The Joy of Sex Education (2008)
British Film Institute

Description

From the impenetrably euphemistic to the breathtakingly explicit, this intriguing anthology takes us through 60 years of sex education in Britain from the 1910s to the 1970s. All 'unmentionable matters' pertaining to sex are dealt with, from the WW1 warning to soldiers about the dangers of cavorting with loose women in London's West End, Whatsoever a Man Soweth (1917), to puberty pep-talks for girls on how to avoid pregnancy in Don't Be Like Brenda (1973).

Whatsoever a Man Soweth (1917)
A warning to WW1 soldiers about the perils of fraternising with loose women.

Maisie's Marriage - aka Married Love (1923)
Maisie learns about birth control in this drama based on the book by Marie Stopes.

Deferred Payment (1929)
A turbulent tale of seamen and syphilis.

The Irresponsibles (1929)
Careless women share nasty diseases with their loved ones.

The Mystery of Marriage (1932)
Birds, bees and bunnies show us how it's done.

How To Tell (1935)
Childern learn the facts of life.

Six Little Jungle Boys (1945)
Six men go off to war, but one is tempted by the sensual pleasures of the East...

The People at No.19 (1949)
Joan from No.19 gets an unpleasant shock.

Growing Girls (1951)
Mary learns how to survive puberty in this film made to show at girls' schools.

Don't Be Like Brenda! (1973)
Oh, Brenda! She behaved foolishly. And now she's suffering the consequences.

Collected reviews and ratings

10 The Guardian | Peter Bradshaw

There can't be many new DVD releases of short film anthologies which are unstintingly riveting all the way through. But here's one. For the past couple of days, I have been glued to the BFI's incredible collection The Joy of Sex Education,
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8.0 Amazon (UK) user reviews

For a country that supposedly is stiff-upped-lipped in the Trousers Department, we seem to like it a Hell of a lot. Which is why the noble BFI's latest presentation of archival material for the masses will undoubtedly be popular.
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8.0 Telegraph.co.uk | Kate Devlin

An analysis of the mating habits of sticklebacks and a father explaining "babies - oh you find them in the cabbage patch" are among the techniques used to teach the facts of life in the earliest sex education films, a new collection shows.
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8.0 The Independent | Andy McSmith

The 1932 production The Mystery of Marriage is a joyous romp through the marital arrangements of plants, insects, birds, mammals, and humans. There is a vague hint that there is something these couples do that produces children which, when humans do it too, seems to involve a walk in the fresh air, a kiss near a haystack, followed by a meeting with an estate agent ...
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