Johnny Deadline: THE ROAD TO RUIN

 by JB

Is modern youth burned at the altar of ignorance?

Kino Classics and Something Weird Video have served up another fine volume in their ongoing “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” series. Volume 15 features that “timely warning to parents of today,” The Road to Ruin. This new Blu-ray disc release includes both the 1934 cult classic and the original 1928 silent version. (The 1934 release was actually a remake!)

The 1928 version restoration was supervised by the Library of Congress. (I imagine a rotund and pinstriped U.S. representative directing his plucky page thusly: “Quick, Skippy! Go down to the Congressional Library toot sweet... and fetch me a copy of the original silent version of The Road to Ruin. There’s some pending legislation in the House regarding teen kissing... and I need to review this important film before the vote! Yes, I know it’s Sunday—this is a sacrifice you must make for DEMOCRACY, boy! Now be on your way!”) The 1934 version restoration was supervised by the UCLA Film & Television archive.

Boy, Howdy! Both versions of the film look terrific, with solid clarity and contrast, rich blacks, and fine detail. The prints used were clean, with no scratches or speckling.

Sometimes films of this vintage are a strain to watch, especially exploitation films, which saw prints projected, in some cases, for decades, while the original elements are often lost. Not so with this latest release. The films here, especially the 1934 version, are a pleasure to watch.

THE PLOT IN BRIEF: Teenagers Ann (Helen Foster) and Eve (Nell O’Day) are best friends. Eve allows boys to kiss her. One day, Eve and Ann take randy boys Tommy (Glen Boles) and Ed (Robert Quirk) to the lake. Kissing ensues. Tommy gives Ann her first taste of alcohol. More kissing ensues.

Ralph Bennet (Paul Page) notices that Tommy cannot hold his liquor, so he moves in on Ann. Ralph gives Ann a “special brew,” that seemingly lowers her resistance. Something more than kissing ensues. Tommy warned her! Ralph takes Ann to a party where the guests roll dice and strip. Undergarments are visible. Neighbors call the police, and Ann is arrested.

Mrs. Merrill (director Dorothy Davenport), head of the “Female Juvenal Squad” of the local police, declares Ann a “sex delinquent.” Eve is also classified a “sex delinquent,” but she apparently has responded to some sort of “treatment” that is never described. Will there be consequences and shocking revelations? Of course! Ann’s mother begs Ann’s forgiveness for being a pathetic failure of a mother.

What makes this film special (and frankly, a little weird) is the... demure nature in which this exploitation film treats its subject. What were the filmmakers exploiting— their audiences’ delicate sensibilities? For a film titled The Road to Ruin—with a poster featuring a leering Satan peeping at a greasy lothario and his scantily-clad partner kissing it up in the French style—the action itself is positively chaste. When Ann and Tommy finally end up at the lake alone together, you would be hard-pressed to figure out what that fade-out was hiding. Yet when we return to the pair, Ann is suicidally depressed and Tommy fears that Ann hates him. Hmmmmm... What just happened?! Did they murder a puppy?

Here we have the curious case of exploitation filmmakers who don’t seem to want to EXPLOIT anything. Who is this film for: maiden aunts? Temperance Union meetings? Anti-Kissing Societies? Where is the smut? I didn’t come here to watch teenagers drink whiskey and throw dice. If I wanted to see that I WOULD HAVE STAYED A HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHER, DAMNIT. I expected more from producer/screenwriter Willis Kent, who later made sexy masterpieces like The A-B-C’s of Love, Fig Leaf Frolics, and Peek-a-Boo.

ONE QUIBBLE: I think the historic nature of the two films and the beautiful presentation on Kino’s new disc are more than enough reasons to justify its purchase. I was a little disappointed by both commentary tracks. I am a big fan of both Eric Schaeffer and Anthony Slide, but I feel that here, they are too often satisfied with merely describing what is happening onscreen. I’ve heard commentaries in the past by both men that do not resort to this “narration” trope. C’mon, Schaeffer! You wrote Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! A History of Exploitation Films, the best book ever about... exploitation films.



The new disc also includes the original trailers for The Cocaine Fiends, The Devil’s Sleep, Marijuana, Narcotic, and Test-Tube Babies. This disc represents an entire evening’s worth of forbidden fun. But whatever you do... DON’T LET THIS LEAD TO KISSING.