As the Twig Is Bent... (1943)

★★★ · As the Twig Is Bent · Christine Hennig · 2002-10-04

Made during World War II by Aetna Life & Casualty, this film encourages parents to make a special effort to look after their kids during wartime. It fairly accurately spells out the special problems the war was creating for children, such as lack of adult supervision, family upheaval, and teens dropping out of school to take jobs in war production. But, like many corporate-sponsored films, it places responsibility for these problems entirely in the lap of the individual, which seems particularly ridiculous during a worldwide war. This individual-blaming really takes the cake when the film…

★★★ · Always fear the jukebox · Spuzz · 2002-12-31

In 1943 America, as the War was still raging on, America feared for it's kids, for they were hanging out in shady bars, listening to the jukebox, girls becoming victory girls, and so on. This film will STOP your children's RECKLESS behavior, and TEACH them to be NORMAL citizens of society! Well, at least that's what the film tries to teach the parents, but goes way overboard at what causes kids to go bad.. Did you know that having Mothers work will cause Timmy to start smoking? (or at least that's what's implied, he ducks behind a wall, and we see smoke... maybe it's coming out of his ears?…