# Movies you saw in Jr. High/High School **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 24, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713 "2020-06-24T12:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/61 "2022-10-30T01:15:55Z")
Someone mentioned “Mechanized Death.” That’s a Drivers Ed classic I’d completely forgotten about…until now. One day during class we were watching one of those films and the kid sitting next to me fell out of his chair and passed out cold on the floor. A 10th grade health class epic you can find on the Prelinger Archives was “The Innocent Party.” I still remember it after 54 years. Upper middle class high school kid “Bob” (or whatever his name was) has a vo-dee-o-doe with a woman of questionable repute. A short time later, Bob takes his best girl “Jane” (or whatever) out on a hot date, and they go to Lover’s Lane to neck. Fade-out, fade-in. Bob is adjusting his tie and wearing a satisfied smirk. Jane is cowering on the seat as close to the door as she can get. He takes her home, but she refuses to kiss him goodnight. (The flirt!) Then…Dr. Brown tells Bob he has…syphilis! Jeepers! Bob has to man-up, tell Jane of his sin, and bring her in for treatment. The VD message was pretty heavy-handed, but the most shocking thing about this is that Bob raped Jane. It was not consensual sex. After we watched this epic our health teacher/gym coach told us the moral of the story is to be careful where you dip your wick. I don’t remember anything said about what a lowlife SOB Bob was or anything about the harm he caused Jane. Our teacher was as dumb as a stump and was rumored to be having an affair with a young, pretty girls gym teacher. The one who wasn’t a lesbian. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/62 "2022-10-30T01:42:06Z")
All of these replies and no one has mentioned _Free to Be, You and Me_. The only real people I remember from it are Marlo Thomas and Rosie Greer. It also had two babies do a comedy routine that I thought was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/63 "2022-10-30T03:51:24Z")
In 11th grade all of the boys were taken to the auditorium to watch a recorded STD presentation that consisted mostly of diseased male genitalia and anuses with narration . What’s really weird is that the girls had to watch the same presentation after they watched a female version. They also had to watch a graphic childbirth film. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/64 "2022-10-30T04:27:28Z")
The only one I can remember is _Romeo and Juliet_ and everyone thought they saw more than what was actually shown. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/65 "2022-10-30T13:54:49Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Guess I’m one of the few old enough to remember “Signal 30.” Really graphic footage of fatal automobile accidents that literally had some of my 9th grade (‘64-‘65) classmates scream, faint, and/or vomit! Wow, what a blast from the past! I swear this movie was what kept kids from dropping out (“Hey, 8th grader, you think you’re tough, but next year you’ll get to see Signal 30 and you’ll be crapping your pants…”). We couldn’t wait, and I assumed it’d been built up and would be a letdown. But, nope, it delivered. (and remember, with no YouTube, and cop shows being pretty sanitized, we’d never seen a bloody, mangled body on TV) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/66 "2022-10-31T07:24:56Z")
The only movie I remember seeing in high school (for physics class) was this 1960 black-and-white film: _[Frames of Reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJMYoj4hHqU)_. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/67 "2022-10-31T07:42:57Z")
One more: [A Magnet Laboratory (1959) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-KID_u9ZX4). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/68 "2022-10-31T13:49:20Z")
Tbe three I remember entering High School were Jeremiah Johnson, Hannie Caulder, and High Plains Drifter. I saw a lot of movies on tv. It was common then for movies to air on tv a couple years after the theatre release. It’s hard remembering for sure but I have strong memories seeing the three listed in a theatre. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/69 "2022-10-31T13:51:26Z")
Graduated in 79 Some of these were shown in junior high, some in high school: Patton Go Ask Alice Pinball Wizard A movie about the Kennedy assassination Romeo & Juliet - no idea which version it was Those are the only ones that I can remember, I’m sure there were many more. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/70 "2022-10-31T14:20:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Tbe three I remember entering High School were Jeremiah Johnson, Hannie Caulder, and High Plains Drifter. You watched those in school? I remember a movie my science teacher showed us about a girl that dove into a shallow body of water and was paralyzed. I _think_ we also watched Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands (would’ve been the 91 version), though it’s possible that was just one of our options and all these years later I remember the title. I’m also 90% sure they were two different movies. I know I started a thread on this years ago, but I don’t remember the answer.\* In high school we saw the Miracle of Birth…also, Schindler’s List. \*ETA, [found my old post](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/8), the movie was Joni. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/71 "2022-10-31T14:44:11Z")
