Jesus christ.
No. Actually. Jesus Christ. I feel like I need a shower after this thing, and then my shower will need an intense deep clean
A frankly yucky movie that claims to be a docudrama advocating for the abolishon of Child marriage (which is still to this day legal in WAY more states than it should be) The reality is that ‘Child Bride’ is a viciously dark exploitation picture, ESPECIALLY for 1938 and even more so today.
With themes of violence, rape, molestation, murder and Child marriage and underage sex. Had it not been for the director Kroger Babbs VERY careful skirting of the hays code, this film would have been banned outright.
There isn’t really much more to say honestly, the script is mixed to poor on plot points, dialogue isn’t it’s sharpest point. The actual title plot of the film doesn’t kick in till about 15 minutes off the end. The characters are largely unlikeable or strange. There’s a lot of plot convenience throughout and the ending comes out of left field and feels rushed and forced.
The cine is somewhat solid, but it’s mired in a mix of issues ranging from terrible print quality which, with the best will in the world isn’t going to help how this thing looks, and really poor editing, which rushes cuts and feels slapdash to say the least.
This thing holds together better than a good chunk of the health and scare films that were produced around this time (its a more solid production than say ‘reefer madness’) but that really isn’t saying much. An awkward, deeply uncomfortable and hideously bleak Watch. Its not one I’ll be keen to revisit with relish any time soon.
TYTD Reviews 