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.

Well hardly anyone has really reviewed this. It's a campy exploitation film like Reefer Madness except about Syphilis. Unlike today where it's easily treated though the movie goes out of the way to scourge and scorn the hapless victims. The acting isn't bad but the over the top presentation of the material makes it almost laughable. As if they were lepers the victims are nearly immediately outcast by society. It probably was over the top for its era much like those anti smoking and vaping ads they air today. It's moderately better than Damaged Lives which follows similar precedent (and you can ignore all the smoking and drinking in that one because that's fine in 1933, but Syphilis not so much). I am not sure what one gains by watching this, it's an interesting period piece if you're a fan of stuff like this. I found it more comedic than dramatic. In reality that's what it is, essentially an hour long public service ad. If you substitute opioids, vaping, steroids, alcohol, gambling etc and you essentially would have modern topics you could expound the ads of to achieve this result.