The People at No. 19

The People at No. 19

1949 · 18 min · ★ 4.5 · Drama

Reported cases of sexually transmitted disease took a sharp rise during and after World War II, but as this film testifies, sexual license amongst soldiers on the frontline wasn't the sole cause. Back on the home front, for many women, like Joan from No. 19, loneliness or newfound independence acted as an incentive to extramarital promiscuity.

Directed by J.B. Holmes · Written by John Rowden

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The People at No. 19

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The Joy of Sex EducationSee all →

Whatsoever a Man SowethWhatsoever a Man Soweth · 1917
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...made to educate and warn Canadian troops about the dangers of catching venereal disease. As the biblical title suggests, it is essentially a straight sermon, a form that its target audience would have found familiar both from church at home and during their military service. The protagonist is warned, is tempted to ignore the advice, is rescued in the nick of time by a well-wisher and is finally shown the devastating consequences in another that he has so narrowly avoided. (BFI Screenonline)
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A man contracts a sexually transmitted disease, but is reluctant to seek medical help - until a no-nonsense lecture about the risks he is taking forces him to change his mind.
How to TellHow to Tell · 1931
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How To Tell was produced to advise parents on how to equip their children with the truth about reproduction, without the worry of putting the family off their dinner. The title cards encourage parents to explain the process openly and scientifically by reinforcing the school's biology lessons with the assistance of plants and pet rabbits.
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The brutally entitled Don't Be Like Brenda (1973) is an eight-minute lecture to young women, telling them not to be sexually promiscuous like the film's hapless heroine – although heaven knows, the promiscuity hinted at here is tragically modest. Poor Brenda goes all the way with a boy who does not marry her. The film is stunningly without any useful educational content on contraception and makes it entirely clear that the woman, not the man, is to blame. The film even makes her poor unwanted child suffer from a heart defect, so that no one wants to adopt the poor little thing – just to hammer the point home. (from: http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/feb/11/sex-education-films)
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A production of Oxford Polytechnic for sponsor the Family Planning Association, this is an unreservedly hairy promotion of the prophylactic in avoiding unwanted pregnancies. A wave of period details situate the film in both time and milieu. The culture of its audience, 1970s students, is evoked and displayed via a mattress on the floor, an ethnic rug, the kilim bedpsread, homebrew jars, denim clothes and by hair: long hair, facial hair - beards. The main actors are dead ringers for the infamous cover stars of Alex Comfort's The Joy of Sex, published the year before.

More from J.B. HolmesSee all →

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