Street Corner (1948)
** (out of 4)
Teenager Lois (Marcia Mae Jones) and her boyfriend have sex for the first time after his Senior Prom. She ends up pregnant but he's off at college and when he's on his way home he gets into a car crash and dies. Afraid to tell her parents Lois decides to go to an abortionist but things take a dark turn. I love watching these early exploitation films because, to get around the Hayes Office, producer's would present their films as educational subjects but then try to make a quick buck by adding in nudity, drug use, sex and various other no-no items that wouldn't be playing at most theaters. This film pretty much falls into that level as we get a pretty straight drama that takes a turn towards the end when the host of the film goes into detail about the "miracle of birth". As far as the actual film goes, the thing isn't too bad even though many scenes contain way too much dialogue and go on far too long. The film is pretty predictable and none of situations are fully explored as the goal is obvious and that's to get to the exploitation at the end. Jones actually isn't too bad in the role of the teenage and she had a pretty long career, which includes working with John Ford years before this picture. Joseph Crehan plays the doctor in the film and he too appeared in several high profile films including THE BIG SLEEP, THE BRUTE MAN and countless other films with the likes of Bogart, Tracy, Cagney and Karloff. The "exploitation" part of the film hits at the very end and lasts for nearly fifteen-minutes. We start off seeing a vaginal birth and then a C-section birth. These here will make one appreciate women and what they have to go through. We then turn to more disgusting stuff including seeing various men and women parts who have syphilis and gonorrhea. The film takes pleasure in showing what the diseases will do to a penis or vagina so be prepared to see some ugly sites. After this stuff we see the conclusion of the main film but I'm not sure who will care after these images. Fans of exploitation might want to check this out due to it being an early example of the subject but I'm sure most will want to stay away.
