21:12 The speech at the end was so beautiful.... You can tell it was written from a heart that has been through hardship and has acquired wisdom from experience. People blast these 1950s videos all the time like they know better than their parents and grandparents. Sure, some of these sensibilities are outdated, but many other points are golden, timeless, and our current society would be happier if we rediscovered what truly matters.
That's the problem. The generation or generations that think they know better are currently living in the consequences of thinking they know better and don't even know it as they speak with false authority to past generations that actually had morals and common sense. Secondly, you can't change and or transform that which is already tainted. People today are who they are and that won't change. The change would have to be accomplished over a 4 to 5 generation transformation. In the same way people were slowly transformed into the mess we are today over the course of several generations... The same would need to happen in reverse. That can't happen because if our generation doesn't have the morals of past generations.. how would they be able to teach future generations something they themselves know nothing about? Once it's gone... It's gone for good... All you can do is watch on a film what it was like, while having no idea how to emulate something you're not.
45 yrs of marriage to same girl I met in school. My parents WWII babies. Their parents WWI and depression. I still ❤my honey. You can do it. Fall in love, lose the cell phones , date , hold hands, never swear or call each other names ❤
I was 3 months old when my parents married. I attended the wedding. I found out about this when I was 13. A smart ass neighbor woman told me that I was really illigetimate and was lucky my daddy gave me his name. I never really liked her after that. I felt she was viscious old biddy and wasn't my mother's friend at all. She had always claimed to be my mother's best friend . After asking my mother about it she was furious she told me she was going to tell me when I was older but it had never come up. Some people.
Same with my mom's friend . When my mom told a friend that my 27 year old sister was gonna have her first baby (never married but still together after 16years ) she knew her friend was gonna have something negative to say. my mom says to her friend so because she's not married I'm gonna lose my daughter & grandchild over them not being married? A few years later the friends daughter is raising her child by her self at 18. Oh the irony .
These gems are needed today more than ever! It doesn't matter race, gender/sexual preference, there's something we can learn from each film. I'd like to see these in schools
@@ryans450 MORE black families were intact than white families up till the 1960's and the creation of the Democratic Welfare Plantation that made certain that a baby-mama could make MORE from welfare than the support of a man.
"It's not cowardice that makes them [young people] think twice about the problems of raising children..." "...where rising living costs seem to always outdistance lagging earning power." Applies to 2020 as it did in 1950, apparently. If there were doubts like this back then, why do Boomers (who I admit came after the generation in this video) give Gen X and Millenials such a hard time about family life?
Because the Baby Boomer generation are conservative and still hold family values. They want Gen X and Millennials to have the same views so that they too can be married and have a family of their own.
@@LadyL31786 we’d love it. We can’t afford it even with multiple jobs and neither parent could stay home. We couldn’t give our kids the life we would want them to have (one parent staying home) and I don’t mean luxuries.
My marriage ended in divorce - I would love to be married again but in a marriage of mutual respect and kindness. I even miss the simple things like holding hands and passing notes of affection.
@@phoenixrising55 That wasn't a big deal back then My mom's old nursing textbooks said that a pregnant woman can smoke, but no more than 7 cigarettes a day!
"War that twice in their parents' lifetimes called young husbands away from their family life" --two years before Korea. This video is so packed with wisdom, the only thing missing is being able to see the future. We should learn from that as well.
When you grew up back in my grandmother's time, a married couple knew there was no such thing as divorce. You married literally for better and for worse. In those days there wasn't any such thing as his work or her work, there was just work, and it didn't matter who did it, it HAD to get done. The same thing applied to marriage. You had to stay: you made a promise you would, and honor and respect mattered. So if you loved each other, you stayed and worked it out. That's not to say you don't argue, or have a difference of opinion, you find a way to get around it. If people would only understand it's more than just a wild party with a white dress, a suit, and a three tier cake, and look beyond the ceremony to the future, they'd be a lot less likely to make a mistake with the wrong person.
It also forced a lot of people to remain in abusive, addiction-riddled marriage. No thanks. I’ve been happily married a long time. Part of that is knowing it is a choice to be here for both of us. No one is stuck financially for example.
My parents married in the very year this film came out, 1950. After 10 years of enduring my father’s dishonesty and emotional abuse, my mom freed herself and us from his narcissistic ways. I commend people for getting divorced when doing so saves them from further harm. I don’t worship any false notion of lifelong commitment.
