Reefer Madness (1936, Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles) – Classic Movie Review 9541

Director Louis J Gasnier’s infamous 1936 Reefer Madness [The Burning Question] [Tell Your Children] [Dope Addict] is a hilariously overstated Thirties warning against the danger of the weed – just one drag of marijuana and you are a raving addict!

This cheaply made, hysterical exploiter is an all-time turkey and therefore a cult favourite among hip potheads and all who love to scoff at bad movies.

The screenplay by Arthur Hoerl and Paul Franklin is taken from Lawrence Meade’s short story, in which drug dealers Mae (Thelma White) and Jack (Carleton Young) lure innocent high school teenagers into being addicted to reefer cigarettes by wild parties with jazz at Mae’s apartment.

Joseph Forte plays high school principal Dr Carroll, who advises parents at a PTA meeting of the evils of marijuana (or marihuana).

It stars Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, and Lillian Miles.

Also in the cast are Dave O’Brien, Warren McCollum, Carleton Young, Thelma White, Pat Royale, Joseph Forte, Harry Harvey Jr, Bobby Burns, Leota Lorraine and Edmund Mortimer.

Reefer Madness: The 1972 theatrical re-release poster.

It was originally financed by a church group as Tell Your Children and made to be shown to parents as a morality tale about the dangers of cannabis use. But, some time after it was shot, it was bought by producer and exploitation film-maker Dwain Esper, who re-cut it and inserted salacious shots for distribution on the exploitation film circuit, escaping censorship as ‘moral guidance’. Education-exploitation films were common after the strict version of the Production Code in 1934, and included Esper’s Marihuana (1936) and Elmer Clifton’s Assassin of Youth (1937).

Though never lost, the film was rediscovered in the early 1970s as an unintentional satire among advocates of cannabis policy reform and among lovers of campy bad movies.

It is in the public domain in the US.

A shot from the colorized version of Reefer Madness.

In 2004, 20th Century Fox, in collaboration with Legend Films, released a colorized version on DVD.

Sean Abley’s stage adaptation Reefer Madness ran for a year in Chicago in 1992.

The film is spoofed in the 1998 musical Reefer Madness (1998), made into the TV film Reefer Madness (2005).

It runs 68 minutes but the UK video release in 1993 runs at 59 minutes.

It was made at Grand National Studios, 7250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood.

Reefer Madness: ‘If you want a good smoke, try one of these.’

Reefer Madness [The Burning Question] [Tell Your Children] [Dope Addict] is directed by Louis J Gasnier, runs 68 minutes, is made by George A Hirliman Productions, is released by Motion Picture Ventures (1947) (US), New Line Cinema (1973) (US), is written by Arthur Hoerl and Paul Franklin, based on a story by Lawrence Meade, is shot by Jack Greenhalgh, is produced by George A Hirliman and Dwain Esper (1938–39 release), is scored by Hugo Riesenfeld and Heinz Roemheld, is designed by Robin Priestley.

Reefer Madness was originally made as Tell Your Children and is sometimes titled The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, or Love Madness.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9541

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