Test Tube Babies  (1948)

Theatrical Release Information:
Test Tube Babies

One of the singular joys of filmgoing in the 1940s was to lie about one's age and attend one of those "for adults only" extravaganzas. In the tradition of Reefer Madness and Cocaine Fiends, Test Tube Babies was released on a theatre-by-theatre basis by clever entrepreneurs who stressed the film's "educational" aspects. This they did by including a real, live "authority" on the subject to field questions from the audience, and by dispensing tie-in pamphlets (at a dollar each). The film touches upon the then-controversial topic of artificial insemination. While the documentary footage is passable, the dramatized sequences are a step or two below dinner-theater quality. The one recognizable "star" is Timothy Farrell, the mustachioed leading man of such deathless exploitationers as Pin Down Girls. In 1967, Test Tube Babies was reissued (with new scenes added) as The Pill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide