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 MOTION PICTURES |
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AND THE COMING OF THE
ANTI-MEDICAL MARIHUANA LAWS
THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY
BEFORE THE COMING OF THE REEFER MADNESS CAMPAIGN
Contrary to what most people believe, Harry Anslinger DID NOT create the Reefer Madness Campaign; --- The evidence shows that it was in place long before that.* Via our main museum website (www.ReeferMadnessMuseum.org), we document numerous newspaper headlines, various magazine articles, etc., and even some old time radio programs, which clearly have a reefer madness theme.
Upon examination, it appears that some of these articles were written by yellow journalists, simply seeking shock effect for their articles. Others were written by romantic or fantasy novelist (young American girl, kidnapped by evil hasheesh using Arabs, etc.), without the slightest knowledge of the subject. But others seem to have been a bit more sinister, as if they had been put together under the direction of the Ku-Klux-Klan.
But in any case, what is important is that even before Anslinger was even born, there were already public perceptions about something called “Hasheeh” which was associated with evil Arab’s somewhere. And something else called “Maria-Juana” which was associated (thanks to numerous Wild-Western magazines) with the Mexican Bandito (the very word “Marihuana” refers to a brown skin Mexican), or something that those color people over there liked to use. Thus it should be obvious that the Film industry should also have followed suit.
However, what you will find is that before Anslinger, ALL of these (ah! fanciful reports), were disorganized and always there was some other article that brought everything else into balance. In fact (going over our list) it appears that only the Hearst Metrotone Newsreels (shown in movie theaters at the time) had any kind of direction. It would take Anslinger (the evil genius that he was) to organize things into the true campaign that it would become.
WARNING: For the most part we have NOT actually seen the films mentioned below and are relying on the words of others. Thus some of these movies, newsreels etc., may NOT EVEN have any reefer madness content associated with them. In addition (as in other cases) no pretense is made that this listing is in any way complete. In fact it should be seen solely as a starting point for scholars of the era.
1916 - THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH
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MUSEUM COMMENT: First this movie has NOTHING TO DO WITH MEDICAL MARIHUANA use, BUT EVERYONE thinks that it does and thus why it is included on this index.
PLOT SUMMARY: Coke Ennyday, (pronounced Coke Anyday) a detective who divides his own time (as shown by his wall clock) into periods for "Sleep", "Eat", "Dope" and "Drink", and by Dope we mean Cocaine. The plot of this silent era comedy revolves around his effort to stop a dope smuggling gang and rescuing a young damsel in distress who works at a plastic inflatable fish (inter-tubes) shop used by swimmers. --- The movie can be seen and download via U-tube and is short enough for easy viewing so we won't spoil the plot for you. It is funny and worth viewing. Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883-1939 plays the main role of Coke Ennyday.
[This somewhat famous still of Douglas Fairbanks Sr., (from another film entitled "The Nut") might be the reason why so many mistakenly feel that the “Mystery of the Leaping Fish” has something to do with Hashish. However, this is not the case in either film.]
1923 - HUMAN WRECKAGE
MUSEUM COMMENT: Other than what others have written the museum knows nothing about this movie other than it was. Obviously Morphine would have been mentioned, but it is unknown if the subject of Marihuana even comes into play.
PLOT SUMMARY: An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances. According to the wikipedia: Human Wreckage was a 1923 American independent silent drama film that starred Dorothy Davenport. The film was produced by Davenport and Thomas H. Ince. Davenport was the widow of actor Wallace Reid, who died on January 18, 1923 from complications of morphine addiction. No print of this film is known to exist today, and it is considered a lost film.
1924 - THE LASH OF PINTO PETE
MUSEUM COMMENT: An internet search under the keywords “marihuana” and “silent film” pops this movie up. At the present time we know nothing about it.
Directed by Francis Ford
Release date: Nov. 15, 1924
(Credited cast) - Ashton Dearholt ... Pinto Pete - Florence Gilbert
1924 - NOTCH NUMBER ONE
AKA: The First Notch
MUSEUM COMMENT: Information shown below, taken from the “American Film Institute Catalog." Ben Wilson Productions. Dist Arrow Film Corp. 13 Sep 1924 [cl4 Apr 1924; LP200761. Si; b&w. 35mm. 5 reels, 4,746 ft. Story Daniel F. Whitcomb.
Cast: Ben Wilson, Marjorie Daw.
