This is a wonderful collection of bizarre films about medical quackery and bizarre medical practices from the 20th century.
Included Films:
Quacks PSA
Quacks PSA
Produced: 1930s
Length: 1 Minutes
This is a really fun PSA about how to avoid medical quackery, given by Raymond Massey.
Medical Quacks
Medical Quacks
Produced: 1950s
Length: 26 Minutes
In the medical profession there is no greater enemy, beyond death, than a medical quack. A charlatan who pretends to be a doctor in order to mislead unsuspecting and ill formed people for his own profit. He heartlessly prescribes things that will never work and uses cunning tactics to keep clients coming back to him until it is too late. Quacks are murderers, thieves that not only rob you in the dark but kill you with inattention and lies. This film from the Confidential Files of the 50s attempts to expose these murderers and thieves for what they are: criminals. We see the types of techniques a quack uses to procure his victim and hear from people bested by one of these pseudo-doctors. An interesting expose in the vein of 60 Minutes, the narrator attempts to shed light on a dangerous con act that kills the unsuspecting.
Relax
Relax
Produced: 1930s
Length: 10 Minutes
Discomfort. Pain. Noise. Frustration. All signals that a person is not relaxing the way they need to relax. And what is the answer? A Chevy, of course! A unusual promotional ad for the comfort of Chevy cars the film starts off by showing us how relaxed a person is measured while sleeping, while at work, while under duress, and other scenarios. With strange scientific devices that grade relaxation, the Chevy, with its perfect design, begins to look amazingly comfortable and relaxing. Insulated against noise, designed with a persons posture and comfort in mind, there is no greater joy than riding in a new Chevy. A wonderfully campy promotional film for Chevrolet Motors this film is sure to help you relax, if only from laughing so hard.
Quacks & Nostrums
Quacks & Nostrums
Produced: 1958
Length: 19 Minutes
Quacks and Nostrums shows the dangers of medical quacks who prescribe treatments that end up killing their patients. We see the world through the eyes of Larry, a pre-med student looking for answers about his mom who is under the spell of one such quack. When mom comes home claiming to have a miracle cure to her stomach ailments Larry quickly becomes suspicious and decides to find out more information. He goes to his family doctor who recommends several agencies to talk to including the FDA, the post office and the American Medical Association. Larry travels to all of these places and we learn further about the dangers of quacks and what the government was doing in the 1950s about cracking down on them. An interesting part of medical history, this public service piece serves as a reminder that anyone can be duped by these con men. Just remember, it is always best to consult medical professionals before taking any medication or getting treatments.
Experiments in Abnormal Psychology
Experiments in Abnormal Psychology
Produced: 1930s
Length: 9 Minutes
You are getting sleepy, so sleepy? You are fading into a deep sleep? Are you asleep? Hypnosis has long been a controversial subject both in usefulness and implementation. Does it actually work or do the patients merely think it works? What does it prove? Experiments in Abnormal Psychology, a silent film, explores peoples reaction to getting hypnotized both pre and post hypnosis. The patient is put under different tests while sleeping, including pulling her eyelids back to prove she is asleep and told to act certain ways, which she does, when she awakes. An interesting look at early hypnosis and the impact on the psyche this piece demonstrates how the human brain is susceptible to subconscious suggestions.
