Reefer Madness

Starring:Luana Walters, Arthur Gardner, Fay McKenzie, Michael Owen, Dorothy Short, Dorothy Vaughan, Earl Dwire, Fern Emmett, Henry Roquemore, Gay Sheridan, Hudson Faucett, Edwin Johnson, Jack Ingram, Eva McKenzie, Edward Hearn, Harley Wood, Hugh McArthur, Pat Carlyle, Paul Ellis, Dorothy Dehn
Director: Elmer Clifton, Dwain Esper, Louis J. Gasnier
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Description

Stop! Don't light that joint until you watch these three crackpot cannabis classics from the 1930. Get the inside dope on the drug craze, and see what actually happens behind the locked doors of a marijuana party! Reefer turns a good girl into a heroin-selling slut in the delirious, over-the-top non-masterpiece "Marihuana" (1936, 56 min.), from infamous exploitation film pioneer Dwain Esper (Maniac). Then, a clean-cut reporter tries to infiltrate a teenage gang of delinquent potheads in "Assassin of Youth" (1937, 73 min.), only to plunge into a pit of doobie-induced immorality. Plus, as a special bonus, the one and only "Reefer Madness" (1936, 65 min.) as you've never seen it before--digitally transferred from a beautiful 35mm print.

Customer Reviews:

Cinematic proof that smoking grass makes you giggle uncontrollably.......2005-11-12

There are three things you need to know before you launch into this Something Weird triple feature of classic anti-marijuana movies from the 1930s. First, the disc seems to want you to watch "Reefer Madness" first. The menu is the titles of the three movies and the special features link shown through a smoky haze. So here I was wondering why "Reefer Madness" looked exactly like "Marihuana." I eventually figured it out, but it took a moment because the prints that Something Weird came up with to make this DVD do not always have the same title by which the film is best known. So "Reefer Madness" appears under the reissue title "Doped Youth (Victims of Marijuana)" (it was originally called "Tell Your Children"). Finally, you can tell these are anti-drug propaganda films because they all begin with a scroll that tells you just that, otherwise you might think these movies were intended to entertain rather than educate.

"Marihuana" (1936) was the film that shocked me the most, mainly because there was nudity when the girls, high on reefer, decide to go skinny-dipping. I knew these films were all pre-Code, but this was still a surprise. Burma Roberts (Harley Wood) is getting high with her boyfriend, Dick Collier (Hugh McArthur), and while the other girls are out running around naked in the surf she gets pregnant. Dick goes to work for drug dealer Tony Sentello (Pat Carlyle) but gets killed the first day. This forces Burma to give up her baby and become a drug-dealing prostitute known as "Blondie." She ends up taking over the gang and comes up with the bright idea of kidnapping her sister's daughter. After Burma disappeared the sister married into high society, and if you do not see the twist coming at the end of this one you must be high. But notice they use music from "La Traviata" at the end to underscore the tragic ending of this morality play.

I first saw "Assassin of Youth" (1937) on a college campus at a midnight showing. Every time Henrietta Frisbie (Fern Emmett) went by on her little motor scooter we would all start dong the Wicked Witch's theme from "The Wizard of Oz" (it still works). A kid high on weed runs down old Mrs. Barrie and she leaves her fortune to her granddaughter Joan Barrie (Luana Walters), provided she lives a moral life. But Linda Clayton (Fay McKenzie) is next in line for the money, so she and her boyfriend Jack Howard (Michael Owens) plot to get Joan high and/or drunk in public. Henrietta Frisbie is perfectly willing to spread gossip about Joan around town, but fortunately she has "Pop" Brady (Earl Dwire) and reporter Art Brighton (Arthur Gardner). There is just so much comic relief in this movie, provided by the adults in the courtroom scene, that it really is more of a melodrama than an anti-drug film.

"Reefer Madness" (1936) is the "Citizen Kane" of marijuana films for good reason. In the history of camp, the piano player getting high in the closet is as iconic as Scarlett vowing she will never be hungry again. We begin with Dr. Carroll (Josef Forte), principal of the local high school, warning the parents against the dangers of marijuana and telling the story of Bill Harper (Kenneth Craig) and Mary Lane (Dorothy Short). They attend a party at the apartment of Mae Coleman (Thelma White) and Jack Perry (Carleton Young), where joints are being given free to get the teens hooked. Also there are Ralph Wiley (Dave O'Brien), another student who likes Mary, and Blanche (Lillian Miles), a moll, who like Bill. Then Mary's kid brother Jimmy (Warren McCullum) gets hooked on drugs by Blanche and ends up killing someone in a hit-and-run while high. When Bill ends up with Blanche and Ralph attacks Mary, Bill goes after Ralph and during the fight a gun goes off and Mary ends up dead. Bill is innocent but he ends up on trial while the crooks try to cover up what really happened. Justice triumphs in the end, but not before the wages of sin are played out while Dr. Carroll continues to provide stern lectures on the subject.

