Movies - Reefer Madness

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	Movies - Reefer Madness

Reefer Madness, originally titled Tell Your Children, is a 1936 drama film directed by Louis Gasnier, who had well learned the silent era craft of over-acting. Its cast was composed of mostly unknown bit actors. The story was written by Laurence Meade. The plot revolves around the tragic events that follow when high school students are lured by pushers to try "marihuana": a killing, a suicide, a rape, and a descent into madness all ensue.

Tell Your Children was financed by a church group and intended to be shown to parents as a morality tale attempting to teach them about the dangers of cannabis use. Soon after the film was shot, however, it was purchased by notorious exploitation filmmaker Dwain Esper, who took the liberty of cutting in salacious insert shots and slapping on the sexier title of Reefer Madness, before distributing it on the exploitation circuit.

Some sources have also claimed that the film was financed by Harry Anslinger's Federal Bureau of Narcotics, or even by anti-hemp interests such as DuPont or William Randolph Hearst. The claims that Reefer Madness was produced as an exploitation film, thinly veiled as an educational piece to comply with the Hays code are simply untrue. Though it is true that lesser-known films such as Esper's own Marihuana
and Elmer Clifton's Assassin of Youth
were/are exploitation, Reefer Madness is merely a misguided (and highly inaccurate) morality tale. Such education-exploitation films were common in the years following adoption of the Code, and the subject of cannabis was particularly popular in the hysteria surrounding Anslinger's 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.

After a brief run, the film lay forgotten for several decades. There was no concept of after market in those days, especially for films that existed outside the confines of the studio system, and were therefore considered "forbidden fruit." For this reason, neither Esper nor the original filmmakers bothered to copyright the movie, and it eventually fell into the public domain.

In 1971, Reefer Madness was discovered in the Library of Congress archives by NORML founder Keith Stroup, who bought a print for $297, and made it the darling of pot smokers and college campuses. For this modern audience the poor production values and overacting create an uproarious comedy that provides perspective on the current "War on Drugs". Stroup is also responsible for the notion that the film was originally created as a propaganda piece. Distributing Reefer Madness to college campuses of the 1970s helped bankroll the burgeoning film company New Line Cinema. In 1973, the MPAA gave the film a PG rating. Today, Reefer Madness is considered to be a cult classic. Its fans enjoy the film for the same unintentionally campy production values that made it a hit in the 1970s. The film was spoofed in a musical of the same name, which was later made into a made-for-television film in 2005.

Plot

The film begins with a high school lecture. The principal, Dr. Carroll, is attempting to warn parents about the dangers of marihuana. To illustrate his point, he tells the group the story of a group of innocent teenagers whose downfall was supposedly caused by cannabis, saying that he'll give his audience "the real facts" about the case.

At an apartment owned by Mae Coleman, and Jack Perry, her lover (supposedly, the couple is "living in sin," yet they sleep in separate beds like a conservative married couple of the 1930s), the duo sells marihuana. Mae prefers to sell reefer to customers her own age, whereas Jack sells the drug to young teenagers. Ralph, a former college student turned fellow dealer (and "addict," according to the film), and Blanche help Jack sell cannabis to young students.

Young students Bill and Jimmy are invited to Mae and Jack's apartment by Blanche and Ralph. Jimmy takes Bill to the party. There, Jack runs out of reefer. Jimmy, who has a car, drives him to pick up some more. Arriving at Jack's boss's "headquarters," he gets out and Jimmy asks him for a cigarette. Jack gives him a joint. Later, when Jack comes back down and gets into the car, Jimmy drives off dangerously, along the way killing a pedestrian with his car (through the inept filmmaking skills, however, it is very clear that the man isn't actually killed, as he jumps out of the way before the car hits him). Jack agrees to keep Jimmy's name out of the case.

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