HEALTH AND SAFETY SCARE FILMS Volume 10

WHAT TO DO IN A GAS ATTACK (1953; b&w) asks if you would know what to do if an enemy should suddenly attack us with poison gas. If not, follow the instructions detailed in this classic Cold-War paranoia short such as: close all windows and get upstairs, remove outer clothing, rinse eyes, wait for the de-contamination teams, and keep that hammer and metal pan handy….
FIRST AID: INJURIES AND ACCIDENTS (1940; b&w) is an Official War Department Training Film highlighting some of the injuries the average G.I. Joe might suffer. Learn what to do when your soldier buddy gets “a foreign body” in the eye. Or if he starts to choke. Or faints. Or starts to drown. Or gets electrocuted. Or realizes that World War II is just around the corner….
THE MARGIN OF SAFETY (b&w) demonstrates that the best way to keep your factory accident-free is to make sure everyone wears safety shoes. Especially Hy-Test Safety Shoes. Though safety shoes sure could’ve helped that lathe operator who lost his big toe when a 500 lb. shaft dropped on it, foreman Steve isn’t sure he wants to force his men to wear such clunky footwear… until his wife runs a lawn mower over his foot and safety shoes save his little piggies!
HOW TO AVOID MUSCLE STRAINS (1949; b&w) uses animation and a half-naked muscleman in swim trunks to show how to avoid a “violent exertion of your muscular strength.”
BACTERIA: FRIEND OR FOE (1953; b&w) combines microphotography with historical re-creations to explain the difference between bacteria that help us and hurt us. But don’t worry, kids: “Most bacteria are friends of man!”
BOYS BEWARE (1961; b&w) is an infamous short from producer SID DAVIS, the scare-film’s “Master of Disaster”. Hitchhiking teen Jimmy Barnes is picked up by Ralph, an overly friendly bald-headed adult who gives Jimmy “a friendly pat” and meets him the next day for another ride home. Soon, the two go fishing and play golf and, yup, eventually head for a motel: “What Jimmy didn’t know was that Ralph was sick.” Though Ralph gets arrested and Jimmy gets probation, it could have been worse. After basketball practice, Mike accepts a ride from a strange man and is killed. And beware of public restrooms! Yow.
GIRLS BEWARE (1961; b&w) is the companion film to the above. That said, there’s plenty of “mentally sick” men out there eager to pounce on innocent girls. Like Judy, who takes a babysitting job from a stranger and whose body is found a week later. Or Sally, who accepts a ride home from two “older boys” and, instead, is attacked at Lookout Peak. Or Mary, whose friendship with the much older Bob leads to pregnancy and removal from school. Yes, indeed, “Trying to move too quickly into a world of grownups often causes heartache and disasters!”