No in the theater. I remember because my mom had to give permission at the ticket line. PG-13 rules. It was a big deal for me. I was watching grown up films instead of Disney. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/72 "2022-10-31T14:49:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > No in the theater. I remember because my mom had to give permission at the ticket line. PG-13 rules. The first line of the thread is: > [@BwanaBob](#): > > I mean movies that teachers showed you in class. > [@aceplace57](#): > > It was a big deal for me. I was watching grown up films instead of Disney. I remember going to the theater (on a field trip) to see Fantasia. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/73 "2022-10-31T16:17:57Z")
My Teachers never showed any commercial films. I remember some mind numbing science films. Very badly made and boring. My 9th grade English class listened to Tale of 2 Cities. Books on record series. She used the last ten minutes of class. It took several weeks to get through the book. I enjoyed it ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/74 "2022-11-09T08:51:41Z")
We saw [Bless the Beasts & Children](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068286/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0), a heavy-handed 70s “relevancy” movie and a starring vehicle for Bill Mumy. It was kind of like _Holes_ plot- and story-wise, but with the wit and subtlety of _Billy Jack_. Grown-ups are all hypocrites, the youth need to take over, and the country (represented by penned-in buffaloes) is too dumb to save itself. Not sure how Stanley Kramer got roped into directing this steaming pile of shit, but he’ll always have _Inherit the Wind_ and _Judgement at Nuremburg_ listed in his credits. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/75 "2022-11-09T15:36:37Z")
One high school English class was **Art of the Motion Picture**. A few times during the semester, we got to watch trailer films – two dozen or so movie commercials strung together. That was a blast! So much Percy Rodriguez. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/76 "2022-11-09T16:00:09Z")
We read as a class (outloud) Bless the Beasts and Children. I’m not sure I got anything out of it. Someone died? Buffalo were freed? Who knows. In class the only ones I remember are Paddle to the Sea and some animated short about a guy who fells a giant tree, runs it through smaller and smaller machines until he gets a toothpick, which then breaks. I can’t remember the name. We ran it backwards when it was done. I’m sure there were more, but they are lost in time. And filmstrips. BEEP. I got to run the projector! We did take a field trip to see 1776 in a theater. Not sure what that was supposed to accomplish. Its value as a history lesson was surely lacking. (“Many people don’t know it, but Ben Franklin was a great dancer!”) My wife hates it, so I still haven’t been able to rewatch it on TCM and judge for myself. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/77 "2022-11-09T16:01:14Z")
The only actual Movie (Not educational films) I remember seeing at school in Jr High / HS is War Games, in my computer science class. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/78 "2022-11-09T16:07:56Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > We saw [Bless the Beasts & Children](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068286/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) That reminds me of a series of films I saw that included long excerpts from Hollywood movies where the movie (or an episode from it) was used as the basis for a discussion around a character’s ethical dilemma. Bless the Beasts and the Children was one. Another was Bridge on the River Kwai. That one focused on Alec Guinness’s character’s fight to prevent his captors from forcing officers to work on the bridge. Your description of Bless the Beasts and the children was not wrong but remember it was aimed at a younger demographic who often enjoys being bludgeoned with a “message”. I know I did at that age. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/79 "2022-11-09T16:32:51Z")
74westy > Your description of Bless the Beasts and the children was not wrong but remember it was aimed at a younger demographic who often enjoys being bludgeoned with a “message”. I know I did at that age. I was fifteen at the time. This was four or five years after the movie was made. I was not aware at that age just how desperate the studios were to lure the “youth market” back, but I had a pretty good idea when I was being pandered to by old men co-opting the language and themes of “the movement.” One thing I got wrong: Kramer foisted this project on the studio, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713/80 "2022-11-09T17:26:23Z")
This probably isn’t in the spirit of the OP’s question, but my high school owned a 16mm print of “Highlights of the 1967 PGA Open” or some similar golf tournament. Unlike most films we saw, this did not have to be borrowed and returned from somewhere. It was ALWAYS available to the PE/Health teachers. Guess what we saw EVERY SINGLE time PE got rained out or there was a substitute PE teacher? The teachers would just start it up, let it run, and then rewind it and start it over. It’s no exaggeration when I say that I watched that film at least 20 times in a single year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-saw-in-jr-high-high-school/912713.md?page=5)