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Centron ProductionsSpeech: Stage Fright and What to Do About It (1949)

Expressionistic film on dealing with fear of public speaking, filmed in Lawrence, Kansas.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Centron Productions
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: Communication: Speech; Psychology

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: pkkms - - February 8, 2009
Subject: The Fugitive
Fred is overly concerned about facing an audience and speaking in front of them. Is public speaking Fred's real concern...or is it that he's wanted in Nebraska and fears he will be recognized? You decide....

Reviewer: Mr. - - June 30, 2007
Subject: Speech: Stage Fright and What to Do About It
Well-done film on dealing with stage fright.

Reviewer: Son of Gene Courtney - - December 27, 2006
Subject: Gene Courtney was my father
I have been looking for video of my father for years. Does anyone have a copy of the film that I can buy from them?

Doug Courtney

dcourtney_383@hotmail.com

714-356-7635

Reviewer: markgee - - November 1, 2006
Subject: Fabulous example of early training movie
As one of several instructors at the Naval Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, RI, in the late 1960's, I used this training film to help students prepare for their mandatory speech.

Although it was a little less "dated" then than now, it made it's points through humor appropriate to the times (1949). Every class I taught laughed as heartily as I still do every time I see this film.

Everything we see in the movie reminds me of military training films, inlcuding the apparel and culture of the times (including someone in the audience smoking a cigarette!). Made during the cold war when we conducted civil defense drills and worried as children about nuclear devestation, this film along with the other Centron productions , is a classic. An amusing vignette of history.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - June 15, 2005
Subject: Eeek! Snakes on Stage! Eek! Hairy Knuckles!
Fred gets all worried when he is chosen to make a speech about his trip to Alaska. "Why is Fred so worried?" tha narrator asks.. Is it because someone might shoot him? Snakes in the crowd? No, it's his own self confidence, and this film essentially asks the audience to just slap yourself in the face, make your speech ahead of time and dress properly then all will be well. Sure. A bit of a fantasy here.

Reviewer: HuckleberryFinn - - April 12, 2004
Subject: Young America sez, "SAY NO TO STAGE FRIGHT"
This is a pretty typical "this short film will solve your deep-seeded problem" type of flick. Same narrator who does EVERY other movie.

Fred loses his cool before giving some sort of speech. The narrator explains some basic info about stage fright in a very repetitive way.

FIN

2 stars.

Reviewer: Wilford B. Wolf - - May 18, 2003
Subject: Snake Handling
Another in the Speech series (Platform Posture and Appearence from MST3k being the most famous), this film focuses on how to handle stage fright. It is hard to tell how humourous they intended the film to be, but the film is pretty unintentionally funny, especially recounting Fred's fears (watch for a great pratfall).

This film actually has some pretty decent content, but is so over the top that it is hard to take it completely seriously.

Shotlist

MAN, ASKED TO GIVE SPEECH BEFORE LOCAL SERVICE CLUB MEETING, CANNOT PREPARE BECAUSE OF STAGE FRIGHT, SPENDS PANICKED WEEK BEFORE SPEECH. EXPRESSIONISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY, HEAVY NARRATION.

Ken Smith sez: "Fred Strong" is the silly-looking main character of this film. A surreal fantasy section is its high point, where the narrator reviews all the things we're afraid of when we speak in front of a crowd. Lon Chaney, Jr. makes a cameo appearance as a guy shooting a gun.

SPEECH SPEECHES STAGE FRIGHT FEAR PUBLIC SPEAKING EXPRESSIONISM EATING SNAKES SLEEPING PODIUMS AUDIENCES NERVES NERVOUSNESS AGITATION ANXIETY MENTAL ANGUISH QUESTION MARKS SURREALISM LILLIPUTIANS Speech Rhetoric Public speaking Stage fright Psychology Anxiety Self-doubt Insecurity Surrealism Nervousness Gunshots Assassination Fear Snakes Question marks (animated) Animation DoppelgŠngers Doubles (person repeated within frame) Rotary Clubs Luncheons Podiums Yawns Hostility Boredom Listening Speaking Listeners (bored) Audiences (bored) Anorexia (male) Appetite (loss of) Newspapers (reading) safety