Why Study Industrial Arts? (1956) User Reviews

you too can be a tool obsessed psycho

[movieman_kev · 3/10 · 13 June 2005]

This short teaches the merits of, what else? Yup Industrial arts. It has a creepy kid who likes those tools a tad more than a normal sane person would and a coach (Chuck Lacey,who did a great many of these 'educational' shorts) who agrees that that stop would never be useful to him, but how he respects that he learned it none the less. MST3K mocked this short unmercifully of course and it was among the funniest ribbing of a short I've seen from the show. Bought a big smile too my face. This short can be found on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume 1 before the film "The Skydivers" (episode 125)

Normal short grade: D

MST grade: A+

Plodding But Well Paced

[boblipton · 4/10 · 2 October 2020]

Here's another of the many films that firms like Coronet and Centron made to be shown in school. This one tells you why you should take what we used to call 'Shop', where you learned to operate a saw without cutting your fingers off.

Herk Harvey directed this one, and it's a well edited effort, with good composition and movement. The players deliver their lines in a a manner that sounds like they're depressed, but perhaps it's the thought that they're going to wind up working in the manual trades.

Although his IMDb trivia pages clams he directed more than 400 industrial films, THe credits on his main page list about 50. He directed his one feature, CARNIVAL OF SOULS on a vacation, then returned to work at Centron. He died in 1996 at the age of 71.

Quick Compare this to Carnival of Souls...

[kilgore2345 · 4/10 · 31 March 2004]

Wow! Having never taken a shop class, I am happy that I never considered it. Actually, I cannot remember anyone from High School who did take shop -- except for Sheephead in the back of the bus, but he dropped out. You would think that if you were making a filmstrip about why you should take a string of classes that offers ridicule, that you would make your spokesman some what attractive and less dweeby (I used the word spokesman, because everyone knows that girls should not take shop classes, that's why schools offer home economics). The guy with glasses is not only slightly repulsive, but definitely learned the fine art of acting from shop teacher Bow Tie.

Given that the Mystery Science version was funny, this short is so out- moded that it is a hoot nonetheless.

"Because you're bad at Math . . .?" *spoilers*

[Hancock_the_Superb · 28 June 2003]

Agonizingly bad short about why you should've taken Industrial Arts if you lived forty-seven years ago. Horrible dialogue (that creepy kid's opening monologue . . . *shudders* I HOPE there aren't real people like that) and bad acting (though since it's an "educational" short I can kinda understand), though at least it does give good reasons for taking this class. (I myself absolutely hated shop class, but I do agree with the film that it has practical applications.) Burnt to a blackened crisp by MST3K; one of their finest outings.

"I love the smell and the feel of fresh wood shavings . . ." "SO I PUT THEM IN MY UNDERWEAR!"

Four stars for the short; ten+++ for the MST3K version.

Fresh wood chips should not be this appealing

[ticklemetorgo · 1/10 · 15 August 2005]

Herk Harvey and Centron bring us another little instructional piece of fantasy, this time regarding shop class. A bespectacled young man (who looks likes my dad when he was in high school) discusses with his Mickey Mouse-eared friend on why he loves shop class. He narrates about his fantasy through the short, including his career discussion with his shop teacher, who does not resemble any shop teacher I ever had in high school. Anyway the discussion leads to another discussion about shop with the basketball coach, who states that shop never helped him, yet it did since he now has a ready made hobby of building giant recipe card boxes.

MST has a field day with this short, I would think 95-100% of anything put out by Centron would be great material for the gang from Best Brains.

Why study them? So that Mike, Servo and Crow can make fun of them!

[lee_eisenberg · 1/10 · 27 September 2005]

How in the name of anything holy can "Why Study Industrial Arts?" claim to be an educational film?! If this is education, then I'd rather be an idiot! Actually, this movie could have only been created by an idiot. The only reason that it's even worth talking about is because "MST3K" once showed this drudgery. As you might imagine, Mike, Servo and Crow had plenty of funny comments.

If I ever make an educational film, it will be a promotion of vegetarianism. Here's the plot: in 1950s suburban America, mom and dad are trying to feed little Jimmy meat. Jimmy breaks out into a song (to the tune of "U Can't Touch This") about why he chooses to be a vegetarian. Yeah, that's my kind of educational film.

Almost enough to make you want to never study IA.

[icehole4 · 1/10 · 11 April 2002]

Ah, what is it about Centron productions that make them stink so much? This short basically tells young men that if they don't take industrial arts courses, they'll not have the tools to have a full and rewarding life. It has a LOT of bad acting, stupid plotlines and really doesn't do the job of convincing young men (note I say young men: seems that back when this was made, it wasn't all right for young women to do this.) to take industrial arts courses.

