"Exploitation" Films!
Once-sensational but now campy "public service" films that unveil the sordid worlds of sex, drugs, juvenile delinquency and having babies. They were often peddaled from town to town as "Road Shows" with a host who also sold books. Films are available in DVD-R and Mpeg2 formats.
Because of Eve (1948) 78m. Joseph Crehan is doctor who tells couple about pregnancy, VD, birth and other sordid facts of life. Aka. "The Story of Life."
Blonde in Bondage (1957) Sweden, 87m. American reporter doing a story on Swedish nightlife gets involved with a drug-addicted nightclub singer.
Child Bride(1938) 62m. Schoolteacher in a rural community campaigns to stop the practice of older men marrying young, underage girls.
Cocaine Fiends (1935) 68m. Aka. "The Pace That Kills." Drug dealer on the run from the law meets an innocent young girl and her brother, and turns them into "cocaine fiends."
Dance Hall Racket (1953) 60m. Gangster operates a sleazy dance hall. Written by Lenny Bruce.
Devil's Sleep (1949) 73m. Lita Grey Chaplin. The head of an illegal drug ring uses a women's health spa as a front for his sleeping pill racket.
Flaming Teenage (1956) 70m. A small town boy heads for the lights of the big city and discovers the delights of hard liquor and fast women.
Flesh Merchant (1956) 60 m. Aka. "The Wild and the Wicked." A girl visiting her sister in Hollywood hopes for a modeling career, but is tricked by pimps into working at a brothel.
Girl Gang (1954) 63m. A sleazy gangster has a gang of young girls commit robberies and prostitution for him by getting them hooked on drugs.
Hooked (1957) 71m. Sourpuss cop uncovers rampant addiction in a small town.
I Accuse My Parents (1944) 68m. Ignored by his alcoholic parents, Jimmy Wilson hangs around with some shady characters. After falling in love with a lounge singer, Jimmy tries to impress her.
Jail Bait (1954) 72m. Dir: Ed Wood Jr., with Lyle Talbot, Dorothy Fuller, Timothy Farrell. Gangster gets plastic surgery so he can evade capture.
Mad Youth (1940) 63m. Rich society mother hires male escort, who falls for her daughter.
Maniac (1934) 51m. Superbly campy saga of a maniac who kills scientist and assumes his identity.
Marihuana (1936) 57m. A young girl slowly becomes a dope pusher. Dwain Esper classic.
Naked Youth (1961) 73m. Three teenage criminals break out of juvenile prison and head south to Mexico.
Narcotic (1933) 57m. Fighting drug addiction!
Reefer Madness (1936) 73m. Aka. "Tell Your Children." Cautionary tale features a fictionalized and highly exaggerated take on the use of marijuana. A trio of drug dealers lead innocent teenagers to become addicted to "reefer" cigarettes by holding wild parties with jazz music. Became a campy cult classic in the 1970s.
The Road to Ruin (1934) 62m. A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion. Bonus: Teenage JD shorts and trailers.
Sex Madness (1938) 57m. This sex exploitation film includes wild parties, sex out of wedlock, lesbianism, etc. After going to a "casting couch", a chorus girl contracts syphilis. The film then focuses on the effects this lifestyle and disease have on her marriage.
She Shoulda Said No (1949) 70m. Aka. "Wild Weed." A chorus girl's career is ruined and her brother is driven to suicide when she starts smoking marijuana.
Slaves in Bondage (1937) 70m. Mary Lou manages to escape abduction by a prostitution ring. She tells the Chief of Detectives they were planning to take her to the Berrywood road house, a well-known den of iniquity.
Test-Tube Babies (1948) 53m. A happily married couple discover that the husband is sterile. They think about artificial insemination, which at the time was considered a scandalous choice.
Too Hot To Handle (1950’s) 63m. Doc-like filming of an actual burlesque show with bad comics, unattractive chorus girls (6) and striptease speciality acts by Dixie Evans and Jean Carter.
A Virgin in Hollywood (1953) 63m. Aka "Side Streets of Hollywood." Dorothy Abbott. A young female newspaper reporter is assigned by her editor to investigate the seamier side of Hollywood.
