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It's Wanton Murder

This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Audio/Visual: sound, color

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Spuzz - - May 19, 2005
Subject: Mmm Wantons!
More traffic crash fun, this time with Lowell Thomas! I wonder if, had I not viewed the thumbnails that I would've guessed where the film was heading. let's see, Lowell Thomas reads from a letter (this is a poor setup imho) about a regular Joe who is shipped off to war, making his wife wonder if he's going to come back in one piece. And wonders upon wonders, he does! But then.. as Lowell puts it, "life unfortunately, isn't like the movies!" soon, of course, Joe is the victim of a person making a bad turn, where he winds up with some other icky crash victim footage. Lowell Thomas tells us that we don't need to be another statistic. Ha ha, poo poo on you Lowell, I read the card at the end where it said "This Film was made in the interest of saving lives so You Will Not Be Next!" Ha ha! Weee!

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - May 12, 2005
Subject: Oh Honey, You Made It Home from the War...d'oh!!
This strident traffic safety film from the 40s tells the story of a woman whose husband went out to fight the war and came home safely, only to be killed in a car accident, poor shmoe. ItÂs actually somewhat surprising for its time as it actually shows some gory footage from real accidents. It also shows the empty chairs of accident victims, making it a prototype of many other driverÂs ed films to come.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Reviewer: Wilford B. Wolf - - September 28, 2004
Subject: You maybe next!
Overwrought traffic safety film circa 1946, narrated by Lowell Thomas. You know this one will be a doozy just from the title, and it sure delivers.

The film opens with Lowell Thomas sitting in the NBC Studios in New York, as if preparing for a radio broadcast. Thomas reads a letter from the wife of a veteran, with the voice alternating back and forth between that of the wife's and Thomas's. The letter goes on to say how the husband survived all the dangerous situations in the European theater to come home back to civilian life. Apperently, all the wife did during the war was wait and worry about her husband returning.

Anyway, it isn't until the end of the letter, and halfway through the film that the true purpose emgeres; the husband was killed in a traffic accident by a guy running a light three months after returning home.

At this point Thomas begins what would be common trope with safety films, that traffic accidents kills more people every year than died during World War II. At this point, the film switches to pictures of traffic accidents and collage of headlines. The film throughout is melodramatic, though it has good production values. The real topper for the film is towards the end is when Thomas states goes on about accidents leave a void in the lives in their loved ones. Then, they show shots of people being faded out from where they sit, accompanied by overdramatic and cliched orchestral sting.

Overall, this is a film whose basic message has not changed over the ensuing 60 years, but has not aged well due to the melodramatic nature of its presentation.