"Dinner Party:" A 1945 Etiquette Film for Teenagers, Heavy on Criticism and Guilt

Описание: A must see dramatized presentation of proper table etiquette for teenagers, heavy on criticism and guilt. It's a rare treat to see one of these social control films directed at the upper middle class ("Habit Patterns" is another classic in this genre) because they're always psychotic and usually calculated to inspire high levels of paranoia about minor points of etiquette. "Dinner Party" is a particularly stressful example, because rather than instructing, the narrator points out the fauxs-pas of the dinner party guests in a relentless voiceover fast enough to be a sportscast of a horse race. This print of the film is also broken in many places, which adds to the jumpiness of the experience. The voiceover asks far more questions than it answers--*should* you butter your vegetables with a fork?--and leaves the viewer befuddled and fearful that like the film's sloppy birthday boy, Bob (a very goodlooking guy who gives a wonderful performance despite the pantomime construction) you will never be able to know or master the requirements of taste and class necessary for entrance into the upper class. An incredible film, like a distilled version of an Edith Wharton novel.

Producer: Simmel-Meservey