User Reviews

I'm kind of surprised actually that a short like this was being made as late as 1961. It looks like something more appropriate for the Thirties or Forties when all manner of so called educational films were being churned out. Turner Classics presented this today under it's 'Underground Film' banner, but it really didn't have anything to do with any kind of controversial subject. The 'trouble' here involved accidents that people ostensibly bring upon themselves by not paying attention to their surroundings. In that light, the three guidelines offered for preventing such situations involved facing your feelings, beware of boredom and watch for danger. All very common sense worthy, but apparently not followed well enough to merit an instructional like this.

The way this was presented though was rather unique. The short utilized a talking mantle clock to jabber the viewer, and was actually quite creepy, making fun of unfortunate victims who fail to follow the advice outlined earlier. It would have been entirely appropriate for the clock to have met an unfortunate accident along the way.

One thing I noted was that the picture was made under the auspices of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Now I don't know if there were a series of these but I happened to remember another TCM offering from a few months ago titled "Mental Hospital" which was also done by the same organization (you can see my review for that one as well). That film originally came out in 1953 and considering it's subject matter was quite professionally done, and showed just how far mental health treatment had progressed even back then. A comparison between the two film shorts leaves "Time Out for Trouble" on the short end of the stick. Not that the information offered wasn't valid, but it sure came across as goofy.

. . . document a decaying boondock backwater stuck in some sort of bumpkin time warp featuring finger-cramping "rotary dial" telephones and apparent floor-cleaning devices requiring the use of tangled electrical cords. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of that stretch of the USA often referred to as "Oklahoma," as revealed in TIME OUT FOR TROUBLE, is the clique of vindictive cat-calling clocks, continually spewing out invective against those members of the household to whom they've taken a dislike. An ugly time piece harbors a particularly vicious grudge here against "Jane Rawson," beleaguered mother of two. Jane exhibits extremely poor judgment (she's married to a bald geezer guy), and her favorite term of endearment is "Let go of me, you big baboon!" Jane believes that her husband and the clock are in cahoots with each other, conspiring together to gang up on her, perhaps as their prelude to strangulation via electrical cords. No wonder tensions are running so high in Oklahoma, as Jane's loser spouse creates TIME OUT FOR TROUBLE by doling out just two beds among his family of four! (Such pervasive stingy bunks policies have given this area the "Oklahoma Sooners" nickname, as grandkids arrive sooner rather than later within families including BOTH sons and daughters!).

. . . nefarious "Sons of the Confederacy" Red States, TIME OUT FOR TROUBLE documents. It seems that this live action short was churned out when most if not all of the shrinks in "Oklahoma" got together to ratify all of the Rules for Living that occupants of their failing region need to know for basic survival. The sum of this backwater's Philosophical underpinnings runs something like this: 1)Face your Feelings, 2)Beware of Boredom and 3)Watch out for Dangerous Situations. Personally, I can see how a True Blue Normal Average Loyal Patriotic Progressive Union Label Working Stiff who got sucked up by a twister and plopped down in Oklahoma would be challenged by Boredom. Furthermore, it's not very hard to imagine that such an unfortunate victim would need to Watch out for Dangerous Situations, which would pretty much encompass their EVERY waking moment (and doubtless their sleeping rest time, if any). However, it's pretty hard to see how they would actually gain anything by trying to face their feelings of despair, helplessness and foreboding sense of imminent doom!

This was the funniest short I have seen in some time. It was so funny when the grease monkey broke his hand. When the mother tripped on the cord, I wished her kids would have shot her, just to put her out of her misery.