Wrong Rut/Birthright

Two vintage, bizarre 1950s cult movies are collected here. THE WRONG RUT, Ida Lupino's uncredited directorial debut, follows a naïve young woman who becomes pregnant, is abandoned by the father, gives the child up for adoption, and then, grief-stricken, steals another woman's baby. Though originally serious and empathetic, the film was sexed up in editing to make it more commercial; the result is somewhat jarring, but certainly entertaining. Similarly, BIRTHRIGHT--the tale of a farmer who gives his wife an STD after a one-night affair--began life as an educational movie about the dangers of STDs, but the distributor couldn't resist adding nudity (and then-risqué footage of a baby being born) to interest the drive-in crowd.