Reefer Madness
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Reefer Madness is the title of a 1936 film about cannabis, two books, a 2004 off-Broadway musical satirizing the original film (itself made into a television movie in 2005), a song by Hawkwind, and a one-off strip in the comic anthology 2000 AD.
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1936 movie
Reefer Madness, originally titled Tell Your Children, is a 1936 cult film. Its running time is 1:04:43. A "reefer" is a marijuana cigarette.
This film was 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 "marijuana": a killing, a suicide, and a descent into madness all ensue.
Though variously described as an anti-drug propaganda film financed by moralists, Harry Anslinger's FBI, or even by anti-hemp interests such as Dupont or William Randolph Hearst, Reefer Madness was produced as an exploitation film, thinly veiled as an educational piece to comply with the Hays code. 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.
Rights to the film passed through a number of hands before its entry into the public domain, notably those of cinematic exploiter Dwain Esper, who cut in extra "dirty bits" and began to sell the film on the rural circuit. After a period in obscurity it was discovered in the Library of Congress archives in 1972 by NORML founder Keith Stroup, who 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.
Other less-known films in the same genre include Esper's own "Marihuana" and Elmer Clifton's "Assassin of Youth."
Reefer Madness is now in the public domain and is available online. A colorized version of the movie is available; the smoke from the "marijuana" was made to appear green, red, blue, orange, and even purple.
Quote
- "Isn't it true that you have, perhaps unwillingly, acquired a certain harmful habit through association with certain undesirable people?" (29:30)
External links
- Internet Archive: Reefer Madness (http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?collection=feature_films&collectionid=reefer_madness1938s)
- DivX .avi 291 MB (http://www.archive.org/download/Reefer_Madness/Reefer_Madness.avi)
- MPEG4 .mp4 150 MB (http://www.archive.org/download/Reefer_Madness/Reefer_Madness_256kb.mp4)
- Template:Imdb title
1998 book
Reefer Madness: A History of Marijuana (1998) is a book written by Larry "Ratso" Sloman. The book is a popular social history of marijuana use in the United States.
2003 book
Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market (2003) is a book written by Eric Schlosser. The book is a look behind the 10% underground economy of the U.S. that includes marijuana, migrant labor, and pornography.
Musical
Reefer Madness (2004) is a musical satire of the 1936 Reefer Madness. The book was written by Kevin Murphy and the lyrics by Dan Studney. Directed by Andy Fickman, it was initially shown in a theatre in Los Angeles and then moved to the New York "off-Broadway" scene.
Synopsis
The scene: a high school auditorium. The Lecturer tells the assembly of anxious parents all about the evils of marijuana ("Reefer Madness") before, with the help of his assistants, launching into the tragic tale of one boy's struggles with the demon weed. That boy, Jimmy Harper, is a fine upstanding youth, with the love of the fair Mary Lane. The two are sure they would live happily ever after ("Romeo and Juliet"). But across town at the reefer den, the weed-pusher Jack and his cronies Sally and Ralph are living in the depths of depravity. Jack's moll Mae explains how she came to such a sorry state ("The Stuff"); meanwhile, Jack goes out to recruit new addicts at Miss Poppy's soda counter ("The Ol' Five and Dime"). There he meets Jimmy, whom he lures back to the house and offers a stick of reefer. Jimmy takes one puff and immediately becomes a slavering maniac ("Jimmy Takes a Hit/The Orgy"). He forgets all about Mary Lane for weeks and weeks, while she sits in church alone ("Lonely Pew"). One night, Jimmy and Ralph break into the church in order to steal the poorbox for drug money. Jesus himself comes down from the cross and, in a musical revue hosted by Joan of Arc, exhorts Jimmy to kick the habit ("Listen to Jesus, Jimmy"). But Jimmy is too far gone; he has a new god now. He goes back to the reefer den, and to Sally. One dark night, Jimmy and Sally are driving back to the house, stoned, when their car hits and kills an old man. Sally runs off, and Jimmy, scared straight, drives in a panic to Mary's house, where he tells her that he still loves her and that they must go far, far away. Mary happily accepts him back, and everything seems right with the world ("Loved by Mary Lane").
But Jack knows that if the police catch Jimmy, his reefer empire will be shattered. So he waits for Jimmy at Mary's house and offers him an innocent-looking chocolate brownie. Jimmy eats the brownie and immediately forgets all about Mary Lane ("The Brownie Song"). He goes back to the reefer den. But this time Mary follows him, thinking to rescue him — instead, Ralph ensnares her with his fraternity jacket and a puff of reefer ("Little Mary Sunshine"). Jimmy comes downstairs and finds Mary making out with Ralph; he attacks Ralph and the two begin wrestling. Jack comes in and tries to break up the fight, while Mae reproaches them all for corrupting such an innocent as Mary. In the scuffle, Jack's gun goes off; Mary is shot through the heart ("Mary's Death"). Jimmy comforts her, but it is too late; she dies in his arms. The police appear, summoned by the gunshot, and Jack fingers Jimmy as the killer. He is taken away; the radio reveals that he has been sent to death row. Upon hearing this news, Ralph goes insane, thinking that Jimmy, Mary, and the rest of the youths whose lives marijuana has ruined are stalking him from beyond the grave ("Murder"). Spooked, Jack and Mae go off to find some food while Sally stays behind to keep an eye on the raving Ralph. They return to find that Ralph, in the throes of reefer-induced hunger pangs, has murdered Sally and eaten her body. Jack shoots him and he dies. But now Mae is beginning to see visions of Jimmy, Mary, Sally, and Ralph, all accusing. To regain her sanity the only way she knows, she hacks Jack to death and kicks the habit once and for all (reprise: "The Stuff"). Seeing in the daily paper that the President will be coming to town to judge a dance contest, she determines to talk to him and gain a Presidential pardon for Jimmy. They burst into the electrocution chamber at the last second and free the doomed boy, who joins them in their crusade to tell the world about the evils of marijuana ("Tell 'em the Truth"). On this note, the Lecturer's presentation ends, and the entire audience joins in to explain how they, too, will join the fight against things they don't understand (reprise: "Reefer Madness").
2005 movie
A "remade" Reefer Madness movie premiered on April 16, 2005, on the Showtime cable network. It is a television movie version of the 2004 musical, and stars Alan Cumming as the Lecturer and Kristen Bell as Mary. The movie also stars siblings Christian and Neve Campbell as Jimmy Harper and Miss Poppy, respectively. Bell, Christian Campbell, and John Kassir reprise their roles from the stage; Robert Torti, who played both Jack and Jesus on the stage, portrays only the latter in the movie version (Steven Weber plays Jack in the movie).
External link
Song
"Reefer Madness" is also a song by Hawkwind, obviously an ironic reference to the movie of the same name since the band were known to experiment with drugs.