Mental hygiene films were a staple in American schools over the 25 years following World War II. “Students of all ages were forced to watch these earnest but bizarre short films, which apprised them of such things as the folly of playing on steep precipices overlooking the ocean, the need to minimize one’s square-dancing during the early days of the menstrual cycle, the inadvisability of shooting heroin before an important track meet and the necessity of placing the fork to the left of the plate.” New York’s American Museum of the Moving Image resurrects some of the classics. – New York Times 01/20/00