What makes these movies so laughable is their insistence that smoking grass gives you the giggles. You contrast the wild eyed laughing maniacs of these 1930s films with the stereotypical hippies mellowing out by smoking grass from the 1960s, and no wonder it was so easy to dismiss these films and their warnings on the dangers of weed. It is not too farfetched to watch "Marihuana" and think that if young men associate the drug with women wanting to run around naked they would be trying to get their hands on some demon weed as soon as the movie was over. The commentary track for "Marihuana" has SW guru Mike Vraney interviewing David F. Friedman about this particular type of exploitation film as well as the way Roadshows were done way back then. There are theatrical trailers for "Marihuana," "assassin of Youth," and "Devil Harvest," as well as a marijuana excerpt from "Wages fo Sin." There are a couple of shorts, "Sinister Menace" and the silent "High on the Range," and a Gallery of Drug Scare Exploitation Art featuring Drug Scare Radio-Spot Rarities that are always a joy to check out. Also, check out Vraney's chapter titles for each film. Next on the agenda: "Reefer Madness: The Musical."

Hours of entertainment.......2003-05-20

Making the 1980's cloyingly Just Say No campaigns look decidedly high brow in comparison, these three 1930's gems are critical entertainment values.

Most of the information contained on these films is badly directed and acted (just how far can an anti-drug message be streched before the most supportive audience member looses interest) but the inherent camp value is part of the product.

Were it not for the inevitably dated appearance of the actors and sets, etc...these films would probally be shown in modern school districts across the country. Youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds (but, especially the well-to-do who have both the free time and money) are continuing to abuse drugs, much to the consternation of elected officials from all political parties, who are trying to offer policy solutions to simmilarly anxious parents and community members.

I had first heard about these films in conjunction with an introductory College American History class discussion on political propaganda in the American drug war, and after surviving cheesy special issue sitcom episodes in the early 1980's, figured I had seen everything. Boy was I sorely mistaken.

It is interesting to note the administration of an admitted former cocaine user, himself the father of two girls with highly publicized substance abuse incidents of their own has the United States Goverment once again making commericals specifically targeting pot as one of the most dangerous drugs on the market.

Amazing discovery..........2002-01-29

Just finished the three movies in a row, and there are no regrets! This DVD is fun, and more: there are nice extras including an almost finished crazed strip act, trailers, picture gallery and all, and three flicks well presented. The picture/sound quality is not at all as bad as I suspected, in fact some "quality" classics can be found released in much inferior quality. And the movies... they are great, and if you love the atmosphere of the thirties, these films, especially watched late night, give you the wonderful feeling of really attending a wild party, even without actual reefer involved. Whereas "Marihuana" is really stupid and "Reefer Madness" beautifully overblown, "Assassin of youth" is actually quite grasping. All films involve some pretty people, posh clothes and wild lindyhop. What more to be desired???

It was funny as hell !!! Get it while you can!!!.......2002-01-17

I watched this movie with my friends .... It shows great 1930s acting when facial expressions, the tone of voices, and general setup of the sets were much more important then the stupid special effects we have now. When I watched the actors getting stoned and then acting stoned I could not believe that it was an act! I would highly recommend it to anybody who likes to smoke some funny weed. Oh, by the way it shows you how to pick up chicks by getting them stoned first - I tried it myself and it works great - just like in this movie !

Sorry ladies ...

Spawn of Harry Anslinger..........2001-07-28

In the 1930's, the precursor to today's DEA (FBN-Federal Bureau of Narcotics) was headed by an anti-marijuana fanatic named Harry Anslinger. With the aid of people like William Randolph Hearst, he helped to spread a thick blanket of lies about marijuana. Tales of instantaneous addiction, [...] perversion, listening to jazz music (no kidding!), and general hysteria over the plant resulted in the production of some cheesy, but definately entertaining, movies about the menace of pot. These three stand out, though Reefer Madness is probably the best known, and serve as prime examples of distortion and lies fueled by propaganda. Quite possibly where Drug Czars Bill Bennett and others obtained their information about marijuana.

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