Marihuana (I) (1936)

A young girl slowly becomes a dope pusher.

Director:

Dwain Esper

Writer:

Hildegarde Stadie (story)

Stars:

Harley Wood, Hugh McArthur, Pat Carlyle

Cast

Cast overview:
Harley Wood	...	Burma Roberts aka 'Blondie'
Hugh McArthur	...	Dick Collier
Pat Carlyle	...	Nickolas 'Nicki' Romero
Paul Ellis	...	Tony Santello
Dorothy Dehn	...	Elaine Roberts Stewart
Richard Erskine	...	Morgan Stewart
Juanita Fletcher	...	Mrs. Roberts (as Juanita Crosland)
Hal Taggart	...	Burma's Customer's Fiancée
Gloria Browne	...	Gloria, The Child (as Gloria Brown)

Storyline

A young girl named Burma attends a beach party with her boyfriend and after she smokes marijuana with a bunch of other girls, she gets pregnant and another girl drowns while skinny dipping in the ocean. Burma and her boyfriend go to work for the pusher in order to make money so they can get married. However, during a drug deal her boyfriend is killed leaving Burma to fend for herself. Burma then becomes a major narcotics pusher in her own right after giving up her baby for adoption.

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Plot Keywords:

party | drugs | skinny dipping | beach | marijuana | 

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Taglines:

See the truth about the smoke from Hell!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Marihuana, the Devil's Weed

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roadshow Attractions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original trailer for the film included a shot of a girl's leg getting grabbed at the weenie roast, and a close-up of hands clutching for a row of needles. These shots do not appear in the final film.

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Goofs

Sally, the oldest-looking teenager with the dark braided hair, closes the door to the undressing room twice. First when the girls enter, then as they start stripping down.

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Quotes

Burma Roberts: Take it from me, Tony. I'm gonna get enough money to make that sister of mine look like a piker!

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Crazy Credits

FOREWORD: For centuries the world has been aware of the narcotic menace. We have complacently watched Asiatic countries attempt to rid themselves of DRUGS CURSE, and attributed their failure to lack of education. We consider ourselves enlightened, and think that never could we succumb to such a fate. But - did you know that - the use of Marihuana is steadily increasing among the youth of this country? Did you know that - the youthful criminal is our greatest problem today? And that - Marihuana gives the user false courage, and destroys conscience, thereby making crime alluring, smart? That is the price we are paying for our lack of interest in the narcotic situation. This story is drawn from an actual case history on file in the police records of one of our large cities. Note: MARIHUANA, Hashish of the Orient, is commonly distributed as a doped cigarette. Its most terrifying effect is that it fires the user to extreme cruelty and license.

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Connections

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Egmont Overture"
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Played during the opening credits

User Reviews

Quite Unusual

Dwain Esper, the man who makes Ed Wood look like Orson Wells, came out with this movie around 1935 or so. (Judging by the clothing, I'd say it was filmed about a year earlier.) Films like this were made perporting to show the evils of the world but instead showcased rough acting, stilted writing, sparce sets, bad lighting, static camerawork and starlets lifting their skirts and disrobing in doctors offices. More money was spent and more creative energy invested into hyping the films when they played in rural towns with a public eager to see any film that would show them skin and insanity to take the edge off their boring lives.

Harlene Wood gives an uneaven proformance as Burma Roberts, the central character. The other actors, all complete unknowns both then and now, lend even worse acting to their roles as cops, drug addicts, gangsters and teenage girls who look like thirty-five-year-old stag film actresses. The script is also badly written, clearly having been scratched out in a few days time. There are some interesting sets, like the interior of the villains cabin with the stone fireplace and balcony, and some nice camera set-ups, but the filmmakers' megre budget and lack of technical ability is pretty easily discernable throughout.

Personally, I like this film. It's amusing, fairly inventive at times (that scene with the drunk spilling his beer at the beginning), and the scene with the girls stripping down and running around on the beach is still hard to beleave (it's certainly not arousing in the least bit, though). Overall, it's a better film than Tell Your Children (1938), more enjoyable and way more misguided.