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Fears of Children (1951)

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Film Description

Fears of Children (1951)
 Sponsors: Oklahoma State Dept. of Public Health; National Association for Mental Health; Mental Health Film Board. Production Co.: International Film Foundation. Director/Writer: Francis Thompson. Producer: Julien Bryan. Camera: Peter Glushanok. Editor: Joseph E. Dushock. Cast: Rex Thompson, Anna Minot Franz, Peter Hobbs, Sarah Cunningham. Transfer Note: Scanned from a 16mm print held by the Library of Congress. Running Time: 27 minutes.

Subtle case study produced for parents, teachers, and mental health professionals on the importance of constructive parenting in overcoming childhood fears. The parents of a healthy five-year-old do not grasp why their child fears entering a cave. The mother tries to be sympathetic, but the father shows impatience. Feeling anger at his father, the child drowns his stuffed bear. After the parents take time to think about their son’s behavior, they resolve to show greater understanding, and father and son reconcile. “Psychiatrists alone cannot solve the mental health problems of our nation,” said a Mental Health Film Board spokesperson commenting on the film. “More and more it will be the responsibility of parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, and ministers” (New York Times, Dec. 12, 1951).

Note: A companion pamphlet was issued under the same title. Third in the Mental Health Film Board’s Emotions of Everyday Living series. The Mental Health Film Board, founded in 1949 by psychiatrists and filmmakers, sponsored psychiatric films for professionals and the general public. Rex Thompson, the son, played Louis Leonowens in the movie The King and I.

Resources
Lucy Freeman, “Film Unit Set Up for Mental Ills,” New York Times, Oct. 14, 1949, 29; Dorothy Barclay, “Parent Education in Films Stressed,” New York Times, Dec. 12, 1951, 62; Dorothy Barclay, “Banishing Fear,” New York Times, Dec. 16, 1951, 196; “Evaluation of New Films,” Educational Screen 31 (Apr. 1952): 156–57; “Fears of Children Film Discussion Guide,” The Coordinator 4 (Sept. 1955): 25–26.