Narcotic (1933)

As the opening scroll tells us, Narcotic was "presented in the hope that the public may become aware of the terrific struggle to rid the world of drug addiction." The movie itself is a ... See full summary »

Directors:

Dwain Esper, Vival Sodar't

Writers:

A.J. Karnopp (story), Hildegarde Stadie (screenplay),

Stars:

Harry Cording, Joan Dix, Patricia Farley

Cast

Cast overview:
Harry Cording	...	Dr. William G. Davis
Joan Dix	...	Mrs. Davies
Patricia Farley	...	Mae
Jean Lacy	...	Lena (as Jean Lacey)
J. Stuart Blackton Jr.	...	Gee Wu
Paul Panzer	...	Cashier
Miami Alvarez	...	Drug addict
Charles Bennett	...	Hand wrestler
Josef Swickard	...	Federal narcotics agent

Storyline

As the opening scroll tells us, Narcotic was "presented in the hope that the public may become aware of the terrific struggle to rid the world of drug addiction." The movie itself is a salacious plunge into a world of sordid pleasures. It tells us the story of Dr. William G. Davies, an infamous snake-oil salesman who started his career as a promising medical student. In the opening sequence he saves an unborn baby by performing a cesarean operation after the mother was killed in an automobile accident. Stock medical footage shows a woman's stomach being sliced open like a ripe watermelon and the baby popping out like a jack-in-a-box. But the allure of opium proves too strong for the doctor to resist. After a single night of relaxation in a Chinatown opium den, Davies becomes a slave to drugs. As his medical practice deteriorates, he shifts his attention to "selling medicine by demonstration." He says to his nurse/fiancee, "I can't see anything wrong if my preparation has merit." ...

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Plot Keywords:

party | drug addiction | opium | opium den | opium addict | 

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Taglines:

One night of bliss... A thousand nights of hell..!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Narcotic Racket

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,900 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cameo(Hildegarde Stadie): the film's author appears as an extra, seated in Davies' waiting room.

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Goofs

Scenes set in the early part of the twentieth century feature cars and medical equipment from a later date, as well as conspicuously 1930s hairstyles for the actresses.

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Quotes

Drug addict: Now he's talking about money.
Party Girl: Mmm. The bees and the honey!
Drug addict: Too much talk about large sums of money.

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Connections

Referenced in Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films (2003)

User Reviews

NARCOTIC (Dwain Esper and Vival Sod'art, 1933) BOMB

Of the various low-budget exploitationers of the 1930s, I was only familiar with the similarly drug-related TELL YOUR CHILDREN (1938), better-known by its alternate title REEFER MADNESS – actually produced by Dwain Esper, the co-director of this one and a film-maker whose notorious reputation (for lack of talent) rivals that of Ed Wood himself! Here, then, we ostensibly have the case history (cue exhaustive exposition in the form of title cards) of a doctor who indulged in various types of drugs, starting out with opium (suggested by the stereotypical wise-yet-evil Chinese) but soon progressing to heroin…all of which ends with him losing everything (living in a two-bit dive and eventually turning a gun on himself!). While I was expecting horrific hallucinations or (unintentionally hilarious) hyperbolic reactions resulting from the intake of drugs, all one got is an excess of dull talk which quickly exasperated this viewer long before the film's brief 57 minutes were up! Still, there were at least three scenes which have to be seen to be believed: a chauffeur popping pills while driving gets his car smashed by an oncoming train; the lengthy "drug party" itself with the participants freely sniffing coke and injecting heroin while dancing and bickering amongst themselves; and a completely irrelevant bit (obviously stock footage) of a couple of snakes fighting capped by the victor literally swallowing up the defeated reptile!