Reefer Madness (1938)

In director Louis J. Gasnier's cautionary and exploitational anti-marijuana tale, the melodramatic cult classic favorite (originally titled "Tell Your Children") was advertised on posters as an "ADULTS ONLY" film; the propagandized and fictionalized story was originally financed by a church group (known as "Tell Your Children") to convince parents that cannabis use amongst teens was becoming rampant and more dangerous. Various taglines were used to entice viewers:

• The Sweet Pill That Makes Life Bitter
• Women Cry For It - Men Die For It!
• Drug-Crazed Abandon
• Youthful Marijuana Victims - See What Actually Happens!

The film's main plot made an attempt to connect and blame cannabis use for criminal activity and declining mental and physical health. As a gateway drug, it would lead to delusional hallucinations, increased deviant sexual activity and morality, mental illness, and violent behavior (i.e., reckless driving (hit-and-run), attempted rape, physical assault, and self-harming suicidal impulses). In the movie, the main group of drug-pushers or 'adult' procurers (Jack, Mae, Blanche, and Ralph) enticed teens (Jimmy, Bill, Agnes and Mary) to attend parties and smoke weed to become hooked. Later once the film was rediscovered in the late 1960s and 1970s, it became one of the earliest examples of a popular "midnight movie" shown near college campuses, although at that time, it was ridiculed for its unintentional, blatantly propagandistic and exaggerated message that was considered comedic.

After its original release in the late 1930s (not 1936 as is often cited), exploitationeer and film-maker Dwain Esper (who had done the same for the earlier cult film Freaks (1932)), purchased the film and released it during roadshow screenings in various areas for the next few decades, using sensationalist titles including Tell Your Children, Doped Youth, Love Madness, The Burning Question, Dope Addict, and Reefer Madness.

The 68-minute, low-budget film ($100,000) in the public domain was both a critical and commercial failure, and has often been rated as a very "bad movie" - one of the worst ever produced, and running a close-race against Ed Wood's abominable Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957). In the colorized version of the film, the characters who smoked marijuana cigarettes exhaled pastel-colored smoke.

It was later adapted into a stage musical in 1998 (and also played as an off-Broadway hit in 2001). Then, it was also converted in 2005 into a satirical TV-movie-musical comedy by director Andy Fickman that was also titled Reefer Madness (2005).

• the film's opening written prologue (with a slow scroll) was intended to be a scare tactic and serve as an intense warning and disclaimer [Note: Marijuana was spelled with an 'h'.]:
  • "FORWORD: 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 (sp) 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!"
• newspaper headlines being run through printing-press rollers proclaimed the scourge of rampant drug use that had also precipitated increased crime, narcotics sales, and drug wars amongst narcotics rings: POLICE WAGE WAR ON NARCOTIC RING, DOPE PEDDLERS CAUGHT IN HIGH SCHOOL, POLICE RAID MARIHUANA FLAT, FEDERALS AID POLICE IN DRUG WAR, SCHOOL-PARENT ORGANIZATIONS JOIN DOPE FIGHT
• a classified ad in the newspaper advertised that Truman High School was sponsoring a School-Parents Association Meeting at 8:30 PM, led by high school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll (Josef Forte)

Headlines: "DOPE PEDDLERS CAUGHT IN HIGH SCHOOL"

PTA Meeting: HS Principal Dr. Alfred Carroll (Josef Forte)

