Synopsis
A moody teenager dreads taking Carol to a friend's party. Will learning the finer points of social courtesy help him have fun at the party and maybe get a second date? This film tries to help awkward teens overcome small interpersonal problems before they grow into social crises-alienation, vandalism, alcoholism, crime and a lonely life as a bachelor.
Synopsis from OMDb
Details
- Studio
- Coronet Films
- Released
- 1951-06-05
- Running time
- 10 minutes
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Prelinger Archives
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Social guidance
- Social guidance: Etiquette
- Teenagers
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★★★ · Or "How to behave at the Homeless people party" · Spuzz · 2005-06-08
This is a great film, because it features one of the more "what the hell am I in this dreck?" actors who is probably the first person to realize that these films are going to age really fast and it's going to look bad on his resume. In any case, the story: Bill is an outcast who doesnt really want to go to a party, the unseen narrator agrees to accompany Bill and fix any faux pas that he does at the party (sort of like the fairy in Cindy Goes To A Party). This film does a neat little trick whenever Bill does something wrong, there's a flash, and a picture appears explaining that this is a…
★★★★★ · Is it just me, or would a 2022 version of this come in awfully handy? · anonymous@mailinator.com · 2021-11-16
Oh, sure, we can make fun of the wooden acting and aspiring outcast Bill's stilted dialogue all day long, but the fact of the matter is that courtesy and manners have all but fallen by the wayside in the 70 years since this awkward-but-well-meant 1951 film was made. Attention spans have not exactly been getting longer, either, and today's so-called social media seems only to have served to make people more impatient and self-absorbed. This is reflected in the ever-present need to cut to the chase as quickly as possible and *get to the point* before everyone starts fiddling with their…
★★★★★ · Bah, humbug! · autoguy · 2006-05-20
Martha's "hard times" party? Bring Carol? BLAAAR! BAH! Easy Bill, watch those psychotic episodes! It's 1951, and "Ice Pick Wally" Freeman is touring around doing prefrontal lobotomies! Watch it buddy, there's a ward room door at the local nut-hut waiting for your name tag. Just keep talking to that imaginary voice you're hearing pal, and don't say you haven't been warned! Bill seems a little crabby does he? Doesn't think he has to be polite to anyone, huh? Calm down Bill, or "Mr Thorozine" will do it for you. Geez Bill, you don't listen so well do you? Maybe a few 450 volt bilateral shock…
★★★★ · "Social Courtesy" good film for youngsters · ERD · 2006-04-24
Social Courtesy is a cute little film made in 1951 for younsters showing how courtesy can make a person more popular and happier. A little dated now, but well made for its time. Good script, acting & direction.
★★★ · He Goes to a Boring Party Anyway · Dodsworth the Cat · 2022-12-30
"Why does Martha have to have a party?" moans Bill. Well, why didn't you tell her "No, I'm not coming." Problem solved. Especially since the same Coronet actor starred in "How to Say No," also released in 1951. And it's not like Carol will let you get to first base if you take her. That doesn't happen in Coronet Land. They should have had Coronet star Dick York as the lead on this one. After all, York's Darren on Bewitched was occasionally subjected to the same time reversal and snap location change that Bill is in this short. In one change, Bill's neck bandana is suddenly tied and…
★★★ · Oh, That Bill! · Yowp · 2026-02-01
The guy who plays Bill is one of the better actors in the Coronet stock company. He convincingly seems like he really doesn't want to hang out at some party. The opening music is a Boosey and Hawkes cue called "Sundown" by George Psford. It also opens the Coronet film "Developing Self-Reliance" (1951).