Western melodrama. Tom Watson, foreman of the Moore Ranch, is silently in love with Dorothy, the owner's daughter, who is engaged to Dave Leonard. One night Dave becomes violent after smoking some marihuana (loco weed) given him by Pete, a ranch hand recently fired by Tom. Moore tries to restrain Dave. Pete, seeking revenge, shoots Moore. Tom, believing Dave guilty, takes the blame and becomes a fugitive. He is captured after rescuing 6-year-old Dickie Moore, who had become lost on the desert. Pete is found dead, but with a confession that frees Tom.
THE WEED OF DEATH
[aka. Death weed]
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following, taken from an internet website is all we know about the film. It might in fact be making reference to one of the other (mentioned above) silent era films. It’s exact date is unknown, but judging by the film length and the fact that it is a silent movie all indicate a mid 1920’s film.
PLOT SUMMARY: “An early silent film in which a marihuana addicted cowboy causes death and disaster on a cattle ranch. Pusher: A documentary showing re-enacted case histories of innocent victims of drug addiction taken from the files of narcotic enforcement agencies. “
Cast - Yakima Canutt, Arthur Mackley (16 min.)
1929 - VOICE OF THE CITY / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures ;
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following info (obviously) is taken directly from a library indexing system. And YES marihuana is definitely a part of the film.
Published: 1929. - Location: UCLA Film and Television Archive Location: CLU-FT, FTASRLF Call Number: M88128 Physical details: 2 reels of 2 (ca. 3200 ft.) : opt sd., b&w ; 16 mm. safety print.
PLOT SUMMARY: "Bobby Doyle is framed for murder and sent up the river for 20 years. He escapes with the help of hophead (a marihuana addict) Johnny and remains in hiding in Johnny's attic. Wilkes, the gangster responsible for framing Bobby, wants to put him permanently out of the way and makes a play for Bobby's girl, Beebe, in an effort to flush Bobby out of hiding. Bobby confronts Wilkes, and Biff Myers, a hardboiled detective, kills Wilkes to save Bobby's life. A note in Wilkes's possession clears Bobby of the charge of murder, freeing him to find happiness with Beebe"--AFI catalog, 1921-1930. -- Record ID: CULF04AAP8604-F
1930 - THE SINISTER MENACE
PLOT SUMMARY: The file starts out by mentioning that it was dedicated to Harry Anslinger and goes down hill from there on. Shot in Egypt, it (allegedly) shows the effects of that Medical Marihuana has on its addicts. Lot’s of pictures of Egyptian Insane asylums (most of the patients allegedly there because of their use of Marihuana etc). According to David Lewis:
“Shot in Egypt, which documents the habits of opium addicts. The interiors of drug dens are shown, and at the conclusion the film an addict is shown collapsing on a sand dune; the booming voice of the narrator informs us that the addict has perished.” Can be seen for free at :
www.pottv.com/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2642.html
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following website contains more info on the THE EGYPTIAN INSANE ASYLUM MYTH.
http://antiquecannabisbook.com/chap2B/India/ReeferMadMyth.htm
1932 - JEWEL ROBBERY
PLOT SUMMARY: One of the most delightful of the marihuana madness flicks, William Powell charms his way through his 51st film, in which he plays the sly sophisticated criminal known simply as "The Robber." He not only plies his victims with marihuana cigarettes, but he saddles the police with sexy blonde female witnesses, causing comedic confusion on all fronts. The Robber rules the day, easily slipping diamonds from a plush Vienna jewelry shop while the beautiful Baroness Teri, played by debonair Kay Francis, is "smitten to the point of indiscretion," as one reviewer of the day stated. This is not one of those infamous marihuana exploitation films, but is in the genre of the screwball comedies.
Feb 1, 1933 – HEARST METROTONE NEWSREEL [Vol. 4, no. 237]
“$500 DOLLAR PIPE DREAM GOES UP IN SMOKE”
-- New York City
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following info is taken directly from the UCLA film archive library index. LIBRARY INDEX DATA: Published/distributed: United States: [Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1933-02-01] Notes: Released sound track version.
Summary: "Huge dope seizures made by New York cops are consigned to flames in police furnace. Opium, heroin, hashish and other dangerous drugs up in smoke they go"--Hearst index card. Includes footage of dope, marijuana, furnace oven, and pipes.