Parents In Audience Listening to Dr. Carroll's Lecture

• during the meeting attended by parents, Dr. Carroll (representing Lakeside HS) lectured to them about how they must remain united against the spread of the menacing and "dreaded marihuana"; he proposed a nationwide campaign for PTA associations to promote compulsory education to eliminate the scourge and enlighten the public about the drug traffic; Dr. Carroll read excerpts from a letter he had received from a member of the Dept. of Narcotics in Washington, DC, urging "eternal vigilance" to fight against the cultivation and sale of marihuana cigarettes (a "deadly narcotic") throughout the nation; according to the letter, the sale of the "soul-destroying drug" was even "more difficult to detect and halt than the traffic in drugs such as opium, morphine and heroin"; various hiding places were demonstrated where the drugs could be concealed (or smuggled)
• the plot then transitioned from the bookended lecture, to a NYC tenement apartment in the high school's nearby neighborhood, where the unmarried couple of Mae Coleman (Thelma White) and well-dressed gangster Jack Perry (Carleton Young) were living together and dealing marihuana to teens in the local schools; Mae was conversing with Jack, arguing with him that they didn't need to deal to young teens, but should only sell to older clients: "We can get along without dragging those young kids up here...I wish you'd lay off those kids!" but he objected: "Oh, why don't you button up your lip?...why don't you get over that 'mother' complex"
• Jack met up with his associate Ralph Wiley (Dave O'Brien), a college dropout who according to one of the teens had been in "a couple of jams" and whose parents had just been divorced; on the street, Ralph and Jack engaged in conversation with high-school teen Mary Lane (Dorothy Short) who was driving her 1936 Ford V8 De Luxe convertible with her college-student/brother Jimmy Lane (Warren McCollum) in the back seat, while she was speaking to her HS boyfriend Bill Harper (Kenneth Craig) standing on the sidewalk
• Jimmy was lured away from Mary by Ralph and Jack to Joe's (Lester Dorr) place, a nearby malt shop where other teens were dancing; Jimmy was greeted by a friend named Agnes (Pat Royale); while he and Agnes danced to jive piano music, Ralph and Jack spoke to their sly teen recruiter Blanche (Lillian Miles) about trying to lure more young drug-prospects over to Jack's and Mae's apartment to get them hooked; during a break in the music, the shop's wild-haired jive piano-player Hot Fingers (Ted Wray) with a demonic smile snuck a marijuana cigarette in a closet; Blanche was able to easily persuade Jimmy and Agnes to join her, along with Ralph and Jack, to attend a "little party" at her girlfriend Mae's apartment

Bill and Mary Acting Out a Scene From Romeo & Juliet - Interrupted by Mary's Mother Mrs. Lane (Mary MacLaren)

• the next scene was on Mary Lane's house patio where the cute couple Bill and Mary were served hot chocolate and cookies by Mary's attentive mother (Mary MacLaren); Bill acted out a Shakespearean scene for her from Romeo & Juliet and stole a kiss from Mary, but then embarrassed, he quickly left after Mrs. Lane caught them smooching together; he awkwardly stumbled backwards into a small water fountain
• in the Harper household with his parents (Edmund Mortimer and Marin Sais) and his younger brother Junior (Harry Harvey Jr.), Bill was teased about having Mary as a girlfriend - a "swell girl"
• the next day in town on Main Street, Jimmy drove up in Mary's convertible and spoke to Bill standing on the sidewalk; Bill joined Jimmy for a visit to Joe's malt shop, where they sat down in a booth with Blanche and Ralph, and ordered a float and a root beer; Bill was talked into joining Jimmy and the others for a visit to Mae's apartment for a party: (Jimmy: "Mary won't be jealous...All the kids will be there, its keen!"); once they arrived, Blanche introduced the hesitant novice Bill to Mae; some kids made out on the couch across from them

Teens Making Out at Mae's Party	Blanche Suggested That Bill Try One of Her 'Reefer' Cigarettes	Bill's Marihuana Cigarette Was Lit by Blanche
Mae's Dance, Make-Out and Reefer Party

