Reefer Madness: Tell Your Children
1936 American Propaganda Film and Cult Classic Stands Test of Time
This partial synopsis and brief analysis of the American cult film classic "Reefer Madness" examines some of this early motion picture's themes and techniques.
The Marijuana Menace
From the opening crawl of this 86-minute, black and white motion picture, the viewer is warned of fictionalized events that “may startle,” events meant to “sufficiently emphasize the frightful toll of the new drug menace … the dreaded marihuana.” (Ironically, the plot of Reefer Madness is tame, when compared to the crime and murder portrayed in modern film.)
Next comes an impassioned monologue by educator and school administrator, Dr. Carroll. This fear-invoking speech also serves as an introduction to America’s "drug war," which was in its infancy in the 1930s. Dr. Carroll describes, in detail, how the “Department of Narcotics, Washington fights daily to cease the flow of drug traffic into the country." He goes on to call weed “even more dangerous" than cocaine, heroin, and opium.
As the "voice of reason" in Reefer Madness Dr. Carroll also calls for a comprehensive educational policy aimed at teaching youth the dangers of "the menace marijuana.”
Tragedy Guaranteed
The example meant to highlight the horrors of addiction to marijuana is the initially idyllic relationship of two young, star-crossed lovers, Mary and Bill. High-quality, high-school students and avid tennis players, these squeaky clean teens take a wrong turn to Mae’s Apartment, a “drug den” backed by a murderous gang that also runs liquor, where kids can hang out, hook up, and smoke pot.
Mae’s Apartment is the main setting for the crime that occurs in the film, which suggests the film noir genre, but predates it by a decade. Devastation is wrought, Mae’s conscience overcomes her, and in one of the movie’s rapid and radical plot twists, she confesses to “fostering the moral delinquency of a juvenile,” is led off to jail by a woman in black, then races down the courtroom hall, leaps through a closed window, and crashes to her death on the city street.
Ralph Wiley, the film’s delinquent former athlete, a ne’er do well with recently divorced parents, is declared legally insane and committed to a psychiatric institution. The heartless antagonist Jack Perry presumably stands trial and goes to jail after Mae’s confession.
Beware of Jazz Music, Dancing, and Sex
Jazz music, dancing, and sex are portrayed as evils associated with marijuana in Reefer Madness. All three are big, loud, and present in sequences where youth make the wrong decisions: at the soda shop, where “Hot Fingers” pounds the keys of the piano while teenagers do the jive; and at Mae’s Apartment, where Billy discovers marijuana and sex, and within six months, falls victim to addiction.
Marijuana is to Mary and Bill as the apothecary’s dram of poison is to Romeo and Juliet. By the film’s denouement, parents are suffering, while their children’s futures slip away before their sight. A dramatic courtroom scene parallels the funeral scene that ends the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, while presaging the modern courtroom drama.
Cast and Creators
Reefer Madness was directed by Louis Gasnier. The original story was written by Lawrence Meade, the screenplay by Arthur Hoerl; additional dialogue by Paul Franklin. The movie’s leading actors were Dorothy Short as Mary; Kenneth Craig as Bill; Dave O’ Brien as Ralph; Thelma White as Mae; Carleton Young as Jack; and Josef Forte as Dr. Carroll.
Very few good quality prints of Reefer Madness survive. The version discussed here was produced and distributed by Kino International, which reassembled this black-and-white motion picture from two different 35 mm prints and one 16 mm print.
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