Contents: Shot description: Various scenes of narcotic equipment. Cigarettes (narcotic). Various scenes of burning narcotics and equipment in fire by shovel into furnace (Hearst index card). Hearst dupe filed at HVMc5746r5. Rights held by UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Other Entries: - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Database control #: 04-AAE-8220
AVAILABILITY: Study Copy. - Available for on site viewing only. NOTES: Slate title: HFA63M, HNR 4.237. Eighteenth on 29-minute videocassette with 21 other newsreel segments. REPRODUCTION: Reproduced by UCLA Film and Television Archive from 3/4 in. videocassette (ZVB1685 M). Reproduction of footage to which UCLA holds the rights, Apr. 1997. VA13960 M
1934 - THE RED RIDER
MUSEUM COMMENT: Technically this is a serial not an actual film.
PLOT SUMMARY: If watched in one marathon 4 1/2 hour sitting, this Buck Jones 15 chapter serial plays more like a full, albeit extended, movie rather than a chapterplay. In truth, considering some of the padding and weak chapter endings, perhaps Universal should have released it as a feature --- or at least cut it down, 12 chapters would have sufficed. Redheaded Sheriff Buck Jones resigns to clear his pal Grant Withers of murder charges. Following a trail of marijuana cigarettes (!) left by the real killer (Walter Miller), Buck goes to work on a ranch near the Mexican border. Buck finds his old pal involved with Miller's gang (headed up by Mexican rustler Richard Cramer) trying to clear himself. On the ranch Buck is befriended by Edmund Cobb and falls in love with Marion Shilling (an easy job to handle) as they expose Miller's smuggling racket. Unbelievably, Cobb gets to "sing" a few times during the serial in an obvious spoof of the upcoming wave of "singing cowboys". -- http://www.b-westerns.com/magers7.htm
May 15 1934 - THE ROAD TO RUIN
MUSEUM COMMENT: This may or may not be a Reefer Madness film, but it does sound about right.
PLOT SUMMARY: Tagline: An innocent girl! A life destroyed! A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion. Trivia: According to Glen Boles (from interview September 2004), the subplot of the film originally had a now-missing scene between the father and the disgraced daughter. In the existing version, the father is shown to be interested in "loose women" for extra-marital affairs. In the original version, the fallen daughter ends up in a brothel habituated by her father! He apparently walks in and finds her there. Boles no longer remembers what happens thereafter (does the father run or does he remove his daughter?) prior to the existing death scene. Movie Connections: Remake of The Road to Ruin (1928)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025725/
Image shown, courtesy -
http://scenesfromthemorgue.wordpress.com/category/1930-1939/page/2/
1934 - HARLEM AFTER MIDNIGHT
PLOT SUMMARY: "Harlem After Midnight" is not one of the marihuana exploitative films of that era. It is a well-written drama about the Negro gangsters that ran Harlem in the 30's. The complex plot follows Vivian Poret, whose gangster husband is serving time in jail when this story unfolds. Dating her employer's son Nelson Gentry, she seeks an annulment from her jailed husband, Jerry "The Snitch" Martin, who escapes in the first reel and seeks to get some cash from his wife's dilemma. Jerry is a "reefer addict" who eventually kidnaps a wealthy Jewish businessman in the hopes of netting $10,000.
1934 - MURDER AT THE VANITIES
PLOT SUMMARY: A musical murder mystery (with The Duke Ellington Orchestra), "Murder at the Vanities" This film pushes the envelope of the day, bringing more bawdiness and nudity to the screen than will be seen again on the American big screen until the 1960's. Marihuana has a small cameo role in this film when Carl's ex-girlfriend Gertrude sings (surrounded by chorus boys in sombreros) the song "Sweet Marihuana," about a lost love, which will be brought back to her in fantasies created by marihuana.
1934 - HEARST METROTONE NEWSREEL - [Vol. 6, no. 223]
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following info is taken directly from the UCLA film archive library index.
LIBRARY INDEX DATA: Excerpt. Hundreds arrested in drive on dope; Uncle Sam moves to crush traffic in illegal drugs; nation-wide raids made, Washington, D.C.].
Abstract: Includes footage of heroin, morphine, opium, paraphenalia.
Note(s): Incorporates the following Hearst production footage: Mr. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, makes statement about narcotic raids, Washington, D.C., HCOc121r6, X1783, HNRv6n223./ Rights held by UCLA Film and Television Archive.