• Mae told Jack that she was low on her stock of marihuana 'reefer' cigarettes that were being passed around; since Jack's car was in the shop, he asked Jimmy to drive him to Cedar Avenue to pick up more from his drug-pusher supplier; meanwhile in Mae's living room, Blanche took away Bill's tobacco cigarette and suggested that he try one of hers: ("Oh dear, if you want a good smoke, try one of these!"); Bill watched warily as Agnes and Ralph took drags on their reefers, and then reluctantly let Blanche light his marihuana cigarette as she encouraged him: "I thought you were a sport!. Of course, if you're afraid...I know you'll like it, really you will. Just take a puff of it"; Ralph watched Bill get 'hooked' and reacted with a maniacal laugh
• Jimmy parked Mary's convertible on the street's curb outside Jack's Boss' (Walter McGrail) headquarters; before Jack entered to buy more cartons of marihuana cigarettes, he gave Jimmy one of his 'reefers' to smoke
• Jack bragged to his Boss about the increasing business due to his younger and younger drug initiates: ("Those kids sure go for it"); another pusher named Pete Daly (Richard Alexander) entered the office and complained that the Boss was selling drugs to teens: ("Taking two-bit pieces from kids!...I'm just DOPE enough to draw the line selling hop to kids!"); the Boss told him he could quit the lucrative business permanently if he had any complaints; Jack bought "ten gross" (120 dozen cigarettes total) before departing
• by the time Jack returned to the car, Jimmy was "high," slurring his words, and bragging that he was "red hot"; as Jimmy recklessly raced through the streets, Jack cautioned him: "Slow down - you'll kill somebody!"; moments later, Jimmy ran a red light and ran over and critically-injured an elderly pedestrian in a crosswalk, and immediately fled from the hit-and-run scene
• the next morning at breakfast, Mary's mother asked why she had lost her appetite, and asked if there was "anything wrong" between her and her boyfriend Bill Harper, who she hadn't seen for a few days; it was then obvious to Mary that after her brother Jimmy entered and sat down, there was something seriously bothering and worrying him
• in the interior of the federal government's FBI building, school principal Dr. Carroll reported to FBI agent Mr. Wyatt (Edward Earle) in his office about his concerns that an "organized gang" was distributing narcotics to area high school students throughout the city; although Wayne agreed it was a problem, he explained that since marihuana grew wild everywhere, it was available everywhere (and cases of illegal interstate commerce were almost non-existent) unlike other narcotics; he recommended: "The only sure cure is a widespread campaign in education"; the agent exhibited file cabinet drawers with folders full of marihuana records and cases: (i.e. a 16 year-old "marihuana addict" who staged a hold-up and then killed his entire family with an axe!); Dr. Carroll was allowed to take some of the records to use in combatting the drug problem in his school
• in the next scene set in Dr. Carroll's HS office, Mary's boyfriend Bill denied the accusation that there might be something wrong with him, or that there might be a hidden reason for his falling grades, since he was normally a solid student; Dr. Carroll asked: "Isn't it true that you have - perhaps unwillingly - acquired a certain harmful habit, through association with certain undesirable people?"; Bill dismissed the question and insinuation, but did admit to some other problem at home that he was worried about
• meanwhile, Mary was awaiting Bill's arrival at the tennis courts, but was informed by another student named Kenny: "He hasn't been here for weeks"
• in Mae's apartment, "high" on dope Blanche danced wildly (and took off some clothing), while Bill (also stoned) watched her; Jimmy raced (with Agnes) to the piano to play some tunes for her before they were distracted with kisses, while Mae kept goading Bill into dancing with her; he was coaxed to join her and then she and Bill twirled their way into the back bedroom to kiss and make love (off-screen) as she reclined back on a divan; in the living room, the totally-stoned Ralph giggled and reacted with more maniacal laughs while watching all of the couples around him making out
• two police officers approached the Lane residence to follow up on Jimmy's hit-and-run accident; they had a report of the license plate number that was similar to the license plate on Mary's convertible; she claimed (deceitfully) that she had possession of her car the entire 29th day (of the last month) when the accident occurred, but she was troubled by the questioning
• Mary went looking for her brother Jimmy at Joe's malt shop, and claimed to owner Joe that she was supposed to meet him there; she was directed to the address of Mae's apartment; while Mary waited in Mae's living room for Jimmy to appear, Ralph offered her a marihuana cigarette (she thought it was a regular tobacco cigarette); as the drug took effect, Mary began giggling; meanwhile, Bill was in the back bedroom with Blanche was who was waking up after another sexual romp; on the couch in the living room, Ralph advanced on Mary by trying to kiss and embrace her and remove her blouse, but she fought back; Bill wandered into the living room and saw Mary being forcibly sexually assaulted by Ralph - but misinterpreted (seen in his double-exposed hallucination) that Mary had willingly submitted to him and the two were having sex together; he approached, grabbed Ralph, and punched him in the jaw

