets near them.
"Child Bride" carries an explicit moral message -- "These child-marriages must be stopped!" -- but, like most exploitation films, it quickly subverts its own message, in this case with extended scenes of child nudity, as barely pubescent Shirley Mills frolics in a clear mountain pool with her German Shepherd dog. Despite the child nudity, which i frankly found disturbing as it went on so long and showed so many prurient repeat shots of Mills' backside underwater, there is some charm to this story, and enough plot twists to make it interesting. I think this is a movie that every fan of the obscure and off-beat, every fan of B-movies, and certainly every exploitation fan, will want to see.
- CatherineYronwode
- Oct 17, 2006
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Dust to Dust
- Filming locations
- Columbia, California, USA(skinny dipping)
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $24,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 2 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1