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In a little impoverisched village somewhere in the Ozarks, teacher Miss
Carroll (Diana Durrell) tries to make the backwood folks give up their
traditions of child marriage & generally bring progress to the place.
However, by a group of men, led by local badman Jake (Warner Richmond)
who are not liable to give up marrying children she is kidnapped one night as
compensation for her efforts & almost tarred & feathered wouldn't it be
for the timely intervention of good-natured Ira & his friends Happy &
Angelo (Angelo Rossitto). However, Ira tends to be drinking quite a bit,
& when he's drunk, he eventually beats up his wife Flora pretty badly.
& when one night Jake finds Flora passed out from a beating she received
from her hubby, Jake sees his chance to get back at him & slits his throat
but blames it on Flora. at the same time though he promises Flora to get her
out of the situation ... if she lets him marry her teen daughter Jennie
(Shirley Mills), whom he has long laid eyes on. To escape the gallows, Flora
agrees. Freddie, Jennie's boyfriend, now tries everything to prevent the
wedding, he even begs his & her teacher Miss Carroll to intervene ... but
to no avail, the wedding takes place anyhow - just hours before Miss Carroll's
boyfriend, the D.A. Charlie arrives at the village with a law signed by the
gouvernor to abolish child-marriages. For Jennie however it seems too late,
but then (rather out of the blue) Jake, when he is getting ready to deflower
the girl, is shot by Angelo, & Jennie returns into the arms of Freddie. Typical
rural morality play - as they were popular with 1930's roadshow entrepreneurs
(& producer Kroger Babb was arguably the most prominent of them) - that
points its fibnger on a topic in a rather sensationalist manner to squeeze
quite a bit of sleaze out of same subject (so to little surprise, teen-bride
Shirley Mills has a tame almost-nude-scene - which was quite risqué for its
time). However, despite the sleaze, the budgetary limitations (as these
roadshow pictures were usually made on a shoestring) & rather mediocre to
bad acting, Child Bride has a nice look to it thanks to its authentic
outdoor-sets & pittoresque landscapes.
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