Strange Ones, The
Strange Ones, The is a short film from ca. 1960s released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
This cautionary film by educational film auteur Sid Davis is one of a series warning children against child molesters, or, as they're called here, "strange ones." "Most people in the world are good and nice," the police woman narrator says. "But unfortunately there are some strange
ones, and these strange ones are sick. Not sick with a cold or measles or anything like that, but sick in the mind." The preventative value of the film is beyond dispute, but, as others have pointed out, the world portrayed by Sid Davis seems gloomy and menacing even beyond the dictates of the subject matter. His kids inhabit a sunny but drab suburban landscape where every adult presents a lurking danger, where the appearance of normalcy is merely a disguise for dire but undefined threats; witness the one hapless boy who narrowly escapes a car abduction only to step, moments later, into the clutches of a pervert in an alley.
0:10:30 vs Sequence, little girl abducted by child molester: Children outside elementary school; little girl walking down street; CU traffic light turning from red to green; store INT, girl looking at candy counter, creepy man in jacket and tie buys her candy (M & M's, to be exact), puts hand on her shoulder; saleslady looks on, suspiciously; man leads girl from store, they get into car (white station wagon); man and little girl in car, tracking shot, girl points, looks worried; police car follows white station; man tries to run away, police throw him against hood of car.
0:15:00 ms ws Sequence: Boy playing alone in deserted area, creepy industrial wasteland, PAN to figure lurking near fuel tanks; boy running down dirt road, young man in windbreaker emerges from behind structure, follows boy.
0:16:14 ms cu Sequence: Little girl walking down street, middle-aged man stops her, asks her question; she points into distance, he asks her something else, she shakes her head, continues walking.
0:16:48 ws ms Sequence, girl playing with big rubber ball in park, PAN to man on park bench; man gets up, approaches girl, offers her candy from paper bag; he holds her hand, walks away; boy and girl see girl walking away with stranger, they run to alert woman sitting at picnic table; children and woman chase man, the would-be abductor runs away.
0:18:13 ws ms Sequence: Little boy hitchhiking (doesn't read well as such); older boy grabs little boy just as he is about to get into stranger's car. Same little boy continues down street, skipping with a strange lurching gait (funny); enters a quiet alley; man beckons to him from behind gate; boy enters gate.
0:19:23 ms Sequence, movie theater INT, audience of children; creepy man sits next to little girl, puts arm around her, whispers to her, girl gets up and leaves; usher motions man out of his seat.
01:30:37:27 LS kids playing in front of school in Culver City, California
01:30:46:22 LS 8 years old girl stops at corner on sidewalk; MS traffic signal changes from red to green; girl crosses street.
01:30:58:02 Girl walking up sidewalk past shops trying to balance on the cracks in the sidewalk nearly runs into a woman; girl walks into a candy shop
01:31:09:13 CU pan over various assortments of candy on display in a candy store: malt balls, Nestles chocolate bars; VS girl looking through candy store; man offers to buy girl pack of M&Ms; CU worried face of shopkeeper; man shows girl to his car; high-angle shot man gets into drivers seat; CU shopkeeper looks out window watching man drive off with young girl
01:32:13:02 CU disembodied handholding pen takes down note on a While You Were Out pad.
01:32:14:17 CU disembodied hand flips switch on radio, pan up to woman speaking into microphone; CU police officer in car answers radio
01:32:25:07 High-angle shot cars passing an intersection in 1960s Culver City, pan down to two motorcycle police officers; CU motorcycle police makes call on his radio; CU radio dispatcher answers call speaking into microphone; MS police officer in passenger seat of police cars talks into radio, text on side of police car reads peace is our profit
01:32:37:24 1960s car drives up street through Culver City neighborhood
01:32:57:09 Young mother with short 1960s hairdo walks to front door; CU mother with concerned look poking head out front door; POV shot empty suburban neighborhood street; mother walks back into house
01:33:11:18 CU clock reads 3:55.
01:33:15:22 1960s station wagon drives across frame; Culver City police car on corner pursues the car
01:33:28:22 CU little girl in passenger seat of car looks out back of car; POV shot looking through back window, police car begins to pull around station wagon; VS Culver City police officers pull car over and arrest the driver; VS police officer hold little girl in custody and call her mother.
01:34:30:02 MS little girl standing beside police officer with tattoo on his forearm, policewoman wearing dark shirt and dress enters room; policewoman sits little girl down at her desk; behind police womans desk is a framed display of various types of guns and brass knuckles, audio track narration is disembodied policewomans voice, woman describe the man at the pedophile as a strange one and elaborates these strange ones are sick. Not sick with a coldbut sick in the mind. We call them mentally ill.
01:35:13:11 Young boy climbs over barricaded exit to bridge; boy runs toward oil pump, pan to man hiding between to large tanks; VS man pursuing young boy in an oil field.
01:36:22:01 Young girl about 8 years old wearing a white dress walks around corner but is stopped by a man asking for directions, girl points man in right direction; CU little girl shakes her head no.
01:36:48:02 Great shot police woman talking to little girl at her desk, back of little girls head in foreground of shot, behind police woman is a framed display with guns and brass knuckles.
01:36:59:10 Little girl playing in the park by herself with a ball, pan to man sitting on a bench in the shadows; shot from behind man as he gets up to talk to the little girl; man offers girl candy from a brown paper bag then takes her by the hand; young boy and girl run to get the girls parents; mother and two children run after the man with her child, man runs away and leaves girl behind
01:38:20:21 LS 1960s Ford Mustang pulls up to young child on side of busy street; older boy about 12 grabs the younger boy before he can get into the car
01:38:50:12 Young boy about 10 years old skipping up the sidewalk swings himself off of a parking meter; LS boy stops in front of a dark alley, word Security on building behind boy; MS car pulls up behind boy
01:38:59:06 VS Boy about 10 years old walks around corner; LS man opens up gate and waves for boy to come over; boy begins to walk toward man; man grabs boy and shuts the gate, sign on gate reads Reserved Parking
01:39:29:17 Children in audience of movie theater, girl takes her seat; man sits down beside young girl and sticks his arm around her, girl gets up and leaves
01:40:14:16 VS Little girl gets up from policewomans desk and runs to her mother; two police officers stand and watch mother and daughter reunited, clock on wall reads 12:15; policewoman at desk waves to girl; girl waves goodbye to police officers and leaves with her mother| Strange Ones, The | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Davis (Sid) Productions |
Production company | Davis (Sid) Productions |
| Distributed by | Davis (Sid) Productions |
Release date | ca. 1960s |
| Language | English |
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