Good Eating Habits (1951)

February 18, 2009 · By admin

This Coronet cautionary tale attacks excess in customary Fifties fashion, focusing on gluttony. Bill sits down to dinner with an aching stomach because he’s eaten badly during the day. Flashbacks and a food-centered nightmare reveal why he’s sick.
Social guidance / table manners film about a boy who eats his food so quickly, and eats so much junk food, that he makes himself sick.
After going to bed with a stomach ache and a night of food nightmares, he wakes up the next day with a new attitude toward
eating, and happily ingests his meals slowly and calmly, savoring the flavors released by a well-chewed gob of food.

00:11:27:00 B/W 1951
Family eats dinner together at small dining room table, they pass
serving platters to each other; CU shots of man, woman and girl as
they eat and smile at each other.

00:12:17:00 B/W 1951
Boy unenthusiastically plays with model train set on floor of his
bedroom; CU the model train as it turns on the tracks; boy has
stomach ache and holds his belly in distress.

00:12:57:00 B/W 1951
Woman walks her sick son to his bed; now in his pajamas he gets
under the covers and his mother tucks him in; she sits on the bed,
leans over him, talks quietly to him and caresses his face; at
0:16:24 she kisses him and turns off the light.

00:13:38:00 B/W 1951
Family eats breakfast at small dining room table; boy late for
breakfast runs from hallway to the table; boy eats his breakfast of
orange juice, oatmeal, bacon, eggs and toast, and milk very
quickly; CU the bowl of oatmeal, CU the glass of milk before and
after a sip is taken; boy runs out of the room on his way to
school.

00:14:52:00 B/W 1951
Hyperactive boy in a hurry at school cafeteria table with other
boys; CU his crazed face as he devours a sandwich in virtually one
bite; boy runs out of cafeteria.

00:15:23:00 B/W 1951
Boy walks out of small soda shop / delicatessen drinking a bottle
of soda; he leans against a parking meter and guzzles the soda in
one fell swoop; boy eats candy and cookies and walks down sidewalk.

00:16:00:00 B/W 1951
Boy sitting at dinner table plays with food on his plate,
uninterested, eats a forkful and pushes plate away.

00:16:09:00 B/W 1951
Boy yawns, CU.

00:16:36:00 B/W 1951
Boy lies in bed and sleeps restlessly, tosses and turns;
superimposed over him are images of food [dream sequence, sort of].

00:17:10:00 B/W 1951
Boy wakes up and gets out of bed, stretches and puts on his robe.

00:17:25:00 B/W 1951
Family sits down at small dining room table for breakfast, they
drape their napkins over laps; boy eats a meal of orange juice,
milk, cereal, and bacon, eggs and toast which he butters; he eats
slowly and normally, smiling and shaking his head in delight with
his delicious breakfast.

00:19:26:00 B/W 1951
Boy at desk in school classroom, looks up from his assignment;
clock on wall reads “11:00″; boy is happily surprised by the time.

00:19:42:00 B/W 1951
Boy eats sandwich and other lunch items in school cafeteria,
normally.

00:20:05:00 B/W 1951
Smiling boy drinks from water fountain in park.

00:20:10:00 B/W 1951
Boy sits at kitchen table eating an after-school snack, his mother
in apron pours him a glass of milk.

00:20:25:00 B/W 1951
Two boys fly a kite in park.

00:20:38:00 B/W 1951
Family eats at small dining room table; boy smiles and holds out
his plate for seconds.

00:20:58:00 B/W 1951
Boy lies on bedroom floor and happily plays with his model train
set