General Info: Version: Released sound track version. Other Titles: Mr. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, makes statement about narcotic raids, Washington, D.C. Hearst production footage, HCOc121r6, X1783, HNRv6n223.
Material Type: Film (mot) : OCLC: 79896653
1934 - HEARST METROTONE NEWSREEL - [Vol. 6, no. 223]
MUSEUM COMMENT: This seems to be the same as the one above except that the footage has NOT been edited.
LIBRARY INDEX DATA: Title: [Mr. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, makes statement about narcotic raids--Washington, D.C. Hearst production footage, HCOc121r6, X1783, HNRv6n223].
Author(s): Anslinger, H. J.; 1892- ; (Harry Jacob), Year: 1934
Note(s): Unedited newsreel footage. Excludes some released sequences which had been removed and used in: Hearst Metrotone news. Vol. 6, no.223--excerpt. Hundreds arrested in drive on dope./ Rights held by UCLA Film and Television Archive. Accession No: OCLC: 77651073
July 14, 1934 – HEARST METROTONE NEWSREEL - [Vol. 5, no. 284]
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following info is taken directly from the UCLA film archive library index.
LIBRARY INDEX DATA: Excerpt. 250,000 dollars in narcotics seized by the New York police goes up in smoke--New York City].
Series: - Metrotone snapshots Notes:
Released sound track version.
Summary: Includes footage of opium, marijuana, pipes, furnace oven.
Rights held by UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Newsreels.Shorts. Database control #: 04-AAE-8487
Oct 22, 1934 - HEARST METROTONE NEWSREEL . [Vol. 6, no. 209--excerpt]
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following info is taken directly from the UCLA film archive library index.
LIBRARY INDEX DATA: Brooklyn, N.Y.--[dope garden in city backyard. New York police make startling discovery after peddler's arrest for selling dangerous marijuana to soldiers at Governor's Island, New York].
Published: United States : Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, [1934-10-22]
Location: UCLA Film and Television Archive
Location: CLU-FT, FTAARSC --- Call Number: VA12752 M
AVAILABILITY: Study Copy. Available for on site viewing only. NOTES: Slate title: Hauptmann II, HNR 6.209. Ninth on 26-minute videocassette with 15 other newsreel segments. Other Information: AVAILABILITY: Research Copy. Usually available for on site viewing, some restrictions may apply. ADDITIONAL PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Academy aperture print reproduced from Movietone aperture neg. NOTES: Seventh on 1000-ft. reel with the other 9 stories originally released as part of this issue. Physical details: 1 reel of 1 : opt sd., b&w ; 35 mm. safety print.
Center for further information. Reproduced by UCLA Film and Television Archive from 1/4 in. re-recorded mag trk (XAF465 M). Reproduction of footage to which UCLA holds the rights, 1986. XFE942 M
Physical details: 1 reel of 1 : opt sd. ; 35 mm. re-recorded safety prsv dupe trk neg.
SUMMARY: A view of the backyard, showing marijuana plants. Officers examine the plants. Captain John J. Mooney of the narcotics squad explains that the weed is made into cigarettes called "sticks" or "reefers," and that "the constant juice of these cigarettes causes temporary insanity."
Record ID: CULF04AAE8586-F
October 25, 1934 - HEARST METROTONE NEWSREEL
[Detectives find marijuana growing in Brooklyn --New York City.
MUSEUM COMMENT: The following info is taken directly from the UCLA film archive library index.
LIBRARY INDEX DATA: Hearst production footage, HCOc24r2, X671]. Published: [1934]
Location: UCLA Film and Television Archive
Location: CLU-FT, FTAARSC Call Number: VA5918 M
Other Information: AVAILABILITY: Study Copy. Available for on site viewing only. Fifth on 25-minute videocassette with 6 other newsreel segments. REPRODUCTION: Reproduced by the UCLA Film and Television Archive from 3/4 in. videocassette (ZVB526 M). Reproduction of footage to which UCLA owns the rights, 1997. VA5918 M
Location: CLU-FT, FTACOMS --- Call Number: ZVB526 M
Other Information: AVAILABILITY: Restricted use; Commercial Services preview cassette.Research Copy. Usually available for on site viewing, some restrictions may apply. NOTES: Slate title: Narcotics, tape 1. Fifth on 25-minute videocassette with 6 other newsreel segments. Physical details: 1 videocassette of 1 (5 min., 40 sec.) : sd., b&w ; 3/4 in.
