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I Accuse My Parents

 I Accuse My Parents
type
TVTItem
 I Accuse My Parents
label
I Accuse My Parents
 I Accuse My Parents
page
IAccuseMyParents
 I Accuse My Parents
comment
I Accuse My Parents is an American film from 1944 about youth delinquency, directed by Sam Newfield, and starring Robert Lowell and Mary Beth Hughes.James "Jimmy" Wilson (Lowell) is an all-American 25 year old man teenage boy living in typical 1940s suburbia. He's a nice kid and even won the big essay contest at school... oh, and his parents like to drink, party and gamble.Being a 40s pseudo-propaganda film, this pretty much ensures Jimmy will fall into a pit of debauchery and crime, and indeed he does in short order. Almost immediately upon meeting a pretty lounge singer named Kitty Reed (Hughes), Jimmy is hired by her boyfriend, mobster kingpin Charlie Blake. After running a few errands for Blake, stupidly never suspecting that his boss — a "money man" who asks him to deliver vaguely defined "packages" at odd hours while insisting that he doesn't tell anyone else about it — is a criminal (or that he's even Kitty's boyfriend, as Jimmy starts dating her) Jimmy eventually figures out the truth and goes on the run, then later accidentally kills Blake in a scuffle.Eventually, Jimmy is put on trial for manslaughter, but it all works out because the judge lightens Jimmy's sentence after the kid places the blame on his oblivious folks... Yeah, we're not sure how that worked, either.Kitty's three songs, written by the future Oscar-winning team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, are surprisingly catchy. One suspects that the film was more of a vehicle for the music than the Aesop.For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, please go to the episode recap page.
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 I Accuse My Parents
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DBTropes
 I Accuse My Parents / int_1779f10e
type
"Well Done, Son" Guy
 I Accuse My Parents / int_1779f10e
comment
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Both of Jimmy's parents barely pay any attention to him, but his father especially. Jimmy's father does congratulate him for winning the essay contest... but in a way that's so casual it comes across as more dismissive than congratulatory. Notably, Dad doesn't even give his son time to explain what he's being congratulated for before simply telling him "that's swell", giving him some money, and taking off.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_18d15922
type
Title Drop
 I Accuse My Parents / int_18d15922
comment
Title Drop: Very early in the film, when explaining his actions to the court, Jimmy uses the title.
 I Accuse My Parents / int_18d15922
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_1f07a8bd
type
Who's Watching the Store?
 I Accuse My Parents / int_1f07a8bd
comment
Who's Watching the Store?: Jimmy and the Cafe owner — the entire known staff of the cafe — drop everything to take Jimmy back home. If the Travel Montage is to be trusted it's quite a ways, too.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_24321e44
type
Only Sane Man
 I Accuse My Parents / int_24321e44
comment
Only Sane Man: Again, Al, who convinces Jimmy to turn himself in and talk with Kitty.
 I Accuse My Parents / int_24321e44
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I Accuse My Parents / int_24321e44
 I Accuse My Parents / int_2d8da79
type
Clueless Aesop
 I Accuse My Parents / int_2d8da79
comment
Clueless Aesop: Teaching parents to pay more attention to their kids than their booze? Not a bad idea. Teaching them to do so by showing a young man time and again making completely stupid decisions to the point where he goes on the run from the mob and gets charged for manslaughter... despite none of that having anything to do with his drunk parents? Sure, maybe if they'd paid more attention to him, he might not have gotten away with all those choices, but Jimmy makes so many stupid decisions that it's hard to believe bad parenting alone was the problem. The dedication at the end says that the movie was sent to entertain the Yanks with Tanks overseas (it was 1944). Let's see: a film where a kid goes completely off the rails due to his parent's absence is shown to a large group of young forced-to-be-absent fathers, some of whom might never come home. Brilliant!
