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| An original, boding poster for Harry Revier's Child Bride |
QUICK REVIEW:
A female teacher in the Ozark mountains talks against village stupidity and the custom of taking a child bride, but she encounters strong resistance.
I saw this short (62 min.) feature from the Internet Archive, where it is in public domain, and the copy there is, unfortunately, terrible, both image- and sound-wise. But it is an interesting and unusual film, controversial for its lengthy scene of its 12 year-old star Shirley Mills' (The Grapes of Wrath (1940)) skinny dipping.
It has therefore been labeled an exploitation film by many, (undoubtedly also due to its suggestive posters like the one above), but it is also an honest rejection of the unnatural marriage system depicted. - Although, of course, its blending of the two is highly unusual, questionable, and, for many, hard to take.
The film's cast also includes one of the little people of Tod Browning's Freaks (1932). Among its oddities counts also its ending, SPOILER in which the girl is allowed to avoid the marriage and be in love with her half-brother!?!
It is directed by Harry Revier (The Revenge of Tarzan (1920)) as his penultimate film (out of 26, including a few shorts.)
This collage of stills from the film also includes some from the notorious nude swimming scene:
This original trailer seems to lend something to the exploitation argument: 'Sextastic' the film was actually sold as ...
Cost: Estimated 24k $
Box office: Unknown
[Reportedly, the film ran the 'exploitation circuit' for many years. The controversial elements got past the Hays Office, because the film was made independently and claimed to be educational. It is now available free and legal right here.]
What do you think of Child Bride?
If you've seen other films by Revier, how was/were it/they?
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