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| Charlotte Merriam and Lyman Williams |
Donald Bradley Jr. (Lyman Williams) is the somewhat haughty son of a shipping magnate and is destined for great things. One night he goes off to a club for a business appointment with Nat (Harry Myers) and winds up bedding the other man's date, Elise (Charlotte Merriam of Night Nurse). Donald confesses his indiscretion to his forgiving fiancee, Joan (Diane Sinclair), and the two are married. Then Donald gets an urgent call from Elise, who tells him she has learned she's "infected" and he might be as well. Some time later Donald and his pregnant wife get rather alarming news from their doctor (Murray Kinnell of The Public Enemy) ... Damaged Lives, a cautionary tale about venereal disease, is not a camp classic like Reefer Madness, but is a serious and rather good drama that builds to a powerful conclusion. Although such diseases as syphilis are certainly no longer talked about like AIDS, they could ruin lives, and if untreated, lead to extremely serious complications, although it's unlikely someone could get infected from, say, a pipe, as the doctor suggests. If the film is taken as a study of the challenges to a young couple's marriage, including infidelity and illness, it works quite well, and there are unexpected developments. Williams and Sinclair are far from perfect, but they play with conviction and strong emotion, and the other actors, especially Charlotte Merriam, are also notable. Williams plays with a sensitivity that doesn't quite disguise a certain hardness underneath, but this is not the kind of movie to build a career on and he never had another starring part; Sinclair did not fare well, either. Classical music is used quite appropriately in the final sequence. Jason Robards Sr. [The Woman Condemned] plays Bill, another doctor and a friend of the Bradleys.
Verdict: Surprisingly effective and frank. ***.
Hi Bill, it's surprising how the content of movies really changed at this very moment when the Production Code started to be enforced. The storylines truly began to be sanitized starting her in 1933.
ReplyDeleteThis one looks interesting, will have to check it out!
-Chris
This movie was sort of presented as an expanded public service announcement so it may have gotten past the production code in any case. But you're right that it had quite an effect on pictures.
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