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Emily Benton FrithPatty Learns to Stop, Look and Listen (1947)

Patty Garman carelessly runs onto a crowded highway and is hit by a car. The details of her treatment and recovery are shown.

Produced and Photographed by Emily Benton Frith. Commentator: Don McNamara. Sound by Telefilm.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Emily Benton Frith
Production Company: Frith Films
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: need keyword

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: loyaltubist - - May 5, 2006
Subject: Just Like I Remembered It from 44 Years Ago!
This movie was shown at North Oceanside Elementary School in Oceanside, California (demolished in 1966), as part of its safety program every year. I saw it the first time as a Kindergartner in 1962 and I saw it in 1963, 1964, and 1965. The narrator is authoratative and seems understanding of children. After third grade, my family moved from Oceanside to the San Bernardino area, so I didn't get to see it until just now. I know more and I still learned from watching this movie. The hospital that Patty was taken to was the old Georgia Street Receiving Hospital in Downtown Los Angeles (actually it was attached to the Los Angeles Police Department). So I would guess the goat farm was probably in the San Fernando Valley. (They had them there then.) Another interesting aside about this movie, just before it was shown in my first grade year, a girl in my class was involved in an accident in which she suffered severe back, head, and leg injuries and her dad's business partner was killed. We all watched this movie and felt better for her. Except for locations, clothing styles, and automobiles, not much has changed in procedure, except that Gene, the speed demon driver, as a minor, would probably now get his license suspended immediately, no court needed. The movie is highly recommended.

Reviewer: trafalgar - - March 13, 2004
Subject: yeccchhh
I agree, there is a very dark undertone to this film. Maybe it's the horribly cheap production values, or the fact that the little girl doesn't seem to understand anything that's going on around her.
Somehow it just feels like a snuff film is going to break out any minute...

Reviewer: Spuzz - - February 1, 2004
Subject: Patty should learn to be a little less exploited!
When I finished 'Patty learns', I sat back and thought about it, I now believe there are 2 sides to the Frith company. One which focuses On Don Donell and his cute pups (see Mother Mack trains her puppies) and the other side which exploits the mishaps of poor Polly (see Fire! Patty learns what to do). But in this, Patty and friends are playing on the street when all of a sudden she gets hit by a car. Now, we don't actually SEE this, but it's edited so convincingly that I was jolted. Heaven knows how this played in 1947. The ambulance arrives, and, after putting what appears to be a roll of toilet paper around her neck, is whisked off to the hospital. Now, since both of her legs are broken, she is in a weight supported body cast with both her legs up in the air. Er, I'm sorry, but what part of this film is documentary and what part is fiction? Anyways, she remains there for several weeks until she can come home, still in a cast. Her dad just lifts her up and carts her everyplace. Her brother helps out too, taking her on the wagon to see the family's goats. Soon, she's on crutches and heals up just in time for the goat fair. yay!
We don't really figure out how Patty learned to stop, look, and listen, only the narrator comes on from time to time to Badger Patty by saying "If only she didn't play on the street!" (by the way, the driver of the car that hit her apparently will get off with no less then an reckless driving mark on his record). Frightening, implausable, manipulative, and most exploitive, what appears to be a innocent film is quite nasty in it's undertones. Reccomended if you can stomach it.