Watch out for Mel. There's one like him at every high school across the nation: he's the boy who likes to stir up trouble. He'll lie about the girls he's dated. He'll misrepresent the homework assignments. He'll even try to ruin the Big Game! This strange 'educational' film, produced by textbook company McGraw Hill, doesn't preach, but was clearly intended to provoke thought amongst its adolescent target audience, and it concludes with a giant question mark. It's really a rather dull 12 minutes, however, as there's never any question that ol' Mel is a complete ass, and no attempt is made to cast light on the causes of his problem behavior. The real question is: how do you best cope with this jerk? Ignore him, or have the football team beat the crap out of him? You decide!
9 Reviews
Poor Mel, a lesser villain in the "Discussion Problems in Group Living" series
arthurblock25 June 2009
Mel seems mostly to make trouble for himself, as his pathetic bragging and negative comments about others are more a nuisance to the rest of the school than a source of real woe. He compares very poorly to Frida from "The Gossip", who really knows how to spread distrust, and relishes the havoc that she brings. The discussion questions at the end suggest the possibility that perhaps someone should help Mel to stop being such a jerk, begging the question of why anyone would care. I wonder why there was no question about whether the quarterback should let a friend take stupid chances with his health. Over all, this is not one of the better offerings from Centron. I'm only giving it 5 out of 10 stars for its nostalgia appeal, which it shares with nearly all the entries in this series.
This live-action short examines the dire consequences of a towel shortage . . .
cricket3025 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
. . . in a U.S. High School Boys Locker Room. During the 1800s, America had a "Code of the West" (aka, "Shoot first, reload"). However, when "Knute Rockne" invented football, that immediately morphed into the our current "Code of the Wets." Nearly every guy attending U.S. schools knows better than to mock another dude, especially one who's a gridiron hero. However, it's obvious that the despicable "Mel Stone" is attending his "East High" during an unusual period in which EHS is plumb out of shower towels. This dearth of prep lad "peacekeepers" emboldens Mel to spew his venom non-stop throughout THE TROUBLE MAKER. If East had even ONE shower towel available, Mel could expect the school's football eleven would share it in flicking him until his rear was cherry red (along with several other fruit analogies to boot!). It's likely even "Susan Harper" would be invited to join in on the retribution, since TROUBLE MAKER Mel bad mouths her nearly as much as QB "Dean" and WR "Andy." Surely Today's White House needs a Boys Locker Room--with plenty of towels!!
His Own Worst Enemy
boblipton8 September 2019
Bret Waller is a typical American loudmouth, always bragging about this or that. As a result, no one in his high school likes him, a fact of which he seems to be completely unaware.
The director of this short subject is Herk Hervey. He said of his one feature film, CARNIVAL OF SOULS, which he shot on a two-week vacation: "People ask me why I only made one film. I made over 400!" True enough, but they were short industrial and educational films shot for the Centron Corporation of Lawrence Kansas. That's a far piece down the road from Hollywood.
Having looked at a lot of these "how should you behave" films, this is a good one. On the other hand, since the standard for comparison is the Coronet stuff sold to classrooms, it doesn't have to stretch far to be superior.
The director of this short subject is Herk Hervey. He said of his one feature film, CARNIVAL OF SOULS, which he shot on a two-week vacation: "People ask me why I only made one film. I made over 400!" True enough, but they were short industrial and educational films shot for the Centron Corporation of Lawrence Kansas. That's a far piece down the road from Hollywood.
Having looked at a lot of these "how should you behave" films, this is a good one. On the other hand, since the standard for comparison is the Coronet stuff sold to classrooms, it doesn't have to stretch far to be superior.
Decent Classroom Film
Michael_Elliott23 July 2009
Trouble Maker, The (1957)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Director Harvey is best remembered for his cult classic CARNIVAL OF SOULS but before making that movie he dealt with various subjects as part of the "Discussion Problems in Group Living" series. This one here takes a look at a nerdy boy named Mel who is constantly spreading gossip even though he doesn't ever know the full story to what he's talking about. If you've seen any of the countless "classroom" films out there then you should know what to expect out of this one. This one here is certainly better made than many like it but it still has the ultra low-budget, bad acting and silly sets. One could argue the story itself is rather silly as well as one of the big issues is a football player who stays up past his bedtime of ten o'clock! If you enjoy these types of shorts then you'll certainly want to check this one out but others should beware.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Director Harvey is best remembered for his cult classic CARNIVAL OF SOULS but before making that movie he dealt with various subjects as part of the "Discussion Problems in Group Living" series. This one here takes a look at a nerdy boy named Mel who is constantly spreading gossip even though he doesn't ever know the full story to what he's talking about. If you've seen any of the countless "classroom" films out there then you should know what to expect out of this one. This one here is certainly better made than many like it but it still has the ultra low-budget, bad acting and silly sets. One could argue the story itself is rather silly as well as one of the big issues is a football player who stays up past his bedtime of ten o'clock! If you enjoy these types of shorts then you'll certainly want to check this one out but others should beware.