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_334b7f3a
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Cryptic Background Reference
 I Accuse My Parents / int_334b7f3a
comment
Cryptic Background Reference: Jimmy's mom enthuses about plans to party at "Jack Taylor's at the beach for the weekend", as though we're supposed to know who Jack Taylor is and what his beach place is like.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_373e2b9f
type
Murder the Hypotenuse
 I Accuse My Parents / int_373e2b9f
comment
Murder the Hypotenuse: Blake straight up tells Kitty that he will do this to Jimmy, and hides in the closet with a weapon while she breaks up with the boy.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_3ec18c6f
type
Sherlock Scan
 I Accuse My Parents / int_3ec18c6f
comment
Sherlock Scan: The diner cook is sharp enough to deduce, from the moment Jimmy enters the diner, that he intends to rob the place. He is also observant enough to realize that Jimmy doesn't really want to do this.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_40bb59d0
type
Blatant Lies
 I Accuse My Parents / int_40bb59d0
comment
Blatant Lies: Perhaps not to the other characters, but Jimmy's description of his home life to other people certainly comes across as this to the viewer.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_4814d132
type
Big Fancy House
 I Accuse My Parents / int_4814d132
comment
Big Fancy House: Jimmy's house is very nice. Understandably, as his family is obviously well-off.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_51a24979
type
The Freelance Shame Squad
 I Accuse My Parents / int_51a24979
comment
The Freelance Shame Squad: Jimmy's classmates after his mother shows up drunk to Parents' Day.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_53224e46
type
Bookends
 I Accuse My Parents / int_53224e46
comment
Bookends: The flashback which comprises almost the entirety of the film begins and ends with a conspicuous Title Drop.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_5ad80bf8
type
It's All My Fault
 I Accuse My Parents / int_5ad80bf8
comment
It's All My Fault: A scene cut from MST3K has Kitty blaming herself for Jimmy's problems, as she foolishly introduced him to Blake.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_6aab3ca0
type
Shockingly Expensive Bill
 I Accuse My Parents / int_6aab3ca0
comment
Shockingly Expensive Bill: Jimmy gets served one when he's at the restaurant (equal to nearly $1,300 in 2022 money, which is three week's salary at his day job). Luckily for him, Blake agrees to let Jimmy pay him back while he works for him.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_7286e96d
type
Idiot Ball
 I Accuse My Parents / int_7286e96d
comment
Idiot Ball: Jimmy runs with it for most of the story. It takes Jimmy a worryingly long time to realize that the guy paying him an unusually high salary to deliver unspecified "packages", mostly late at night, while insisting he keeps these courier activities a secret, might be up to something illegal. The penny first drops once Blake makes Jimmy the getaway driver for a robbery, and then it is only because the robbery ends up going wrong and Jimmy happens to hear the shootout between Blake's goons and the watchman. The last act wouldn't have happened if Jimmy had just gone to the police earlier, as they'd likely be glad to trade immunity for a low-grade courier in exchange for testimony to put two high-level mob members who'd just committed murder away and possibly get their boss as well. Also, the fight in which Jimmy accidentally kills Blake wouldn't have happened if he'd just stayed away and let the police do their jobs instead of confronting him personally. Most of Jimmy's mistakes are the result of being oblivious to what's actually going on, but these are just simple stupidity.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_80251be3
type
How We Got Here
 I Accuse My Parents / int_80251be3
comment
How We Got Here: The film opens with the tail end of Jimmy's trial before delving into the flashback.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_8071d6ed
type
Alcoholic Parent
 I Accuse My Parents / int_8071d6ed
comment
Alcoholic Parent: Jimmy's parents, especially his mom.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_8391b1c7
type
Artistic License – Law
 I Accuse My Parents / int_8391b1c7
comment
Artistic License – Law: In the opening scene, the judge chides Jimmy for not speaking in his defense and threatens him with a guilty verdict unless he does so. In reality, it's perfectly normal for the accused to maintain their right to remain silent throughout a trial, and doing so is not considered to imply guilt. Any testimony that Jimmy offered after being threatened by the judge would be considered under duress, and therefore would be grounds for any guilty verdict to be overturned. Given what we see in the ending, the judge may have thought that Jimmy was clearly innocent and been indirectly chiding him for wasting the court's time by not offering up testimony that would exonerate himself, but if the state's case were really that weak, it would likely have simply been dismissed. The ending seemingly implies that Jimmy is ruled innocent of manslaughter on the grounds that his parents weren't very nice to him. Presumably this is just the result of sloppy writing, and the actual intention was that Jimmy's account gave the judge enough evidence to conclude that Blake's death was an act of justifiable self-defense... although even that's shaky at best, considering the fight would never have happened to begin with if Jimmy hadn't needlessly confronted him.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_898266d8
type
Travel Montage
 I Accuse My Parents / int_898266d8
comment
Travel Montage: When Jimmy runs away.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_95b7c400
type
Faux Affably Evil
 I Accuse My Parents / int_95b7c400
comment
Faux Affably Evil: Blake. Even if it's pretty obvious from the beginning that he's a criminal taking advantage of Jimmy's naivety to induct him into the world of organized crime, he does seem legitimately friendly and jocular in his dealing with the boy... until later on when he straight up threatens to Murder the Hypotenuse when Jimmy gets too close to Kitty (and this after him specifically ordering Kitty to get close to Jimmy), puts out a hit on Jimmy after a job goes bad (and after promising he'd protect Jimmy), and then tries to kill Jimmy himself in the finale which leads to him accidentally shooting himself.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_9cbf01d6