Other Information: AVAILABILITY: Conservation copy.Archival copy. Not available for viewing. Contact the Research and Study Center for further information. NOTES: Slate title: Narcotics, tape 1. Fifth on 25-minute videoreel with 6 other newsreel segments. REPRODUCTION: Reproduced by the UCLA Film and Television Archive from 35 mm. nitrate comp negSubjects: Mooney, John J.
Newsreels--Unedited footage. Genre Or Form: Outtakes.
Notes: Excludes some released sequences which had been removed and used in an unidentified Hearst Metrotone news issue.
Probable date based on Hearst index card file date (October 25, 1934).
Rights held by UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Contents: Shot description: Captain Mooney of narcotic squad and detectives looking over field of marijuana (long shot). Captain Mooney looking over large bush of marijuana. Captain Moooney explaining use of drug (close-up). Captain Mooney with weed and cigarette made from drug (close-up). Full field of marijuana (long shot) (Hearst index card). Record ID: CULF04AAD1821-F
Antique Andy’s - "Believe it or Nuts"
A NEW YORK BONFIRE GOES BAD -- REAL BAD
- THE NARC'S, EVERYONE ELSE, RUNS FOR IT.
FROM THE PAGES OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
[Oct. 19, 1934 p5] - “NARCOTIC BONFIRE ROUNTS OFFICIALS”
“NARCOTIC BONFIRE ROUNTS OFFICIALS”
Blast Sends Men to Cover as One Touches a Match to Gasoline-Soaked Weeds.
CAMERA MEN FLUSTERED
Only Two Record Scenes Staged for Their Benefit by Hickey, Geoghan and 2 Others
Two police officials and two prosecutors of New York City narrowly escaped being burned yesterday afternoon while doing a good turn for newsreel camera men and newspaper photographers during the ceremonious burning of a field of mariajuana in the rear of a tenement house at 189 Washington Street, Brooklyn.
The police took possession of the plot, almost an acre in size and bearing about half a ton of the narcotic weed, Wednesday afternoon after two detectives of the narcotic squad had raided a room at 17 Concord Street, near by, and arrested two men charged with the sale and possession of the plant.
Yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock Police Emergency Squad 13 under Sergeant George Nadler had finished the work of tearing up the roots of the plants and arranging the brush in several stacks about three feet high and ten feet across, and everything was ready for the ceremony of sending $50,000 worth of the weed, the estimated value of the crop, up in smoke.
Pose Around the Pyre.
Several police officials, District Attorney William F. X. Geoghan of Kings County and United States Attorney Leo Hickey of the Eastern district had come to watch the bonfires, and the photographers asked them to stand around one of the larger stacks as it was set afire.
Following the directions of the photographers, Mr. Geoghan, Mr. Hickey, Fifth Deputy Police Commissioner Martin H. Meaney and Captain Joseph Mooney, commander of the narcotic squad, assembled around the stack.
Mr. Geoghan was told to light the fire. With five newsreel cameras and a dozen hand cameras trained on the scene from the ground and from fire-escapes, he struck a match and lowered it to the base of the stack, which had been saturated with gasoline.
The result was a loud explosion and a blast of fire that rocked the four men back on their heels and so startled the newspaper photographers that only two of them remembered to click their shutters. The four officials jumped out of the way just in time.
Scene is Re-enacted
All were visibly shaken by the experience, but the photographers were not to be denied. As the flames went shooting skyward the photographers tried to reassure their routed subjects, and finally succeeded in persuading Mr. Geoghan to return to the business at hand.
He lighted another match and, advancing warily, set fire to another stack as cameras clicked on all sides.
Members of the emergency squad then went to the task of burning the remainder of the brush, while some of their number stood by with fire extinguishers and two firemen watched from an adjoining roof with a high-pressure hose in their hands.
The field is surrounded on all sides by tenement houses. Windows and fire escapes served as vantage points for the occupants as they watched the show in their back-yard. . . more
* NOTE: This picture was actually taken two years AFTER the event in question. We were not able to obtain an actual photo from the event, but this one looks about right.
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REEFER MADNESS FILM INDEX |
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REEFER MADNESS ERA FILMS |
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WANT TO KNOW MORE:
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Due to space / download time considerations, only selected materials are displayed. If you would like to obtain more information, feel free to contact the museum. All our material is available (at cost) on CD-Rom format. Please contact: antique_andy@catholic.org