Ralph Offering a 'Reefer' to Mary on the Couch	Ralph's Attempted Assault on Mary in the Living Room	Bill Assaulting and Punching Out Ralph
Bill and Jack Struggling For His Gun	Mary Accidentally Killed With Stray Gunshot	Jack Placing Gun in Bill's Hand to Frame Him

• in the kitchen where Jack was speaking to the heavy-drinking Mae, he heard the commotion in the living room and rushed in to see the Bill and Ralph brawling; Ralph was knocked out and fell back onto a sofa; Jack attempted to strike Bill unconscious with the butt of his gun, but during their wrestling for the gun, Jack's gun fired and the bullet struck Mary in the back and killed her; Jack then pistol-whipped Bill and struck him unconscious; to frame Bill for Mary's murder, Jack placed the gun in Bill's hand; Ralph and Blanche were ordered out of the apartment as Jack took charge of the situation; Bill was revived and after looking down at the gun in his hand, he reacted with dismay that he had shot Mary: (Jack accused him of murder: "You killed her"); before leaving, Jack privately told Mae to provide an alibi to the authorities: "These two kids came up here for a couple of beers. You were out in the kitchen, you heard the shot. When you got in here, that's what you found"
• in the malt shop, Jack discreetly spoke to Jimmy about the hit-and-run accident victim, who had recently died; Jack made a deal with Jimmy: "Nobody will ever know you were driving that car....Just as long as you keep your mouth shut that you were ever up at Mae's apartment"
• Bill was put on trial for Mary's death with a Judge (Edward LeSaint) presiding; during testimony to the court and jury, Dr. Carroll was called to the stand as a character witness; he declared that he had observed over the previous three months how Jimmy's demeanor and behavior had changed due to his marihuana use: ("It causes errors in time and space"); although the principal was cautioned about having no proof of his allegations, Carroll explained Jimmy's past character traits: "He was a fine upstanding American boy: a good scholar; a good athlete, and representative of the caliber of young men we are proud to graduate from our school"
• in a hide-out apartment, Ralph, Mae and Blanche were particularly nervous about their situation and wanted to leave, but Jack explained to Mae: "You're gonna stay here just as long as we have to keep those two under cover. 'Til the trial's over - or the Boss gets a better idea"; Jack and Mae were worried that Ralph was becoming problematic: "All you gotta do is keep him from having too many reefers," although Mae was concerned: "He'll probably spill and tell all he knows if he gets a chance"
• Jack visited with his Boss for advice about what to do with Ralph - and it was suggested to silence Ralph forever to keep him from confessing and ruining their drug trade: (Jack: "I've gotta hunch he's due to crack when that Harper verdict comes in. If he's on the tea, he's liable to take a powder on us, and blow his top to the D.A." The Boss: "You mean you think we'd all be better off if he never, uh, heard the verdict?")
• at the trial during the Prosecuting Attorney's (William Royle) summary to the jury, he chastized Billy as guilty: "By his own admission, he pressed the trigger of the weapon that sent lovely and innocent Mary Lane to a tragic and untimely death"; the Prosecutor went further by claiming that the defendant couldn't claim insanity: ("The defense has been unable to prove that he was insane. William Harper was sane when he visited the apartment where the tragedy occurred. He was in the habit of visiting the place. He was sane when he went to bed with another young women"); he even suggested that there was a very clear motive: "Involved, as he was, in a tawdry love affair, Mary Lane was in the way. She had found him out. In a moment of anger, he deliberately and willfully, killed her")
• during deliberations in the Jury Room led by the Foreman (Frank O'Connor), there was only one skeptical juror who voted "not guilty"; the Foreman tried to sway the vote by stating how Bill had confessed: "He admitted it himself" - as he looked at a swinging light cord that ominously turned into a hanging noose; the Foreman advocated for a guilty vote, to punish Bill - for the good of society: "We gotta make an example, before boys like that contaminate all of our children"; a second vote-decision concluded that Bill was GUILTY; the inconsolable Mrs. Harper broke down in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, and Bill slumped down on the desk in front of him
• Mae returned to the others in their hide-out apartment, where the stir-crazy and distressed chain-smoking Ralph was becoming increasingly crazed and demented as he paced the floor; suffering from symptoms of heavy drug use, Ralph's guilty conscience was also tormenting him: ("I've gotta see Jack. We can't let that kid hang"); as Blanche and Ralph both became high after smoking reefers, Blanche played loudly and dramatically on the piano as the maniacal Ralph egged her on: "Play it faster! Faster! Play it faster"; when Jack arrived, Blanche stopped playing, and Ralph confronted Jack - to accuse him of threatening to kill him: ("I know what you want. You want to kill me"); Jack calmed him down: ("You're crazy, take it easy, kid"), but then began to remove his gun from his jacket; the deranged Ralph reached for a fireplace poker and mercilessly beat Jack to death, as Blanche uncontrollably and hysterically laughed and cried; Mae entered and watched the murder

