User reviews

Guilty Parents (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Helen Mason (Jean Lacy) is on trial for murder but her Defense Attorney says that she isn't to blame even though she did kill the man. We then flashback to a time when she was a sweet little girl whose mother simply wouldn't educate her on the facts of life. This led to Helen getting involved with the wrong crowd and before long she was working as a prostitute and connected to a really bad man.

GUILTY PARENTS is another one of those "warning" exploitation pictures that were so popular back in the day. If you're looking for a work of art then this here really isn't that but if you're a fan of the genre then there's plenty to like here, although this falls well short of exploitation pictures like MANIAC or REEFER MADNESS. In fact, the subject is to educate parents about being open and honest with your kids but in terms of "naughty" stuff there's really not too much.

The biggest thing here is when Helen gets undressed and her image is seen via a silhouette. Outside of that this is pretty much a straight drama and I was surprised to see how well made it actually was. The story itself is pretty routine for the director but director Jack Townley managed to at least keep you entertained by everything that was going on. I also thought the performances were a little bit better than what we were used to seeing. Jean Lacy was at least cute and interesting enough to keep the viewer interested in the film and the character.

It is funny watching this movie and seeing how everyone was blamed except the guilty party. I mean, we talk today about parents being too soft on kids and the kids never having to face responsibility yet here we are with a 1934 film that pretty much says that's how things should be!

Jean Lacy is a girl whose mother, Isabel La Mal, tries to keep her innocent. Knowing nothing about reality, she becomes a prey to teen-aged boys, one of whom has her drive the car when he robs a gas station. When we next see her, she has just given up her baby, while her mother makes desultory efforts to find out what has happened to her. Miss Lacy sinks further into depravity by living with a man, and worse, becoming a chorus line dancer.

Released on the verge of the Production Code taking full effect, this looks to be what would become an exploitation film, starting out with a lot of text about how ignorance promulgated by parents will lead inevitably to their children winding up murderers. For an exploitation film, it is pretty mild stuff. There's one shot of women in their undergarments, shown discreetly in silhouette.

Miss Lacy's career in the movies never amounted to much. In 1935, she moved to New York, where she danced in the chorus and sang at night clubs. At the end of the Second World War, she returned to Los Angeles, where she produced an starred in a radio show, and later a series of television shows, aimed at women and covering subjects of public interest. She died in 1996 at the age of 82.

This movie was not bad, could have been better, but when you have a low budget, you can only do so much. This film reminds me of "Reefer Madness", one of those preachy movies from the 1930's that mean well, but come off sounding a bit odd. But, as I said, it was nice to finally hear the late Donald Keith's voice, even if he was only in a few scenes!!