When divorce was legal for women the female suicide rate dropped by half they were not happy also most were heavily medicated cause most things were legal for a very long time they had ads for unhappy wives to take hard sedatives
"A child must get in order to live and enjoy life. An adult has enough for himself and so he can afford to give. A child is weak and helpless, had has to receive love and food and shelter in order to feel strong and secure. A grown ups strength and security is increased by the knowledge that he can give these things to someone else. Without a sense of sacrifice or loss." Every millennial and zoomer in the west needs to hear that, and take it to heart. It's time to grow up kids.
That’s because the director was a pioneer of avant- garde cinema, along with his then ex-wife Maya Deren, who was a dancer and certainly influenced each other. I looked him up after seeing this film, something about this one is different indeed. Documentarian. So interesting that the war efforts brought all sorts of filmmakers.
The opening and closing music is the first suite from the Ancient Airs and Dances by Ottorini Respighi. They are Renaissance tunes set to modern (early 20th c.) orchestrations.
True and their marriages usually survived everything . Then again, they did not want to see the 20s all over again, I suppose. After WWI, governments had encouraged loose morals to speed up the birth of babies to repopulate the Earth as millions had been killed in 4 years. But men not ready after war trauma and single mothers resulting, children grew up rioting and leading to the need for a strong u-turn in governments as heavy borrowing soon exposed the frauds in banks, which lead to a crash which lead to some going in power, which lead to the Allied to use this as excuse for starting a war our governments needed to hide their own failures. If we wanted peace after WWII, we needed to avoid repeating that mistake, thus these shows first telling already married couples how to handle war trauma and then later to give the younger generation a role model in marriage, which the war had robbed them of. Sadly today we have "influencers" doing this role-modelling instead and parents acting as children or pals rather than as guides full of experience. You can ask he who has always failed at marriage, what he has done, so as not to carry out the same mistakes, but you would still not know what works, only what doesn't.
… do you have any idea how many couples in this period got married because they were pregnant? It was a lot. People today just don’t get married after is the only difference. Neither is right nor wrong.
On a serious note, there are some refreshingly honest and progressive ideas expressed in this film. It’s not the Norman Rockwell-esque orthodox view of marriage I expected.
Mel said Frank is gay sometimes. He said he is playing it straight. I mean she said he doesnt last long and he said he really enjoys when they sit in silence and he doesnt have to touch her.
Lol I proposed to my husband in 1984. I often playfully proposed and he would equally playfully said Nah. One night he said yes. I was stunned. All i could think to say was " If you are kidding me I am going to smack you upside the head" Thankfully he actually meant it. We married in August of 1986 at 21 & 20 years old. Will be 37 years this year and we are still going strong. We have had conflicts of course and what has helped is mutual respect and being each others best friend. Communication and mutual respect is vital.
Marriages are based upon - and remain together - for all manner of different things. But when you're the very best of friends, and that person is the most important person in your whole life - I'd say that your marriage stands the best chance of success of any.
Of course this is a very old fashioned video about a very old fashioned way of life, but in some ways it reminds me a little of married life nowadays lol
That was basically the only thing I had an issue with, especially the way it was phrased, but then I reminded myself that she did choose for herself to be a housewife and that's what I assume their point was. It totally wouldn't fly nowadays lol. But I think what they meant was that basically as a modern woman you can get a good education (and be even more brilliant than the men) and choose to pursue a valuable career, but if you don't you are still valid and should be respected as an equal. It still seems a shame to me that she didn't choose this and do great things, but I think that's just my modern world view. At the end of the day, she chose not to, and good for her being able to make that choice, and for having respect from her husband as an intelligent woman.
@@RagDollCookie I know one woman from my church who was a stay at home mom, and her husband payed for her to get 2 masters and a phd. She homeschooled all her kids, and they sounded like politicians when they spoke: very elegant, composed, etc.
Very well done and insightful film, wish it had been shown to my generation coming of marriage age in the 80s...by then most young people I knew were very focused on college and career with marriage being deferred until at least age 30....
Awww, this was golden...lovely golden twilight. Such a realistic look at depression-era born children as adults in the 50's, a portrait of the times. Pretty enlightened for the time it was produced. Warm fuzzy feelings abound. Overlooking the surprisingly few slips in language and attitude for modern times values, this was actually pretty in alignment with what I would consider good advice and keen insights for life and relationships in general.
