Diane Sinclair Movies

Heralded as the "most daring, sensational drama ever filmed," this exploitation-melodrama is actually a rather confused argument both for and against forced sterilization. Their children either in jail, physically handicapped, or "feeble-minded," Mr. and Mrs. Mason (Arthur Wanzer and Sarah Padden) are told by a welfare worker that the entire family must either accept sterilization or forfeit welfare checks. Included in the order of sterilization is eldest daughter Alice (Diane Sinclair), a seemingly healthy young girl who is engaged to Jim (Carlyle Moore Jr.). Instead of complying, Alice flees into the night, but is soon apprehended by the police. Alice's boyfriend pleads her case to sympathetic physician Dr. Brooks (Don Douglas), who agrees to testify on the girl's behalf in court. The judge, however, remains unmoved and Alice is taken away to be sterilized. Dr. Brooks, who agrees with some forced sterilizations, vehemently refuses to perform the operation on Alice. Meanwhile, Father O'Brien (Crane Wilbur) is pleading with Mrs. Mason to retract her consent on religious grounds. The drunken woman refuses, but does admit that Alice is not her natural daughter. With that startling bit of news, Dr. Brooks rushes to the hospital, arriving just in time to prevent Alice from going under the knife. Perhaps because the filmmakers never quite made it clear where they stood regarding forced sterilization, Tomorrow's Children was banned outright in many areas by the Catholic Legion of Decency, which was opposed to any kind of sterilization. Directed and co-written by Crane Wilbur, a silent screen leading man who had starred opposite Pearl White in the historic serial The Perils of Pauline (1914), Tomorrow's Children was produced and released on the States' Rights market by Bryan Foy. Leading lady Diane Sinclair, reportedly a mulatto hailing from Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (Suriname), delivered a fine performance despite the film's obvious lack of budget and technical expertise. She would later star in Edgar Ulmer's warning against venereal disease, Damaged Lives (1937), and, later still, appear as a regular on bandleader Kay Kyser's television show. Rather incongruously, hayseed comedian Sterling Holloway provided comedy relief to the grim proceedings as a sleepy intern. All but forgotten, Tomorrow's Children was picked up by exploitation filmmaker David Friedman and re-released on videotape in 1994. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Although venereal disease was considered as delicate a subject then as it is now, this was nonetheless the third filmed version of Eugène Brieux' 1901 play Les Avariés, known in English-speaking lands as Damaged Lives. Don is a shallow, naïve former ship's officer trying to make the transition to an executive position in the shipping company. He breaks a dinner engagement with his longtime fiancée Joan in order to make a night on the town with one of his company's clients. The client ends up drunk, and at the end of the long night Don ends up with Elise, a woman of dubious reputation who nevertheless lives in an impressive, Art Deco-styled apartment. Although he feels guilty about the affair, Don swiftly marries his sweetheart, only to get the phone call from "the other woman" saying she must see him immediately. Elise confronts Don discreetly that she has given him the gift that keeps on giving, which he refuses to believe. Elise then promptly kills herself, but later Don gets another call from a VD clinic which is treating his wife. After a harrowing visit to a series of "too-far-gone" patients, Don sees the light and agrees to get treatment. But the psychological effect on Joan has different results, and Don must rise to the occasion to save them both. Damaged Lives was initially released in Canada and a few cities in the United States but was stopped by censors in most American towns. In 1937 it was re-released as The Shocking Truth with a 29-minute lecture on VD added onto the end of the film to satisfy censors. Most current video releases do not include this extra material. A week after it opened, a competing domestic version of Damaged Lives also appeared, and with its similar storyline it is often confused with this Canadian film. There is no comparison stylistically, as Edgar G. Ulmer put far more into Damaged Lives than the property and its 18,000-dollar budget deserved. ~ David Lewis, All Movie Guide

Rustler's Roundup was western star Tom Mix's final feature film; only the 1935 serial Mystery Rider remained before Mix bid adios to the movies. Our Tom comes to the aid of heroine Diane Sinclair, who is being victimized by swarthy Noah Beery Jr. Sinclair's dad has been murdered, and Beery Jr., perpetrator of the deed, now wants to get his dirty mitts on her ranch. You can bet that ranch that Mix won't let that happen! Walter Brennan, three years away from stardom, has a bit role. While filming Rustlers' Roundup, Tom Mix suffered an injury which kept the 53-year-old star off-camera for nearly two years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide