Immunization – Passport to Health (1944)

The film titled “Passport to Health” emphasizes the critical importance of immunization in safeguarding the health and future of children. It underscores that children embody the joy, hope, and dreams of a nation, and thus, protecting their health is paramount.

The narrative is centered around a physician educating a new staff member, Miss King, about the significance of maintaining up-to-date immunization records for children. Through conversations with parents and interactions with children in his office, the doctor highlights how immunizations protect against serious diseases like smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and scarlet fever.

The film addresses common misconceptions and hesitations some parents have about immunizations, such as the unfounded belief that experiencing diseases naturally makes children stronger. The doctor counters these misconceptions by explaining the severe risks and potential lifelong complications associated with these diseases. He stresses that vaccines and other immunizing agents act as “catalysts” that prepare the body’s immune system to fight diseases effectively before they can cause harm.

A key moment in the film involves a conversation between the doctor and a father, Mr. Brown, who is concerned about ensuring his daughter Dorothy is fully immunized before starting school. This interaction highlights the role of parents in collaborating with healthcare providers to keep their children healthy.

The film concludes with a poignant scene where a child, Dorothy, learns about the importance of vaccinations in a simplistic and reassuring manner, emphasizing the role of immunization as a preventive tool that grants children a “passport to health.” The narrative calls for a collective effort to increase immunization coverage to prevent needless suffering and ensure a healthier future for all children.

Sharp & Dohme presents “A Passport to Health” A dramatic new sound film showing how to free America’s children from preventable diseases • Dorothy asks her good friend, Dr. Benson, to also give her doll “before” medicine for protection against smallpox, diphtheria and whooping cough. • A recent nation-wide survey by Elmo Roper showed a widespread failure by American mothers to have their children immunized against preventable contagious diseases. HERE is a film which meets one of today’s most crucial needs — the education of parents on the benefits of immunization. “A Passport to Health” warns parents against the idea that it is better for children to “catch a disease and get it over with.” It points out that the death rate from children’s diseases is high; and after-effects are often more lasting than the disease. Whooping cough, for example, which many parents think is “no cause for worry,” has a death rate nearly twenty times as high as diphtheria among infants under one year. The movie weaves the information about immunization into the human story of a typical American family. Cast of Leading Broadway Players Philip Ober, the father in “Junior Miss” — Frances Reid, Alexander Hamilton’s wife in “The Patriot” — and 5-year-old Patricia Brady, delightful little radio favorite— head the sparkling professional cast of “A Passport to Health.” This splendid educational film, reviewed by The United States Public Health Service, is creating widespread attention and interest among health and educational authorities. You, as an educator, have a special obligation to your community to help bring about more general immunization. Right now— as school opens — is the psychological opportunity to interest parents in immunization. Show “A Passport to Health” at your school. Ideal for P.T.A. meetings.

We digitized and uploaded this film from the A/V Geeks 16mm Archive. Email us at footage@avgeeks.com if you have questions about the footage and are interested in using it in your project.