That's right, marriage is a covenant- and a sacrament-blessed by God when done so properly in church. This alone gives strength to the couple to stick together through thick and thin. Reply
Does this mean that you only count Christians as married? Jews and Muslims make their vows before God too... and Hindus and Sikhs make their vows as do many others. I think we all agree what makes a marriage, just remember that it's the oldest and widest spread institution and not just a Christian monopoly.
I was born in 1950. Tragic how little things have changed. I read and see this in the news every fucking day. I suspect in another 73 years, if there is another 73 years, things will not perceptibly change.
I know one woman from my church who chose to be a stay-at-home mom, and her husband payed for her to get 2 masters and a phd. She homeschooled all her kids, and they sounded like politicians when they spoke: very elegant, composed, etc. Very intelligent kids. Just because you get an education doesn't mean you have to work with it. You can use it to benefit your future generations. All the smartest kids I have seen in my lifetime were either homeschooled for a time (whether by an educated parent or a good online system) or were the child of a teacher who made sure they MILKED the education system.
Post WW2...well, no wonder it was slightly more progressive than some films of it's time. Women were starting to realize that they'd gotten somewhat of a raw deal and men were starting to realize they were going to have to get their act together if they planned to keep getting any.
I saw this comment of yours in response to someone elses comment. It isn't wise to promote smoking during pregnancy. You and your wife might have lucked out, but the fact of the matter is that it CAN cause irreperable damage. It isn't worth the risk!
@@ShockResistor Not promoting cigarette smoking as much as debunking the over the top hysteria surrounding smoking during pregnancy. Yes its not a "Good" thing but lets not overact on how bad it is either. Stop the "Smoke shaming"!
Such noble altruistic sentiments and philosophy are beyond the grasp or desire of too many individuals today. In that time it was not uncommon to hear of couples who had been married 60 years or more.
@@lilacspring2556 WRONG, this is the reality, television is a powerful tool what people see on TV has a powerful affect on their mind When 1950 people saw this on TV this what they try to behave like, when you see modern day degeneracy on TV that is how people behave today TV influences the mind of the people, not the other way around, besides before TV people were much more grounded in reality and marriages lasted, people understood responsibility that life is not all about YOU but rather society at large
This video sounds like it was made right when things began to go south...an underlying layer of doubt is what it sounds like. I prefer countless other 1950’s videos relative to this one.
Oh my.. "my husband is a person and he expects me to be a person". Could it be?? today some call that feminism. I call it just being people. And in 1950! 👍
@@kenbob1071....well three things I can tell you... The divorce rate in 1950 was much lower than it is today... It is about 42% today, but was 26% in 1950. That happened despite the fact that many more people got married back then... The current marriage rate is more than 60% lower than it was in 1950. In addition, the current rate of single motherhood is now much higher. Currently, about 40% of children are born to a single mother. In 1950, this rate was about 5%. So, compared to now, 1950 was sunshine and candy for children in families.
@@RS-tz2zn thats because back then it was taboo and women never said anything about their horrible marriage.. they took it. Women now speak up and leave. Plus tecnology now ruins ALOT OF THINGS
@@veronicasolorzano889 It's good that women can say if they feel unhappy but the higher rate of divorce is definitely because men AND women don't commit themselves to marriage
Hi Lynne Wright-Glzrbug - interracial marriage was not illegal up north and was addressed in the movie "Guess who's coming to dinner (1967), it was happening. I trained in the South (Alabama, North Florida, Texas), it was frown upon but it happened in the sixties; there were some "bad apples" and some prejudiced people, there will always be but it was civilized, more than now in Detroit or Chicago at least. It seems to me that it was also a white (and black) female fantasy - that is what I studied - the breakdown of the American family 1950 ~2000 and its consequences. Are we better off now? Ciao, L
{{•PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS•}} “Of course I don’t mind waiting it’s what I gave up Catholigy for…” What does she mean by that..? Time Stamp: 18:00
Not me.... Never wanted kids. And I enjoy going and doing what I please in life and not having to go to kids concerts, or helping them with homework. If I want to go out to dinner I can. If I want to watch a movie I can. And if I want to take a last minute trip I don't have to worry about kids.
Pansy Flower and that’s the beauty of personal choice. Your decision is not wrong, and neither is Arsecant. We have the opportunity to choose how we move forward with our lives, and we have to respect the decision of the way others choose their lives
There is a new wave of people realizing this. I am a homemaker after 10 years working and we love it. It works for our family. When we have kids, I will stay home and invest in our family. I still have hobbies, and a small work from home business. Its all about balance.
