Perversion for Profit (1965)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

George Putnam narrates standing in front of a map of the U.S., using large title cards to establish each topic...

Plot Keywords:

Pornography | Courtroom | Obscenity | Perversion | Propaganda Film

Cast

George Putnam

...

Himself - Host

Runtime:

USA:29 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Citizens for Decent Literature Inc. (CDL)

Quotes:

George Putnam: Think then of the consequences to the inexperienced youth who, in purchasing and studying this material, becomes a pawn for these misfits, these homosexuals.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fuck (2005)

a bizarre little film, good for some laughs

After watching a few Ed Wood films, I think I can safely say that if you want a bad film that is truly hilarious, you should look for this one instead.

The narrator very sternly intones against the "flood-tide of filth" that he considers against Christian values, and carefully and methodically gives examples of this "filth," showing almost as much as you'd see if you'd bought it yourself. But it's not all pretty pictures: the narrator explains a bit about it as well: that people can get sexual satisfaction from hurting themselves or others, and that various forms of fetishism deserving thorough discussion are "threatening our children": "the extreme spiked heel and the tight boot, the burning cigarette, the laced leather garment, the nakedness," "the worship of the whip, the riding crop, rubber and leather garments."

Aside from the S&M, which didn't disturb me at all, the film does also focus on child pornography; it's hard to dismiss that.

Yet still, by the end of it, the film has given so much detail in decrying all these "perversions" that one wonders whether the protest were a bit more personal than the staunch narrator pretends. It's easy to imagine the writers stacking up more and more magazines, saying to themselves "oh, that /is/ perverted ... yet oddly intriguing... such a nice boot...."