type
Stay in the Kitchen
 I Accuse My Parents / int_9cbf01d6
comment
Stay in the Kitchen: Jimmy's idealized descriptions of his home life (especially in his winning essay) certainly seem to imply that he'd prefer his drunk mom to do this.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_a82ff02f
type
Meet Cute
 I Accuse My Parents / int_a82ff02f
comment
Meet Cute: Of the most obvious sort in a shoe store between Jimmy and Kitty, complete with amused bystander.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_ac69f953
type
Lyrical Shoehorn
 I Accuse My Parents / int_ac69f953
comment
Lyrical Shoehorn: Happens once or twice in Kitty's songs.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_b11ac9f5
type
Abusive Parents
 I Accuse My Parents / int_b11ac9f5
comment
Abusive Parents: Unintentionally downplayed. Jimmy's mother drinks, his father gambles and also drinks, and they're both constantly arguing in front of their son. And they are also neglectful to Jimmy most of the time due to rarely being home. But when they actually are around to interact with Jimmy, they are always unfailingly nice to him. They never hit or yell at him, and they make sure he's provided for, even if they mostly ignore him. Even their worst fights with each other never manage to go beyond harsh words. It's certainly not an ideal family but there's still plenty of real-life victims of parental abuse who would gladly trade their parents for Jimmy's.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_bc6c6c90
type
Drop-In Character
 I Accuse My Parents / int_bc6c6c90
comment
Drop-In Character: Shirley. She just occasionally shows up at the Wilsons' house, with no explanation for who she is and why she's there, to the point of walking in the front door without knocking. She flirts with Jimmy's father, giving the impression she might be a mistress, but even the full version of the movie leaves her role largely unexplained.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_bdb5c651
type
Real Men Love Jesus
 I Accuse My Parents / int_bdb5c651
comment
Real Men Love Jesus: Third time's the charm for the diner cook. He's perfectly willing to give Jimmy food, lodging, and a job on the sole condition that Jimmy attend church with him on Sundays.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_c4500946
type
Break His Heart to Save Him
 I Accuse My Parents / int_c4500946
comment
Break His Heart to Save Him: Kitty cruelly breaks up with Jimmy to try to protect him from Blake... who is hiding in the closet in the same room, and told her outright that he would murder Jimmy if she didn't.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_c5249b29
type
Nice Guy
 I Accuse My Parents / int_c5249b29
comment
Nice Guy: Al the diner cook. Even though he knew from the start that Jimmy was armed and intended to rob him, he gives the boy free food, takes him in, gives him a paying job, and helps him get his life back on track, all without expecting anything in return.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_c59cfa2e
type
Felony Misdemeanor
 I Accuse My Parents / int_c59cfa2e
comment
Felony Misdemeanor: Jimmy gets a lot of money from his Dadnote which means he has no reason to get a job or get into organized crime to pay for his gifts to Kitty. His mother's public drunkenness is actually kind of mild.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_c868a42a
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Freudian Excuse
 I Accuse My Parents / int_c868a42a
comment
Freudian Excuse: The whole thrust of Jimmy's defense.
 I Accuse My Parents / int_c868a42a
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_ca3a6dbd
type
Informed Ability
 I Accuse My Parents / int_ca3a6dbd
comment
Informed Ability: We only ever hear one sentence of Jimmy's supposedly brilliant essay.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_d148b019
type
Mundane Made Awesome
 I Accuse My Parents / int_d148b019
comment
Mundane Made Awesome: Jimmy winning the essay contest seems to be a pretty big deal. To be fair, it's implied to be a regional or statewide contest.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_d52d28b6
type
Hypocrite
 I Accuse My Parents / int_d52d28b6
comment
Hypocrite: Jimmy spends the entire movie opining about how his parents' neglect has brought him to the point where he's on trial for manslaughter and being an accessory to racketeering. But, when the judge rules that he be remanded into the custody of his parents during his sentence, his reaction is to elatedly embrace them as if he hadn't just spent an hour scapegoating them for his own life choices (surely if his parents are as bad as he claims, he would at least offer some kind of vague protest asking for another form of punishment).
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_ebb900a7
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Resignations Not Accepted
 I Accuse My Parents / int_ebb900a7
comment
Resignations Not Accepted: Invoked by Blake when Jimmy threatens to quit.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_f23ad6de
type
Food Porn
 I Accuse My Parents / int_f23ad6de
comment
Food Porn: The cafe owner lays his description of his juicy hamburger sandwich on pretty thick to the obviously hungry Jimmy.
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 I Accuse My Parents / int_fdb3b2b5
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Lady Drunk
 I Accuse My Parents / int_fdb3b2b5
comment
Lady Drunk: Jimmy's mother.
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I Accuse My Parents

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 I Accuse My Parents
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Alcoholic Parent / int_9d19dec8
 I Accuse My Parents
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Clueless Aesop / int_9d19dec8
 I Accuse My Parents
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Don't Shoot the Message / int_9d19dec8
 I Accuse My Parents
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I Accuse My Parents
 I Accuse My Parents
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Shockingly Expensive Bill / int_9d19dec8
 I Accuse My Parents
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The Freelance Shame Squad / int_9d19dec8