Mødrehjælpen (1942)

The Mothers' Aid is a state-funded institution with branches all over Denmark. Erna, a young pregnant woman, has asked a doctor to carry out an abortion, but instead he advised her to go to... See full summary »

Director:

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Writer:

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Stars:

Ebbe Neergaard, Dinah Miller

Cast

Cast overview:
Ebbe Neergaard	...	Speaker (voice)
Dinah Miller	...	Speaker, English version

Storyline

The Mothers' Aid is a state-funded institution with branches all over Denmark. Erna, a young pregnant woman, has asked a doctor to carry out an abortion, but instead he advised her to go to the Mothers' Aid for consultation. She is unmarried, and afraid of losing her job, if she is going to have a baby. The female adviser suggests that she should give birth to the child, and then decide if she should keep it, or have it adopted by someone else. Erna takes part in a course, where she learns how to look after a baby. The last six weeks before the birth she lives in a home for expectant mothers at no expenses for her. The child is born and Erna decides to keep it. She and her child spend the first months in a home for mothers and their babies, which is also free of charge.

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Genres:

Short | Documentary

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Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

20 November 1942 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Good Mothers

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dansk Kulturfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

12 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Children, Children, Children

This short is a Danish public information film made for the Mothers Aid Institution. It's perfectly unremarkable apart from the fact that it was made by acclaimed director Carl Dreyer - and for a couple of unfortunate moments which I'll come to later.

Although it's billed as a documentary, it actually features a fictionalised account of a woman's experiences as the MAI helps her prepare for her initially unwanted child's birth and subsequent upbringing. The girl is quite plain - probably deliberately - and she is unmarried. The Institution gets money from the errant father and looks after mother and baby for three months after the birth at no expense to the mother - which is quite enlightened for the time when you think about it.

Those unfortunate moments? Bizarrely, one scene features the young mother being taught how to sing children's songs, and the song she is taught (complete with blackboard and teacher with a stick) is something about poor little Negro boy who is black from tip to toe. The second unfortunate moment is the ending where the word 'slut' is emblazoned across the screen. It's probably Danish for End, but you couldn't get a more inappropriate word at the end of a 1940s film about unmarried mothers...