Mainline To Nowhere
Original release: Spoken Arts, Inc (box set with 4 cassettes, 4 filmstrips,
and board-game), 1972
Written by: Joan David
Director: Paul Kresh
Producer: Arthur Luce Klein
Additional credits: see box scan
Actors: Francis Sternhagen, Thomas Carlin, and others
Comments: Now here's an item to crack your
friends up with! "Mainline To Nowhere" is an almost
exhibition-worthy package of misguided teenage advise, the piece de
resistance being a priceless board-game helping to steer you away from drugs
and towards more wholesome activities. Despite the nice design and glossy,
thick texture the "Choose" game isn't very imaginative, but some
righteous acapulco gold should turn your session into a
laugh-riot.
Only a midsize scan and some samples of "Choose" cards are
provided here; e-mail me if you want a full-size scan on which to play. The box-set
generously provides a dice and some pieces to play with.
Apart from the game, the
audio-visual contents offer "4 views of the drug scene", which
turns out to be 4 case histories with 10-minute filmstrips and accompanying
audio cassettes. The highlight is perhaps "A Boy Named Johnny
Jones", a bizarre scenario wherein a number of different drugs --
represented by human voices -- are put on trial, in which each of the drugs
has to answer for how they screwed young Johnny Jones up.
Each drug has a typical voice and musical signature to represent it, and for
some reason several of them have a jazzy, black feel to them. "Benny
Benzedrine" is cool, Mr Amphetamine is really wired up, while
"Barbiturate" is close to falling asleep during his testimony.
"LSD" speaks in a cultured, aloof, British way, like John Lithgow
doing a vicious parody of Aldous Huxley. There's sound effects, crude
incidental free-jazz music and panicky screaming, and it's all quite out of
the ordinary.
The other three programs (dealing mainly with heroin, pills,
etc) are pretty screwy too, with entertainment value added by the energetic
acting and complex storylines. It's ambitious and probably too
abstract and involved to have communicated well with bored high school kids. An interesting side-note is that one of the main actors is Francis
Sternhagen, a familiar face after her extensive work on TV and
Hollywood movies. "Mainline To Nowhere" is probably not
highlighted in her resumé.
The usual teacher's manual is included for each of the four
programs, including some funny suggestions on how the students could
activate themselves with role-playing and discussion. Click the scans below.
"Messing with drugs is a
bummer!"
©
Patrick The Lama 2007