Word: guinea
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...psychologists did not attempt to cure the Faculty, however, and none of the Clinic's patients hit the headlines with axe murders. In fact, the new project's combination of therapy, teaching, and research turned out to be a very good one. The students made willing and interested guinea pigs, and the patients--sent to the Clinic by other agencies; the Clinic takes none directly--got the benefit of the staff's newest researches. The Clinic has built up a considerable reputation for its work, which ranged from research in hypnotism to experiments in the psychology of jokes. Since...
...Guinea Pig (Pilgrim Pictures; Variety Film) is a fair example, in a minor key, of a kind of film the British often do superbly: the movie which at once reveres and ribs British types and institutions. At its best, this kind of film, like the novels of Charles Dickens (see BOOKS), is rich in unabashed sentiment and meaty caricature...
...Guinea Pig, the reverence and ribbing are directed at the British public-school system, traditional incubator of British snobs, heroes and statesmen. As part of a program inspired by the labor government, Jack Read (Richard Atten-borough), a kid from the wrong side of the London tracks, is enrolled in one of England's oldest, most snobbish schools. For several reels, while the camera conscientiously explores the virtues and vices of the school system, young Jack gets caned, taunted, snubbed and bullied by his masters and schoolmates. In the end he emerges a successful product of the British public...
Like most films of its breed (e.g., Colonel Blimp), Guinea Pig has an earnest and sometimes moving integrity. Unfortunately, it also has more than its share of sentimentality and smugness, and not enough humor to keep it from sliding into a kind of fatuous self-congratulation. To many U.S. moviegoers, its class-conscious propaganda in favor of British traditions will sound, perhaps wrongly, like so much Martian gobbledygook...
Others of the crew take notes on recalling details like yawning and table-tapping that can be seen around the conference table. When the experiment is over, the investigators draw up a "profile" of their guinea-pig meeting...