Child Bride

Director: Harry J. Revier, Cast: Shirley Mills, Bob Bollinger, Warner Richmond, Angelo Rossitto.

1930's "exploitation" film about the backwoods/backward people of the Ozarks where it is considered acceptable for much older men to marry young adolescent girls. The local school teacher,with the help of her assistant D.A. boyfriend, are trying to have this practice stopped. Anyhow, young Jenny(played by Shirley Mills) is forced to marry much older Jake(played by Warner Richmond). Without giving away the story, Jake blackmails Jenny's mom into letting him wed her daughter.

The way the hillbillies are portrayed in this film is amusing. I got a kick out of the dilapidated old schoolhouse with pigeons on the rafters! Other reviewers have made comments about the nudie skinny dipping scene. There is nothing about it that should trouble anyone. There is a huge difference between pornography and nudity. Yes Shirley Mills was just twelve years old in this movie but there absolutely nothing pornographic in this film. She is simply skinny dipping. It does show her nude going into the water but it is brief and in no way distasteful. The swimming scene alone would not have made this an exploitation film. It is the overall content that makes it so. The idea of old men trying to marry little girls.

The is actually a rather interesting film and the acting although not "Gone With the Wind" material is actually alright. It certainly has a uniqueness about it that keeps the viewer interested in spite of its low budget. This is the only film for most of the actors. Warner Richmond has been in numerous films and Shirley Mills did about a handful of other films including The Grapes of Wrath. I might also add that Angelo Rossitto(the midget) has had a very long career in Hollywood. He has been in movies into the 1980's including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. He was in Tod Browining's classic Freaks from 1932.

The last time I was able to see this film was about three years ago. It was on tape and was on loan from a private collection. This is an excellent example of the moral genre of the period. The camera work shows great detail to use of light and position. I am eager to get this film in my collection and hopefully someone will see fit to put this on DVD.

Child Bride (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Incredibly insane film about mountain men (rednecks) who marry young girls to keep the population going. This film opens with a montage saying this is a warning to the public and it might have been but in the end this is pure exploitation. The shocking thing is that the film is actually very well made and the performances are right on the mark. The sexual nature towards the 10-year-old star is quite disturbing especially one skinny dipping scene, which has some nudity. There are some hilarious moments including a dwarf redneck, a school session with dumb kids trying to learn to spell and other stuff dealing with moonshine. Shirley Miles plays the young bride and her performance is wonderful and again, it's rather shocking too see the sexual nature and nudity. She would go on to star in The Grapes of Wrath.

This low-budget independent film is considered one of the most controversial accomplishments of all time, as it portrayed the nakedness of a 12-year-old girl in a sexual context back in the 1930s. However, I think calling it a "sexploitation" movie is an unfounded exaggeration. The scene is neither explicit nor tasteless, nor does it depict or insinuate the act of sex. It's just plain skinny-dipping in a pond. The film is about a rural environment where it is customary for parents to marry their minor daughters with significantly older men. The girl who escaped from there, later returns as a teacher and tries to stop this tradition. Whether the intention of the author was really to criticize this ill custom and draw public attention to it, or whether he simply used it as an excuse to make for that time shocking film, remains to be speculated. Interestingly, most of the actors in this film never filmed anything else. Exceptions are George Morrell and Warner Richmond with rich filmographies, Shirley Mills with a few more roles, and Angelo Rossitto, whose height of only 88 centimeters brought him a bunch of interesting roles, from the cult "Freaks" (1932) by Tod Browning to the role of The Master in the famous Master Blaster tandem from "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" (1985). The movie does not deserve any praise for its quality, but it's not badly done either. Certainly, it is worth a look as a curiosity.

6/10

I just thought I should share this amazing story with everyone. In 1938 or so... my mother happened upon the set of this movie and thought it was a ghost town... they used to go back to Sonora area (columbia) and try to find it (the set) and even look 'old timers' to interview, trying to find this ghost town. Well,,, the only thing they knew was that the schools name was 'Thunderhead Mountain School' ... Thanks to one of the reviews here, a search returned the name of that school and I was able to find the date (1938) and the location of its filming (Sonora area). A 72 year old mystery was solved... my mother was only 12 when they found that movie set.... now shes 83... She was so excited to here that the mystery was finally solved... thanks to one of your reviews mentioning the school in this movie... thanks again AK