Ralph's Fireplace Deadly Poker Assault on Jack - As Blanche Laughed Hysterically

• the apartment's manager heard the commotion and called the police, who promptly arrived and arrested Ralph, Mae, and Blanche

The Boss Gang Leader Captured and Arrested

Blanche's Suicidal Jump Out a Window

Dr. Carroll's Concluding Warning to Parents

• there were numerous revelations and consequences in the film's conclusion:
  • Mae was questioned by cops in a police interrogation room, where she confessed to Jack's drug-dealing involvement with the Boss and other gang members; in a montage of police activity, the authorities were dispatched to arrest the Boss and his associates and bust up the drug business
  • in a Judge's Chamber, Blanche also confessed that Bill was innocent and was framed and set-up by Jack to look like Mary's killer: ("He shot Mary then he put the gun in Bill's hand...But you see, Judge, Bill didn't know that he hadn't killed Mary. He was so doped up they made him think he had"); she agreed to plead guilty to a charge of fostering moral delinquency in the case of William Harper; Blanche also agreed to be a "material witness" against Ralph for the murder of Jack
  • but then as Blanche was being led down a hallway by a prison matron, she suicidally jumped from a window - due to her own feelings of guilt and trauma (seen in a brief flashback) realizing that having sex with Mary's boyfriend Bill had contributed to the reason for Mary's death
  • as a result of Blanche's testimony, Bill's conviction was set aside and overturned by the court, although the Judge warned him: "We can express only the hope that your experiences may not only keep you but thousands of others from the vicious pitfalls of marihuana"; to remind him of his actions and his possible fate if he continued down the wrong path, the Judge ordered Bill to remain in the court for the next case - to hear Ralph's sentencing
  • the catatonic, delirious and hopelessly-insane, marihuana-addicted Ralph was committed to a mental institution "for the criminally insane for the rest of his natural life"
• in the book-ended epilogue-conclusion set back in the opening sequence's PTA meeting, Dr. Carroll again reminded parents in the audience that their children might be next unless efforts at education averted similar tragedies; he specifically pointed at a few of his listeners with an emphatic prediction: "The next tragedy may be that of your daughter... or your son... or yours or yours...'; then he turned toward the camera to implicate the viewing audience as well: "Or yours!"; the super-imposed words: "TELL YOUR CHILDREN" ended the film