to be a Man

For centuries, parents have struggled to usher their children through the magical, often treacherous, journey to adulthood. But in mid-century America, a new form of tutelage was engineered: the classroom film. Suddenly, the prickly issues of sexual development and juvenile delinquency could be addressed in tidy, ten-minute sermons disguised as dramas. To deal with the subtleties of behavior and the importance of fitting in, "social guidance" films were made on such topics as coping with failure (Planning For Success) and teasing (The Other Fellow's Feelings).

A teenaged tomboy, tired of being bossed around by her strict guardian, impersonates a man so she can have more fun, but discovers that being the opposite sex isn't as easy as she had hoped.

Often I utter these words, for they give me courage to endure the emotions I have found myself engulfed in. Ownership of these feelings have birthed truths that may not have lived beyond the fantasy of my denial.

He would be forgotten several decades later, but in the middle '60s Len Chandler was a reasonably well-known socially conscious folk singer/songwriter. Produced by the estimable John Hammond, his Columbia debut was commendably earnest and goodhearted New York 1960s folk.