Vol. 1 presents MOM AND DAD (1945), in a new 4K restoration from 35mm archival elements. Vol. 2 is a double feature of the cult classics REEFER MADNESS and SEX MADNESS (both 1938). Vol 3. showcases two nudist films, UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE (1938) and ELYSIA: VALLEY OF THE NUDE (1933).
Below are full details of each disc:
MOM AND DAD
(Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture: Volume 1)
Street Date: 2/25/20
Blu-ray SRP: 29.95
1945 / 97 minutes / Rated R
Director: William Beaudine
Starring June Carlson, Hardie Albright, Lois Austin Jimmy Clark, George Elderedge
In the 75 years since its initial release, Kroger Babb's Mom and Dad has achieved mythical cinematic status. It was a film that, during the height of the Production Code, not only dared to address issues of venereal disease and unexpected pregnancy but presented graphic footage of bodies scarred by syphilis and multiple unobstructed views of childbirth. So sensational was the film (and so different were the audiences' motivations for seeing it) that screenings were commonly segregated by gender. Furthermore, screenings were presented with a live sex hygiene lecturer, who underscored the film's educational value and sold informational pamphlets. It became one of the highest-grossing films of the 1940s, yet for decades has been unavailable for screening. The original negative has succumbed to nitrate decomposition, but this authorized presentation has been mastered from three separate 35mm elements. It is presented with a wealth of supplemental material to illuminate why Mom and Dad became such a phenomenon, and continues to fascinate audiences even now.
SPECIAL FEATURES
* 4K restoration from 35mm archive elements
* Audio commentary by Eric Schaefer, author of Bold! Daring! Shocking True! A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959
* Original theatrical trailer
* Mom and Dad radio spots
* Sex Hygiene (1942, dir: John Ford)
* Sex hygiene lectures and vintage childbirth footage
* Sex hygiene book pitches
* Gallery of exploitation trailers
REEFER MADNESS/SEX MADNESS
(Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture: Volume 2)
Street Date: 2/25/20
Blu-ray SRP: 29.95
Reefer Madness
1938 / 65 minutes
Director: Louis Gasnier
Starring Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles, Dave O’Brien
Sex Madness
1938 / 59 minutes
Director: Joseph Seiden
Starring Charles Olcott, Vivian McGill, Rose Tapley, Stanley Barton
No films better represent the 1970s midnight movie phenomenon as Reefer Madness and Sex Madness: two finger-wagging camp classics that hysterically warned the public of the horrors of marijuana and syphilis. But the more we discover about the exploitation genre, the more we learn the true hep cats were the ones who made the films: ruthless opportunists who produced raunchy, ribald melodramas loaded with sex, drugs, and violence, and enabled them to be shown by wrapping them in a tissue-thin pseudo-educational message.
These two essential cult favorites are presented in definitive editions, meticulously restored from 35mm elements.
SPECIAL FEATURES
*Audio commentary for Reefer Madness by Eric Schaefer, author of Bold! Daring! Shocking True! A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959
* Assassin of Youth (abridged version)
* High on the Range (1924, excerpt)
* Gallery of exploitation trailers, including Reefer Madness, Cocaine Fiends, Marihuana: Weed With Roots in Hell, Narcotic, and more
* Radio spots: The Narcotic Story, Reefer Ruin, Metamorphosis and the Weed
UNASHAMED: A ROMANCE and ELYSIA: VALLEY OF THE NUDE
(Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture: Volume 3)
Street Date: 2/25/20
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
Unashamed: A Romance
1938 / 66 minutes
Director: Allen Stuart
Starring Rae Kidd, Robert Stanley, Lucille Shearer, Joseph W. Girard
Elysia (Valley of the Nude)
1933 / 45 minutes
Director: Carl Harbaugh
Starring Constance Allen, James Mack, Hobart Glassey
In an unusual reversal of the usual exploitation formula-in which scenes of sex, violence, and drug abuse were wrapped in a dire warning of moral degradation-the nudist film took a more positive approach to its subject matter. Arguing for the health benefits of sunlight and the detrimental effects of constrictive clothing, films such as Unashamed: A Romance and Elysia (Valley of the Nude) presented nudism as a positive lifestyle choice, and proved their point with only slightly unobstructed views of naked flesh. But more surprising than the nudity is that Unashamed reveals itself to be a remarkably poignant drama about the unrequited love between a mixed-race woman (Rae Kidd) and her employer (Robert Stanley).
SPECIAL FEATURES
* Audio commentary for Unashamed by film historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
* Nudist-Land (1937, 11 Min.)
* Why Nudism: An Exposé of Nudism (ca. 1938, 22 Min.)
* Hollywood Script Girl (1938, 5 Min.)
