Guilty Parents

Guilty Parents (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Helen Mason (Jean Lacy) is on trial for murder but her Defense Attorney says that she isn't to blame even though she did kill the man. We then flashback to a time when she was a sweet little girl whose mother simply wouldn't educate her on the facts of life. This led to Helen getting involved with the wrong crowd and before long she was working as a prostitute and connected to a really bad man.

GUILTY PARENTS is another one of those "warning" exploitation pictures that were so popular back in the day. If you're looking for a work of art then this here really isn't that but if you're a fan of the genre then there's plenty to like here, although this falls well short of exploitation pictures like MANIAC or REEFER MADNESS. In fact, the subject is to educate parents about being open and honest with your kids but in terms of "naughty" stuff there's really not too much.

The biggest thing here is when Helen gets undressed and her image is seen via a silhouette. Outside of that this is pretty much a straight drama and I was surprised to see how well made it actually was. The story itself is pretty routine for the director but director Jack Townley managed to at least keep you entertained by everything that was going on. I also thought the performances were a little bit better than what we were used to seeing. Jean Lacy was at least cute and interesting enough to keep the viewer interested in the film and the character.

It is funny watching this movie and seeing how everyone was blamed except the guilty party. I mean, we talk today about parents being too soft on kids and the kids never having to face responsibility yet here we are with a 1934 film that pretty much says that's how things should be!