"In almost every group you find them - the troublemaker".
classicsoncall20 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not familiar with the series this short came from - 'Discussion Problems in Group Living' - but knowing that should leave no one surprised that the scenario presented doesn't have a resolution of it's own. It was apparently intended to stimulate discussion among an intended audience, perhaps a teenage classroom or community service organization.
The premise suggests that virtually every group one might be involved in has one of these gossip prone individuals who either likes to foment trouble or has a need to make one's self the center of attention. Sometimes the information revealed by the individual may be true or insinuated to be true but with an unclear motive; other times the troublemaker is spreading false rumors or outright lies. A startling suggestion near the end of this story was for the discussion group to consider whether the student body affected by gossip monger Mel (Bret Waller) had any culpability for his behavior.
What the presentation suggested to me was that as far back as 1959 when this was made, society was slowly starting to be influenced by the idea that responsibility for one's own actions was about to be challenged by questioning how everyone else was at fault for the miscreant's behavior. It wouldn't take long for lawsuits to crop up that penalized a company for example, with a stiff fine for selling hot coffee that the customer spilled on himself. Further, the presentation clearly illustrated that the future would hold ample opportunity to turn such behavior into a recognized profession, like that of a community organizer.
The premise suggests that virtually every group one might be involved in has one of these gossip prone individuals who either likes to foment trouble or has a need to make one's self the center of attention. Sometimes the information revealed by the individual may be true or insinuated to be true but with an unclear motive; other times the troublemaker is spreading false rumors or outright lies. A startling suggestion near the end of this story was for the discussion group to consider whether the student body affected by gossip monger Mel (Bret Waller) had any culpability for his behavior.
What the presentation suggested to me was that as far back as 1959 when this was made, society was slowly starting to be influenced by the idea that responsibility for one's own actions was about to be challenged by questioning how everyone else was at fault for the miscreant's behavior. It wouldn't take long for lawsuits to crop up that penalized a company for example, with a stiff fine for selling hot coffee that the customer spilled on himself. Further, the presentation clearly illustrated that the future would hold ample opportunity to turn such behavior into a recognized profession, like that of a community organizer.
Open For Discussion
bkoganbing11 September 2010
Usually the only place that you find acting as bad as what we have here is in religious type films. The Troublemaker, shot on a thread, did not have any players who were going to be big stars.
This is a classroom film open for discussion about a kid played by Bret Waller, the only one brave enough to take billing for his role. This kid is a misfit, lying and tattling on people, trying very hard to aggrandize himself in order to fit in.
We see a few examples of this during the course of the 12 minute short subject and then the plot is left hanging. Presumably the ending is left open for classroom discussion on the topic, how do we salvage someone like Waller and is it worth the effort?
This one wouldn't make it as part of an ABC Afternoon Special.
This is a classroom film open for discussion about a kid played by Bret Waller, the only one brave enough to take billing for his role. This kid is a misfit, lying and tattling on people, trying very hard to aggrandize himself in order to fit in.
We see a few examples of this during the course of the 12 minute short subject and then the plot is left hanging. Presumably the ending is left open for classroom discussion on the topic, how do we salvage someone like Waller and is it worth the effort?
This one wouldn't make it as part of an ABC Afternoon Special.
The Illuminati strikes again
mrdonleone12 October 2019
Limp
dougdoepke11 June 2013
I'm not sure what the educational filmmakers were trying to accomplish in this 12-minute oddity. It's both too short and too unfocused to have impact of any kind. "The troublemaker" is a gossip who snoops on others and then exaggerates what he finds. I guess every school is supposed to have one of these so that the audience can easily relate. Frankly, I don't remember his counterpart in my highschool, but who knows. I was just hoping someone in the film would unload one on the guy in the film. One thing for sure, the film has no answers as to what should be done, just a big question mark. Looks to me like that would have been a much more apt title for the 12-minutes as a whole.
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