Okay 50s

[kkmwills · 4/10 · 7 August 2022]

The shorts premise ( study Industrial Arts to help you in the future) is a fair one. Being made in the Fifties, of course women aren't encouraged to study them.

The basics of using tools and knowing the differences in quality goods in that sector seem to be a good thing. Being able to repair or make things you want/need seems to be a great skill set for *anybody*.

Sadly,industrial arts are still given short-shrift as careers, generally. Even today. (See: for-profit "vocational schools")

The info was given relatively painlessly and it was a short that lived up to that designation.

We'll need actors, people who can...read lines and...interact with others

[tlseigl · 10/10 · 2 August 2006]

This has to be one of the worst educational films I've ever run across, which of course makes it perfect for Mike and the 'bots.

SPOILER ALERT We open on a depressing scene, young men engaged in the futile attempt to make sturdy and efficient furniture. The focus of our story is seen sanding or polishing his latest creation ("it's for the Grand Wizard"). He then proceeds to daydream (while obviously polishing or sanding the wood down to nothing) about the professions open to him if he pursues industrial arts (all of which are equally depressing). Over the course of the film, he tries to convince his friend, a taxicab with its doors wide open, about the merits of taking IA. He cites his mentor, the stiff shop teacher, and gets backed up by the coach ("boys...hey, boys!"). In the end, Big Ears grabs our hero in an uncomfortable way, and we are left with the knowledge that Industrial Arts is the path to a dull and pointless existence.

In Mike and the 'bots' hands, of course, the film transcends its crappy premise (and thus the ten-star rating). There's at least a half-dozen zingers in their commentary. This is a gem from the shorts legacy.

So why study industrial arts? Because one day you might need to keep your house from sliding downhill, or to construct a desk-set for the local Klan leader. Why else?

Out of context? I think not.

[robdahlgren0506 · 6/10 · 6 August 2006]

OK, let's get real. Nobody has seen this outside of MST3K because no one else would show it. The earlier comment that this movie may have been taken out of context is ridiculous. The fact is that it is a typical low budget Centron film. However, I don't think most of the people offering reviews are being completely fair. In general, I really like this film. It points out reasons for taking industrial arts classes that I never thought of before. This is the entire point of the film, so I'd have to say mission accomplished. The acting is mediocre, but given the budget these kinds of films had to work with, it's understandable. I think the part of the coach was well cast (he looks like a Basketball coach). My main complaint about the movie is the kid's tool fetish during the opening monologue. I think that was poorly scripted, even taking budget into account. Some MST3K movies are completely unwatchable without Mike, Joe and the bots (Manos hands of fate and The Pod People come to mind). Others stand on their own (Plan 9 from outer space, The head that wouldn't die). To say that Best Brains edited for content is absurd. I'm sure things were chopped down a bit to fit in the allocated space, but I have seen several movies in both versions and have not noticed any significant difference between them.

MST3000 Fans, Oh My!

[dhberry · 10/10 · 21 September 2005]

I haven't seen this particular short, but I couldn't help but notice how everyone mentions the MST3000 episode this appeared in. Apparently it never occurred to anyone that you guys weren't it's intended audience and that it was taken entirely out of context? I have no doubt it's cheesy as all heck, and probably somewhat offensive, but it's an ultra low budget educational film under absolutely no pretense of being high art. Harvey and Centron made thousands of them, it was a living for them. If you REALLY want to criticize a Herk Harvey film, why not write about his Carnival of Souls, the only movie of his he specifically filmed for wide release, and one of the all time classic atmospheric horror movies? MST3000 was a very very funny show, precisely because it would take a movie out of context, in some cases edit the movie extensively, and then exploit any incongruities and flaws that turned up in the process. That isn't a bad thing since they were witty enough for it to almost always work, but unfortunately a large number of the fans come away from the show NOT remembering the lack of context, NOT noticing the tremendous edits, and worst of all, NOT coming away with the LOVE for these movies that it's pretty obvious most of the people working on the show shared. Which results in a handful of people posting sneering critiques of the one industrial/education film that happened to end up on MST3000, ignoring the THOUSANDS of similar films and their original purpose, not realizing that they're the ones that are out of context here, not this short.

IMDb doesn't allow the posting of URLs in reviews, but if you go to the Internet Archive's Prelinger Archive, they have a whole selection of Harvey's industrial/educational shorts, as well as Carnival of Souls, available for download (since they are all in the public domain).