V.D. (1961)

Director:

H. Haile Chace

Writer:

H. Haile Chace (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A high school track star's wedding plans are capsized by venereal disease and a bad, beautiful new girl in town. His coach and a physician steer him into the light again. |

Plot Keywords:

High School | Venereal Disease | Sexually Transmissible Disease | Teen | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Dolores Faith	...	Kathy Durham
Mory Schoolhouse	...	Jim Radman
Charlotte Stewart	...	Judy Jackson
Michael Bell	...	Monk Monahan
Hoyt Wertz
Richard Hardin
Cliff Hall
Terry Reagan	...	Fred Jackson
Leon Danielle
Joan Yarborough	...	Mary Jackson

Directed by
H. Haile Chace		(as Haile Chace)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
H. Haile Chace		writer

Produced by
Sid Davis	....	producer

Cinematography by
Vilis Lapenieks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Warren Brown

Sound Department
James Fullerton	....	sound (as Jim Fullerton)

Other crew
Howard Leach	....	technical advisor
Bernard F. Rosenblum	....	technical advisor (as Bernard F. Rosenblum M.D.)

Production Companies

• Sid Davis Productions

Distributors

• Sidney Davis Productions (1961) (USA) (all media)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2003) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• T&A Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Damaged Goods (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Sid Davis Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sex Hygiene Scare Films Vol. 2 (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Damaged Goods Theme

Wow...a story about syphilis!

This is a super-cheaply made and written film meant to scare teens away from having extramarital sex. It's preachy and very dated when seen today. Unlike the other two reviewers (so far), I never saw this in school because the school I attended did not acknowledge that sex even existed---and this might explain why half my graduating class was pregnant (the rest weren't because they were the guys). The movie also would have seen very dated when I graduated in the early 80s.

The story is about two high school seniors that look about 22 years-old each. They have been going steady for over a year and care a lot about each other. While they like to neck and hang out late at night, they never get around to doing anything else. However, they do become engaged. In the meantime, Tim goes with his friends on a road trip and meets a 'bad girl' in a bar. The chump gives into temptation and....WHAM!! He's got a sexually transmitted disease (hence the film's title). They never actually show anything and they never even say out loud that any of them had sex and to the naive out there, they might be left to wonder what exactly DID happen! The sexy saxophone music, to me, was the dead giveaway...though I never heard this in real life--just in cheesy older films.

Later, when the 'fast' new girl (Kathy) makes her moves on Tim (following a fight with his fiancée), Tim gives in and has sex AGAIN (he's an animal, folks). Again, they don't show it...but that saxophone betrays what happens next! However, instead of just a fun roll in the weeds, it turns out Tim has syphilis--and soon Kathy, too, is infected!! Now he's got a sore, can't run like he used to and feels badly. He tells his coach and the coach takes him to the clinic. There, a guy shows him a whole lot of scary film showing victims of the disorder--thus scaring the crap out of Tim AND the audience! Although I am sure the film is a morality tale meant to steer young people away from premarital sex, it is quite possible that teens might instead get the message that the engaged couple should have just had given in and had sex--thus "protecting him" from seeking it elsewhere. Or, that it's okay to have lots of sex...just be sure to get regularly tested. Just a thought.

One positive thing about the film is the opening song by the Ventures. Perhaps this group hadn't yet hit it big--that's the only way I could explain how the film makers could actually afford a decent band!! Otherwise, it's a somewhat shoddy film with nothing except curiosity to recommend it. The acting and production values all betray the film's very modest budget but it is entertaining in a kitschy short of way.

A final note. This film features the guys going to a strip club. This is supposed to be sexy, though this woman might just be the most unsexy and titillating woman in strip club history. Had she actually taken any of her clothes off, the customers would have paid her to put it back. I guess that's what you get when your budget is under $89 for the entire film.