Sex Madness (1938)

Sex Madness (1938) is an exploitation film directed by Dwain Esper, along the lines of Reefer Madness, supposedly to warn teenagers and young adults of the dangers of venereal diseases, specifically syphilis.Wild parties, lesbianism, and premarital sex are some of the forms of madness portrayed. The educational aspect of the film allowed it to portray a taboo subject which was otherwise forbidden by the Production Code of 1930, and its stricter version imposed by Hollywood studios in July 1934.The film has fallen into the public domain and can be freely downloaded from the Internet Archive and right here on Psychotronic 16 It has been reissued under many titles, including Human Wreckage, They Must Be Told, and Trial Marriage, since many distributors frowned upon the appearance of the word "sex" in the film's title. The title changes may have also been a way of tricking audience members into paying to see the same film more than once.
Exploitation filmmakers hoped to capitalize on the taboo subjects of venereal disease, sex before marriage, lesbianism, etc. while skirting the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 which forbade a film from containing such content. Films like this would tour the United States for years - mostly being shown in rundown, skid row theaters. This film has been re-edited and re-titled ("Human Wreckage", "They Must Be Told", "Trial Marriage", "About Trial Marriage") many times to attract the same audience to film, to take advantage of a taboo subject which may have gotten press recently or to appease local censors who disapproved of the film's content.



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SEX MADNESS
DWAIN ESPER (1938)
52 MIN
USA
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