courtesy memphis evening appeal
I admit I've gotten behind in my reading. There I was, in the Lauderdale Mansion over the weekend, poring over a bound volume of the Memphis Evening Appeal newspaper from January 1928. I'm sure many of you have done the same. Gosh, lots of unfortunate things happened here that month. A man tumbled down an elevator shaft, a car slid on a patch of ice into the path of an incoming train, a young woman swallowed poison because of a failed love affair — it was just one tragedy after another. Not a great way to start off the New Year.
But the most sensational news of the month was the "exclusive" showing at the Princess Theater on South Main of a movie called Is Your Daughter Safe?
And as you can see from the various promotions, this film carried "The Message that is Astounding the Nation." It not only offered "Astounding Revelations of the Modern Jazz Age" but revealed "1928 Sex Facts" (presumably different from what viewers may have learned in, oh, 1927 or 1926. Things change, you know.
courtesy memphis evening appeal
The images in the large ad (above) are rather confusing, if you ask me. Here we see a rather scantily clad young woman standing in a club of some sort, with various men gazing up at her, and an open jewelry box at her feet. What in the world?? Just below is a different woman reclining on a sofa, with her garters showing, and — oh, my gosh — she is smoking a cigarette. Neither of these activities seemed particularly dangerous, but anyone who paid their 50 cents for admission would learn about "The Menace to American Girlhood." What's more, something — it's really not clear what — was "The Stop Sign of Danger." That's what the ad says, anyway.
A smaller ad (right) shows a man beckoning to a young woman from his snazzy roadster. The caption reads "Tempting but Dangerous," and it's not clear if they mean the man or the woman (or the car). But in case they've already forgotten, once again movie-goers are reminded, "INTIMATE FACTS LAID BARE."
Well ... gosh. Whatever was being shown on the screen was so "BOLD, FRANK, VITAL" that men and women — even if they were married (to each other) — were not allowed to see the film together. It was men only on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Women were admitted on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I guess Sunday the theater was dark. Needless to say (but they said it anyway): "No one under age 16 admitted."
So — what was this movie about? The newspaper story described Is Your Daughter Safe? as "that sensational drama of life, love, and sex" and an "outstanding contribution, from an educational standpoint, on the silver screen of today."
Okay, fine. But I still want to know: what was the film about?
Here's what the article said: "As the title implies, it is a production that every parent of youthful daughters should witness, since it carries a lesson of vital importance and will do much toward molding the character of the youthful generation."
Now look, you still haven't told me what I'll see, if I pay my 50 cents. Does this film even have a plot?
Well, sort of: "It is the story of a simple country maiden, whose parents neglected to instruct her in the intricate details of sexology, or warn her of the perilous pitfalls of sin and degration [sic] that beset the pathway of life, and who pays the wages of sin."
Sexology??
(But what about a companion film called Is Your SON Safe? about a "simple country LAD"? It seems very sexist to devote a film entirely to the daughters who tumble into those "pitfalls of sin and degregation." As they say, it takes two.)
Preceding the weeklong showing at the Princess was "a lecture each night by Dr. Frank D. Shear." Although this is considered "one of the outstanding features of every performance," the newspapers never explain just who Dr. Shear IS. Perhaps he is a national authority on "the intricate details of sexology"?
What's especially interesting about this film is that it was presented in Memphis in mid-January 1928. Earlier that same month — just 10 days before the film opened — the newspapers announced that Lloyd T. Binford would join the city's Board of Censors. I've written about this fellow before, who objected to just about anything and everything he saw or read, and he made national headlines when he banned films that featured Blacks in prominent roles, crime, sex, and even Charlie Chaplin ("that London guttersnipe," according to Binford.)
I very much doubt Is Your Daughter Safe? would have shown in Memphis, once Binford really began taking his job seriously.
That would have been a shame, because the film has a local connection. According to the Evening Appeal, a former Memphian, Virginia Hobbs, "is one of the principals in the sexsational film now playing at the Princess." She played the role of "The Siren." (Yes, they said "sexsational." That's not a typo.)
It's the same old story. The young actress left Memphis two years before, found bit parts in small-time Hollywood productions, and then encountered the movie's director, who offered her a larger role. The Evening Appeal noted that she was now — this was in 1928, remember — auditioning for parts in bigger (and perhaps less "sexsational") movies, but I don't think anything became of it. The film's listing in the Internet Movie Database does indeed include Hobbs among the various actors (calling her character a "Lady of Leisure" instead of "The Siren"), but IMDb doesn't list any other roles for her after that.
By the way, IMDb doesn't have much to say about How Safe Is Your Daughter?, dismissing it "as a compilation of footage that was, in some cases, nearly fifteen years old, and included stock footage such as medical reels containing footage of venereal diseases." In many cities, "the films were usually accompanied by a medical slideshow about venereal disease and a lecture from an alleged sexual education specialist."
Presumably, that was the specialty of Dr. Shear. And if he was a Memphis physician, I can find no record of him.
Friends, I just wanted to share this little oddity with you. Maybe next week, I'll tell you what happened to the poor guy who tumbled down the elevator shaft.
