Sid Davis, 90; producer of dark, cautionary films for classrooms in '50s, '60s

[Sequoia]

Sid Davis, an educational filmmaker in the 1950s and '60s who specialized in dark, cautionary tales crafted to frighten captive classroom audiences away from even thinking about misbehaving, has died. He was 90.

Davis died of lung cancer Oct. 16 at the Atria Hacienda senior residence in Palm Desert, said his daughter, Jill.

Before John Wayne lent him seed money to start his production company, Davis was best known as Wayne's stand-in on movie sets. But he was inspired to jump into moviemaking when he saw that his 5-year-old daughter did not fully understand his lecture on the importance of avoiding strangers, she recalled.

"The Dangerous Stranger" (1950) was the first of more than 180 short films that Davis made, his daughter said. He became a prime producer of safety and social-guidance films that school boards across the country screened as a form of social engineering. The hope was that children would watch the films and adopt their toe-the-line message, according to experts.

<snip>
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-davis8nov08,0,5462644.story?coll=la-home-obituaries

I remember watching these outdated films in school. We laughed at how long the skirts were on the high school girls with their bobby sox and saddle oxfords, but then wore short shorts when hanging out. We were so forbidden to wear anything above our knees.