Are You Ready for Marriage?

Clearly this is one of those "how to behave" short films from the 1950, when it was fashionable to show teenagers the "proper" way to behave, ie. how to drive, how to dress. black and white, of course. picture quality is pretty good, but the sound is terrible. This one was part of the mystery science 3K collection. Haven't seen this one on Turner Classics. Stars Larry and Sue, as the dating couple who think they are ready to get married. Funny... in the credits, we see the actor listed for Larry, but NOT for Sue. hmmm.. kind of odd. They go talk to Mr. Hall for advice, played by Reuben Hill... .who happens to be the "consultant" on this film. is he a licensed psychiatrist, or just an interested party? no-one knows. skip this one... campy, but Boringgggggg.... Directed by Gil Altschul, who also directed "Why we respect the Law." SNOOZERS..

Ah, yet another short instructional film that doesn't stand up to the test of time. Back in the prehistoric 1950's, divorce was a big no-no. When you married someone, you were more or less stuck with that person for life. This short is a warning against rushing headlong into a marriage that may be sweet and nice in the beginning, but later on will make the lockhorns look good. These days, however, it's marry now - divorce later.

Sue and Larry kiss on her front porch and he asks her to marry him. He has two years of university and she's still finishing high school. Her parents do not approve. He wants to elope. They go to the local church for some advice from marriage counselor Mr. Hall. He has a "Cupid's Checklist".

It's a Coronet instructional film. I'm guessing that this doesn't want to pick a denomination, and made Mr. Hall non-specific. This is a battle between cringe-worthy and laughable. When Mr. Hall let go of the elastic band, I really laughed. The actors' reactions are hilariously bad. This is a lot of the old time marriage advice.

I love Sue, the not-too-bright, anal-retentive, popular-song-loving wanna-be bride at the center of this delightful doughnut of a short. She wants to marry her weird-faced boyfriend Larry, but their parents are shocked and disgusted (not unlike "Is This Love?"). So they visit the creepy Rev. Hall, who shows them various charts and graphs made out of glitter glue and string that tells Larry and Sue about their love, their potential for happiness, and their "Boin-n-n-n-g!" (Rev. Hall's word, not mine). It all confuses Sue: "But I don't want to marry a girl, like me! I want to marry a man, like Larry!"

Ask your doctor about this educational short today. Available through Something Weird video or Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode # 616: Racket Girls.

"Are You Ready for Marriage?" is enough to make anyone want to remain single. It portrays a pair of tensed-up teens going to some weirdo to ask whether or not they should tie the knot. This is the sort of movie that you can probably only find on "MST3K", as Mike, Servo and Crow had fun ripping it apart.

And the weird adviser? He looked like a cross between Dick Van Dyke and Fred Gwynne. In my opinion, Dick Van Dyke and Fred Gwynne had every right to sue the people behind this movie, just for making them look embarrassing.

In conclusion, the movie by itself is 0/10, but the "MST3K" version is 10/10.