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Coronet Instructional FilmsSelf-Conscious Guy (1951)

Shows how feelings of self-consciousness keep a high school boy from doing his classwork well or making friends easily.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Coronet Instructional Films
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: Social guidance

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: inverse_agriffina - - June 16, 2010
Subject: Like a 50s version of 8Mile.
Not that interesting, though.

Reviewer: doowopbob - - May 9, 2010
Subject: ....Now You Tell Me..
...Why I Had Trouble Masterbating In 6th. Grade Home Room..Everybody Was Gawkin'..!

Reviewer: ERD - - September 6, 2005
Subject: Good for youngsters
The film is well written, directed, and acted. In the alloted time, it helps illustrate and suggest how to overcome self consciousness.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - August 29, 2004
Subject: cue the lights!
Marty, (wearing a shirt that says his name so he won't forget) has problems. You see, whenever he has to speak in front of crowd, or talk to something, or do something new, he becomes self-consicious, and uhhh a spotlight appears out of nowhere. This is a pretty hilarious concept and I have to give props to Coronet for pulling this one off. Marty learns for himself how to avoid these pratfalls (using some rather good advice).
So Marty shares his new found wisdom with a guy wanting to learn to play Ping Pong and he even gets a part in the school play!! Soon, the spotlight dissapears.. But I wonder if his schitzophrenia will to... Highly reccomended!

Reviewer: Wilford B. Wolf - - July 29, 2004
Subject: It seemed a little queer...
Rather surprising Coronet film about self-consciousness. This time it narrated by Marty, an average kid who gets nervous in public speaking situations. The motif of a spotlight is used throughout the film to highlight whenever Marty feels nervous and steps that he took to overcome it; enough so to try out for a part in the school play.

What is refreshing is not only the self narration, with the actor's easy going and a bit self-depreciating manner, but also the advice given. It suggests practicing and trying to shift focus to the situation as a whole, which is not bad advice at all. It also indicates that it's not a cure-all, which is a welcome change from the didactic tone of most the period guidance films. A bit hokey with the spotlight motif and amateurish, but still very earnest and truthful.

Shotlist

Shows how the feelings of self-consciousness keep a high school boy from doing his class work well or making friends easily. The boy discovers many of his classmates suffer from similar feelings, but that several of them have overcome these feelings and developed poise and self-assurance.
Ken Smith warns: If you watch this bland film expecting to see another Shy Guy you'll be disappointed. It follows the tribulations of "Marty," who wants a part in the school play but whose self-consciousness dooms him to the inferior role of stage hand. He feels, he explains, "as if there was a spotlight on me," and the inferior stage hands at Coronet help us understand this by shining a spot on Marty whenever he has a nervous moment. Cheap, but effective. Happily, Marty's life turns around when he discovers that he's more confident than leading man "Jack" when it comes to ping pong.
Marty, who also starred in How To Say No, has a swath of shaved skin around his ears so wide you could park a truck on it.

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS SHYNESS SOCIAL SITUATIONS ATTITUDES POISE SELF-ASSURANCE STUDENTS ADOLESCENTS SOCIAL SKILLS RELATIONSHIPS BAD HAIRCUTS