Exploitation Season: The 1930′s. Movie #2 ‘Sex Madness’ (1938)
We return to examine the work of Dwain Esper, of ‘Reefer Madness’ fame. Two years after the success of ‘Reefer’, Esper directed ‘Sex Madness’ (aka: ‘They Must Be Told’, ‘Human Wreckage’) (1938) which was pitched as an educational cautionary feature that stood to enlighten adolescents and young adults on the perils of venereal disease.
We have moved well beyond grotty cafés and sinister, dope fiend ragtime pianists to the seedy world of the burlesque theatres. Shady, prurient men que up outside, sharing in underhand comments and suggestive inclinations as to what the night will hold in store.
Four minutes in and we see the effects of the raunchy burlesque act, causing pencil moustachioed men to make public advances upon their ladies and the ignition of lust between couples of the same gender. In the high after the show a seasoned dancer suggests to the newbie (and our protagonist) that they should attend a house party afterwards, a sexy house party.
The sexy party does not fall short of complete and utter degeneracy; one wayward youth actually invites a young gentleman up to her boudoir to ‘See her Pomeranian.’ Nothing to mention of the fact that none of these people are even married. Truly shameful.
Finally, the payback comes. With a visit to the doctor, our heroine is diagnosed as having Syphilis. She tells of her love back home and how she never meant to get mixed up in the world she is now trapped in.
‘I was ready to give up….and then….and then I met a…..a theatrical agent’.
This is one of the most hilarious scenes in the movie. The agent is sleaze incarnate; a wonderful portrayal of such characters, long before the cinematic ideal of an upscale pimp was solidified and replicated ad nauseum. He even gets her to ‘Raise em up a little, I wanna see if you’re the type.’
A similar segment to that to ‘Reefer’ follows, in which a doctor is allowed the chance to air the dangers and facts on venereal diseases, complete with newspaper clippings and photographs. The heroine is assured she has been and returns home to her childhood sweetheart and husband to be.
But things are not what they seem.
This is a far superior film to Reefer Madness, which was; let’s face it, a bit silly. The actors are better and as there is a smaller cast, it is easier to have something resembling empathy for them. The storyline is solid and it goes in some interesting and admittedly quite shocking directions before the climactic finale. I found that I had stopped sniggering after about twenty minutes and had found myself completely engrossed.
This goes to show that Esper was more than just an opportunist hack, that there was some substance to his work after all. A lesser known, but no lesser movie, ‘Sex Madness’ is one that holds as much a place in the history of Exploitation Cinema as its slower, perpetually giggling, slightly hungrier counterpart.
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