Damaged Lives
| Damaged Lives | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Edgar G. Ulmer |
| Produced by |
J. J. Allen (producer) Maxwell Cohn (producer) Nat Cohn (producer) |
| Written by |
Edgar G. Ulmer (screenplay) Donald Davis (dialog) |
| Starring | See below |
| Cinematography | Allen G. Siegler |
| Edited by | Otto Meyer |
| Distributed by |
Weldon Pictures Corporation Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
22 May 1933 (Toronto, CAN) 19 August 1933 (London, UK) 15 September 1933 (Boston, USA) |
Running time | 61 minutes |
| Country | Canada, USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18,000[1] |
Damaged Lives (1933) is a Canadian/American Pre-Code exploitation film produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The film is based on an original script about a couple that contracts a venereal disease. The film is also known as The Shocking Truth (American reissue title). IMDB says this was filmed at General Service Studios. The final The End title on the Internet Archive print says it was an Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. release.
Plot summary
The film involves an extramarital encounter that leads the wife of the main character into killing herself and her husband.
A boss insists that a young executive, with an important job and a long term girlfriend, go out with him to a party and while out at the party he sleeps with a young wealthy woman, Elise (Charlotte Merriam), and contracts syphilis from her. The girlfriend is so upset that she commits suicide.
Cast
- Diane Sinclair as Joan Bradley
- Lyman Williams as Donald Bradley Jr.
- Harry Myers as Nat Franklin
- Marceline Day as Laura Hall
- Jason Robards Sr. as Dr. Bill Hall
- Charlotte Merriam as Elise Cooper
- Murray Kinnell as Dr. Vincent Leonard
- George Irving as Donald Bradley Sr.
- Cecilia Parker as Rosie
- Almeda Fowler as Mrs. Bradley
Production
Filmed in 1933, this cautionary tale was produced under the name Weldon Pictures, because Columbia did not want to be associated with the topic of the film. Along with the controversial subject matter, this is also noteworthy for containing one of the earliest filmed nude scenes in a sequence where a group of fun-loving women strip naked and go skinny dipping.
Although some scenes in the film were cut by state film censor boards in Maryland and Ohio, it was still very popular in the United States.[1] For example, in Baltimore 65,000 persons, representing approximately 10% of the population, saw the film.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 Schaefer, Eric (1999). "Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959. Duke University Press. pp. 180, 419. ISBN 0-8223-2374-5.
External links
- Damaged Lives at the Internet Movie Database
- Damaged Lives is available for free download at the Internet Archive
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