Damaged Lives
Encyclopedia
Damaged Lives is a Canadian
/ American
exploitation film
produced by Columbia Pictures
and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The film is based on the French play Les Avariés (1901) by Eugène Brieux
, about a couple that contracts a venereal disease.
The film is also known as The Shocking Truth (American reissue title). IMDB says this was filmed at General Service Studios. The final The End title on the Internet Archive
print says it was an Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. release.
Another film based on the Brieux play, titled Damaged Goods (1937) was directed by Phil Goldstone with a totally different cast, was released by Grand National Pictures, and was closer to an exploitation film
about premarital sex
without mentioning venereal disease.
in a sequence where a group of fun-loving women strip naked and go skinny dipping
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
/ American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
produced by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The film is based on the French play Les Avariés (1901) by Eugène Brieux
Eugène Brieux
Eugène Brieux , French dramatist, was born in Paris of poor parents.A one-act play, Bernard Palissy, written in collaboration with M...
, about a couple that contracts a venereal disease.
The film is also known as The Shocking Truth (American reissue title). IMDB says this was filmed at General Service Studios. The final The End title on the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
print says it was an Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. release.
Another film based on the Brieux play, titled Damaged Goods (1937) was directed by Phil Goldstone with a totally different cast, was released by Grand National Pictures, and was closer to an exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
about premarital sex
Premarital sex
Premarital sex is sexual activity, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex, practiced by persons who are unmarried. Although it has always been practiced, in the West it has increased in prevalence since the mid-1950s...
without mentioning venereal disease.
Plot summary
The film involves an extramarital encounter that nearly leads the wife of the main character into killing herself and her husband.Cast
- Diane SinclairDiane SinclairDiane Sinclair was an American actress and dancer from 1939 through the 1950s. -Early life:Sinclair was born Miriam Rosen to Max and Sylvia Rosen...
as Joan Bradley - Lyman Williams as Donald Bradley Jr.
- Harry MyersHarry MyersHarry C. Myers , sometimes credited as Henry Myers, was an American film actor and director. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and died in Hollywood, California from pneumonia...
as Nat Franklin - Marceline DayMarceline DayMarceline Day was an American motion picture actress whose career began as a child in the 1910s and ended in the 1930s....
as Laura Hall - Jason Robards Sr. as Dr. Bill Hall
- Charlotte MerriamCharlotte Merriam-Silent film star:Born to an army colonel in Sheridan, Illinois, Merriam's film career began in 1919 with a role in The Flip of a Coin. She visited Universal Pictures that year and was offered a part in a comedy series starring Eddie Lyons and Leo Moran. Merriam accepted...
as Elise Cooper - Murray KinnellMurray KinnellMurray Kinnell was an English actor. He appeared in 71 films between 1930 and 1937. He was best known as the two-timing petty-larceny hood Putty Nose in The Public Enemy...
as Dr. Vincent Leonard - George IrvingGeorge Irving (American actor)George Henry Irving was an American film actor and director who made over 200 films in his lifetime. Some of his best known movies were Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Hearts Divided, A Night at the Opera, Son of Dracula, Hangmen Also Die!, Once Upon a Honeymoon, and Maid's Night Out.-Death:Irving...
as Donald Bradley Sr. - Cecilia ParkerCecilia ParkerCecilia Parker was a Canadian-born American film actress.-Early life and career:Born in Fort William, Ontario, she was brought to southern California as a child by her mother, Mrs. Naudy Anna Parker. Her father was an English soldier. Parker graduated from the Convent of the Immaculate Heart in...
as Rosie - Almeda Fowler as Mrs. Bradley
Production
Filmed in 1933, this cautionary tale was produced under the name Weldon Pictures, because Columbia did not want to be associated with the topic of the film. Along with the controversial subject matter, this is also noteworthy for containing one of the earliest filmed nude scenesNudity in film
Nudity in film is any presentation in motion pictures of people while naked or wearing less clothing than contemporary norms consider modest. Many actors and actresses have appeared nude, or exposing parts of their bodies or dressed in ways considered provocative by contemporary standards at some...
in a sequence where a group of fun-loving women strip naked and go skinny dipping
Skinny dipping
Nude swimming, colloquially called skinny dipping, is a term used to describe swimming naked.-Etymology:The term skinny dip, first recorded in English in the 1950s, includes the somewhat archaic word skinny, known since 1573, meaning "having to do with skin", as it exposed the naked...
.