Reviews of film ephemera, including such things as educational films, industrial films, military and propaganda films, tv commercials, movie trailers, shorts, experimental films, and movies made for non-mainstream audiences.
This disturbing film about a young boy's slide into delinquency after his mother dies has some unforgettable imagery, especially the bizarre montage that is shown after he runs away from home. He is eventually straightened out by a school counselor and a psychologist, but what came before is way too disturbing to really be wrapped up by such a pat happy ending. The film is to be credited for really showing us what it feels like to be a troubled, unloved child growing up in a bleak, poverty-stricken world. Perhaps its very realness is why we don't buy the ending––in the real world it's just not that simple, though we all wish it was. This 50s film also shows us that child abuse, divorce, delinquency, and troubled kids bringing guns to school are not new problems.
