This early expose on marihuana was bad in 1936 and has only become more and more hilarious over time. This oh, too serious examination of the scourge of reefer has absolutely nothing to do with the reality of the drug. Its attempt to scare the public into action only elicits laughs.
Bill Harper (Kenneth Craig, only film performance) is a goodie goodie, who is dating the sweet girl next door named Mary Lane (Dorothy Short, THE LONE RIDE FIGHTS BACK). Ralph Wiley (Dave O’Brien, KISS ME KATE) has his eye on Mary while Blanche (Lillian Miles, THE GAY DIVORCEE) wants Bill. Ralph and Blanche both visit the apartment of Mae Colman (Thelma White, RIDE ‘EM COWBOY) and Jack Perry (Carleton Young, SPARTACUS), who get the kids hooked on pot, a drug the film claims is more deadly than heroin.
Soon the evil-doers have lured Mary’s impressionable brother Jimmy (Warren McCollum, BOYS’ REFORMATORY) into their den of depravity, which leads the young man to race down the road at the appalling speed of 45 mph and run over a pedestrian. But because he’s really a good kid at heart, nothing really comes of this minor mistake. Throughout the film the school principal Dr. Carroll (Joseph Forte, THEM!) makes fire and brimstone declarations to the parents and the audience.
From the ridiculous melodrama to the misinformation to the poor production values to the terrible acting, this film is a bastion of bad. The insane look in the kid’s eyes after only one puff of reefer will have anyone with common sense about the drug on the floor laughing. The fact that the film claims to be based on a true story is a joke. This blatant piece of propaganda is about as fair and balanced as Fox News. If you think Fox News is fair and balanced than you’ll probably think this film is a 60 MINUTES expose anyway, so the analogy still holds up.
Everything about this film is ridiculous and that’s why it’s so fun to watch. Here is a sampling of the great dialogue — Jimmy says, “How about driving over to Joe's place with me? I'll buy you a soda!” Bill replies, “I never drink the stuff!” This establishes Bill’s oh, shucks personality. So you can only imagine how funny it is when he’s all hopped up on reefer — it’s like seeing the Beav on speed.
REEFER MADNESS is a window into a much more naïve time. I guess you could say the film had good intensions, but even upon its release people were afraid that it would encourage kids to experiment with pot. And I guess they were right — I’m mean, how kids have lit one up to watch this film since? It’s surprising there haven’t been more murders because of it.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
