The Road to Ruin (1934)

A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion.

Directors:

Dorothy Davenport, Melville Shyer

Writer:

Dorothy Davenport

Stars:

Helen Foster, Nell O'Day, Glen Boles

Cast

Cast overview:
Helen Foster	...	Ann Dixon
Nell O'Day	...	Eve Monroe
Glen Boles	...	Tommy
Robert Quirk	...	Ed (as Bobby Quirk)
Paul Page	...	Ralph Bennett
Richard Hemingway	...	Brad
Virginia True Boardman	...	Martha Dixon
Richard Tucker	...	Mr. Dixon
Donald Kerr	...	Drunk shooting Dice
Eleanor Thatcher	...	Dancer
Neal Pratt	...	Evans
Jimmy Tolson	...	Club Singer Jimmy

Storyline

A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion.

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Plot Keywords:

abortion | marijuana | title directed by female | drinking | pregnancy | 

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Taglines:

An innocent girl! A life destroyed!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vias da Ruína

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Willis Kent Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adapted by William Zeffiro into a tongue-in-cheek stage musical of the same title which premiered in 2008. At one of the final shows, at The 45th Street Theater in New York City, ninety-six-year-old Glen Boles (a star of the original film) made a personal appearance.

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Connections

Featured in Sex and Buttered Popcorn (1989)

User Reviews

Another good, old exploitation film! Worth watching!

I thought this was truly a unique movie considering it was filmed in 1934, when subject matter of this type was definitely a no-no. The film is about an innocent girl, Ann Dixon, who hangs out with her friend, Eve Monroe. They get boyfriends and start drinking and smoking. Ann breaks it off with her boyfriend and hooks up with a low-life older guy. They get busted at a topless/half-naked pool party and Eve comes up positive for a venerial disease of some type. Ann is negative but the film doesn't specifically tell you that she has become pregnant. Her low-life boyfriend takes her to the doctor for an abortion. I can't tell you the rest without ruining the movie so watch it for yourself. You shouldn't be disappointed if you like the off-the-wall types of rarer movies like I do. Enjoy the movie and look for other types such as this one.