Dating Do's and Don'ts

Dating Do's and Don'ts
Directed by	Ted Peshak Gilbert Altschul
Produced by	Coronet Instructional Media
Starring	Jackie Gleason John Lindsay
Distributed by	Coronet Instructional Media
Release date(s)	1949
Running time	13 min
Country	USA
Language	English

Dating Dos and Don'ts is a 1949 instructional film designed for American high schools, to teach adolescents basic dating skills, produced by Coronet Instructional Films and directed by Gilbert Altschul with the assistance of Reuben Hill, Research Professor of Family Life at the University of North Carolina. In this film, the boy is the sole initiator of any contact with the girl, and all arrangements are made under the warm supervision of the family, particularly a matriarchal housewife for a mother.

The film follows a young adolescent boy, Woody, who receives tickets for "one couple" to the Hi Teen Carnival. At different stages in the film, it offers options on how Woody might respond to various situations:

1. What kind of girl should he date?
2. How should he ask her out?
3. How should he say good night after the date is over?

The film then shows three options, for each opportunity, ending with what it deems the most successful. This allows the filmmakers to create an idealized scenario for a perfect first date. Woody is cautioned not to ask a girl out based on her looks as she could be aloof or boring. Instead he should ask a girl who is "fun." He is similarly told to be straightforward and not to insist that his potential date give up some other activity for him. Finally, the film depicts the perceived danger of immediately kissing the girl good night, or of just leaving her at her door, and instead urges the viewers to say a friendly goodbye, ending with a promise to call next week.

As Woody prepares for his date with Anne, he receives hints from his older brother, who is already an expert at dating; for instance, Woody's brother tells Woody to act like his "natural, talkative self" while on the phone, and says that Woody does not have to bring Anne flowers on her first date. He also convinces their mother to allow Woody to go on his first date even though he is young, with her adding that it would be acceptable provided that Woody only dates on weekends and comes home at a reasonable hour. As Woody prepares for his date, his mother and father reflect on their own first dates to remind Woody how important it is for him to show up on time. His mother adds that any girl who is not ready for him on time is not worthy of going out with "my boy."

The film ends with Woody leaving the door outside Anne's home, whistling happily as he contemplates his next date.

Looney Tunes webtoon

There was also a Looney Tunes webtoon that has the same name, starring Bugs Bunny and, the first time in a Looney Tunes short, Lola Bunny. The cartoon begins black and white; a narrator tells the audience how to be a "Mr.Gooddate", showing them how Reggie Gerandevu (Bugs Bunny) does it, he calls Lola Bunny (who doesn't have any quotes in dialogue and only responds by giggling) if she wants go out tonight for carrot juice, Lola giggles in agreement which makes Bugs break the fourth wall by saying that she is a good conversationalist. After Bugs hangs up, Lola gets ready for the date, but her disapproving dad overheard the phone call. Meanwhile, Bugs was trying to get to Lola's house but can't tell if her address number is an eight or a three. The narrator says it's a three and also says there's a perfect shortcut. Bugs thanks the narrator, but he doesn't know that the narrator is actually Lola's dad, trying to lure him away from Lola. Thinking that he's at Lola's house, Bugs is actually at Elmer Fudd's house, Elmer, peeking out the window, tells Bugs to go away. Bugs goes over the fence, triggering Elmer's alarm system, a mechanical hand picks Bugs up and a mechanical shoe kicks him out and he falls onto the street, making him hope that the Warner Bros. Medical Plant cures him. Elmer says that his alarm will teach those "pesky kids" to stay out of his garden. Then, Bugs came to his house, dressed up as a scientist and saying that he's here to recalibrate Elmer's alarm system. Later, the mechanical shoe kicks Elmer multiple times, then a mechanical boxing glove punches him in the face, than a mechanical hand holding a giant mallet smashes him, then he gets kicked by mechanical shoe again, Bugs adjusts the system to "GOOOAAAL!" which makes Elmer get kicked into space. Then Lola's dad says he gave it "the old college try". But then Bugs recognizes Lola in her room. Bugs gets in her room by using a pole vault. When he got in Lola's room, she was gone. Bugs found a note that read "Gone to Paris, see ya sucker. -Lola's Dad". Meanwhile, Lola and her dad were sitting at a table in a French restaurant. Pepe Le` Pew brings in a platter with a lid on it, when he removes the lid, what was under it was Bugs. Lola, excited that Bugs was here kisses him. Lola's dad was steaming because his plan didn't work. Bugs then pulls out the remote to Elmer's alarm system, adjusting it to "Heads Up!", which makes Elmer get punched back to Earth and land right on top of Lola's dad. Lola then kisses Bugs multiple times then the cartoon closes.

See also

• Sex education
• Sexual morality
• Category:Sexual fidelity
• Teenage pregnancy
• Sexual abstinence

External links

• Dating Do's and Don'ts at the Internet Movie Database
• Dating Do's and Don'ts is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

Footnote

¹ Some prescriptive grammarians today would call this spelling incorrect, arguing that the apostrophe denotes a possessive; if the film were made today, the title would probably be Dating Dos and Don'ts. However, "do's" is the more traditional spelling, and was the recommended spelling at the time the film was made. Today, Webster's Dictionary lists either pluralization as acceptable: [1]