This exploitation film on the subject of syphilis starts off quite subtly, with understated acting and dialog that infrequently gets over-the-top and silly. Groom to be Douglas Walton finds out from his doctor Pedro de Cordova that he is infected and tries to delay his marriage to understanding Arletta Duncan with a lie about what his condition is, infuriating her politician father (Ferdinand Munier) who views it as bad publicity for his position.

Walton goes to see another doctor (Clarence Wilson) who gives him a shorter time period for being cured, resulting in his baby being born sick. Professionally done and much more realistically (for the time) presented with little finger wagging, the only unintentional laugh I found was the initial shot of the rotund Munier stuffed into a tuxedo. Phyllis Barry as the party girl he gets the disease from only has a few scenes but her key scene towards the end does treat her sympathetically.

Esther Dale as Walton's mother is much more subtle than Munier, certainly not like many of the browbeating wives and mothers she played in other films. Greta Meyer as the baby's nurse turns on the family in the one overwrought moment that gives it more exploitive elements, but overall, this is the least melodramatic of that genre. I rarely give a high rating to films like this, but "Damaged Lives" deserves it. Fortunately in the 80+ years since this came out, medical research has changed the stigma of the disease, so this is best viewed as a period piece.