Reefer Madness (1936)

Cautionary tale features a fictionalized take on the use of marijuana. A trio of drug dealers lead innocent teenagers to become addicted to "reefer" cigarettes by holding wild parties with jazz music.

Director:

Louis J. Gasnier (as Louis Gasnier)

Writers:

Lawrence Meade (original story), Arthur Hoerl (screenplay)

Stars:

Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dorothy Short	...	Mary
Kenneth Craig	...	Bill
Lillian Miles	...	Blanche
Dave O'Brien	...	Ralph
Thelma White	...	Mae
Carleton Young	...	Jack
Warren McCollum	...	Jimmy (as Warren McCullom)
Patricia Royale	...	Agnes (as Pat Royale)
Joseph Forte	...	Dr. Carroll (as Josef Forte)
Harry Harvey Jr.	...	Junior

Storyline

Film that relates the story, as told by high school principal Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local high school kids to stop by Mae's apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with this menace are inevitably shattered. One man becomes so addicted to the killer weed that the guilt over framing a teen for murder causes a judge to order him to be committed for life to a mental hospital. Dr. Carroll closes by advising us to not incur the same tragedy.

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Plot Keywords:

juvenile delinquent | suicide | nonlinear timeline | drugs | montage | 

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Taglines:

Sin - degradation - vice - insanity!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dope Addict

Filming Locations:

Grand National Studios - 7250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

George A. Hirliman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to author John Cocchi in his book "Second Feature", Thelma White told him she was loaned in 1938 from RKO to do the film. According to her, the film was written by a religious group and shot in three weeks.

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Goofs

During the high-speed drive immediately preceding the pedestrian accident, the car passes the same tire shop three times and the same billboard and gas station twice.

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Quotes

Mae: I wish you'd lay off those kids!
Jack: Why don't you get over that "mother complex"?

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Crazy Credits

FOREWORD: The motion picture you are about to witness may startle you. It would not have been possible, otherwise, to sufficiently emphasize the frightful toll of the new drug menace which is destroying the youth of America in alarmingly-increasing numbers. Marihuana is that drug - a violent narcotic - an unspeakable scourge - The Real Public Enemy Number One! Its first effect is sudden, violent, uncontrollable laughter; then come dangerous hallucinations - space expands - time slows down, almost stands still ....fixed ideas come next, conjuring up monstrous extravagances - followed by emotional disturbances, the total inability to direct thoughts, the loss of all power to resist physical emotions... leading finally to acts of shocking violence... ending often in incurable insanity. In picturing its soul-destroying effects no attempt was made to equivocate. The scenes and incidents, while fictionized for the purposes of this story, are based upon actual research into the results of Marihuana addiction. If their stark reality will make you think, will make you aware that something must be done to wipe out this ghastly menace, then the picture will not have failed in its purpose.... Because the dread Marihuana may be reaching forth next for your son or daughter....or yours....or YOURS!

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Alternate Versions

The scene of Hotfinger toking up in the closet at the restaurant, and Mary getting lit by Ralph, were censored from some prints.

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Connections

Featured in I Am Divine (2013)

User Reviews

That's pretty swell...

I doubt that anyone still takes this movie seriously these days but it's funny seeing how people went paranoid about pot in the 30's. There are lots of wildly exaggerated or plain wrong comments and accusations in it. Best among them are that pot is more dangerous than Heroin, it will make you violent and eventually incurably insane.

The film details how smoking pot changes the lives of a couple of all-american teenagers. In fact, they're so clean cut, nice to their parents and just plain perfect that you're actually happy when their lives turn bad. On the way there we see some really funny overacting and the way that middle America thought people behaved after smoking pot. A single puff immediately has you in hysterics, after a couple of minutes it's down to pre-marital sex (hey, that's enough to get me hooked!), followed by a violent paranoia and finally of course, insanity.

The film is fairly standard propaganda stuff and follows the three important propaganda ingredients to a T. It's badly acted, exaggerated in hammering home a couple of points and frightening the uninformed about the fact that no one is safe from this great danger. It is however fairly lengthy for a propaganda movie and it's not as ridiculous as I expected. Although there are some really funny scenes that rightly make this a classic.