Date With Your Family, A

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Date With Your Family, A is a short film from 1950 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.

A Date With Your Family, a true suburban horror story, outdoes all other social guidance films by advising kids to do whatever is necessary even lie to achieve harmonious family relations. The odd title reveals its odd thesis: that teenagers should treat a family dinner as if it was a date, a date with someone who they really wanted to be with. As the voice of authority tells us, These boys greet their Dad as though they were genuinely glad to see him, as though they really missed being away from him. And in a world where "the women of the family feel they owe it to the men of the family to look relaxed, there seems to be little reason for Daughter to study as hard as Son before dinner. Pleasant, unemotional conversation helps the digestion. Words to live by.

Simmel-Meservey produced a number of films on courtesy, etiquette and behavior (Let's Give a Tea, Junior Prom, Dinner Party; Obligations, Introductions and others). All employ an authoritative-sounding narrator (who is not above trying to crack a wry joke at times) but none let the actors speak directly; the voice of authority is never challenged. More than other company's films, they play on fear and guilt. A Date With Your Family was one of their most successful releases, picked up for distribution by industry giant Encyclopaedia Britannica Films. A contemporary review authored by classroom teachers criticized this film, which appears to have been shot in affluent West Los Angeles, for showing an upper-class family to which many students might not be able to relate. What do you think?

EMPHASIZES THE NEED FOR GREATER AWARENESS IN THE HOME OF RESPECT THAT ALL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY SHOULD HAVE FOR THE OTHERS. SHOWS HOW FAMILY TIES ARE STRENGTHENED BY PRACTICE OF SIMPLE COURTESIES.

Date With Your Family, A
Produced bySimmel-Meservey
Production
company
Simmel-Meservey
Distributed bySimmel-Meservey
Release date
1950
Running time
10:00
LanguageEnglish
Thumbnail
ewid: 2409 | Fresh | || dopt: {{{dopt}}}