REEFER MADNESS
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Year Published: 1936
Format: 16mm
Description: Part 1: • " REEFER MADNESS " CLASSIC 1936 ANTI-... Directed by Louis J. Gasnier, produced by George Hirliman, and featuring a screenplay by Arthur Hoerl, the melodramatic film "Reefer Madness" was initially released in 1936. It was supposedly shot in three weeks. The film was inspired by an actual case, in which a psychopath named Victor Licata killed his entire family while allegedly under the influence of pot (later he was determined to be schizophrenic). Here, the plot centers around a group of drug dealers who entrap innocent teenagers and lead them down the fatal path of addiction, with hot jazz parties as the bait and "reefer" cigarettes used as the gateway drug. Financed by a church group, the movie (originally titled "Tell Your Children") was of course planned as a morality tale and, essentially, as a scare film that would educate naive parents about the dangers of cannabis use and the hazards of drug dependence. Due to its low budget, reliance on a weak plot and amateur actors, and a host of other flaws, the film was both a critical and box office failure. However, it later achieved cult status and a form of redemption, financial and otherwise. A critical moment in the story occurred when all rights to "Tell Your Children" were purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who specialized in releasing films on the so-called exploitation circuit. Esper, whose previous credits included the short "How to Undress in Front of Your Husband" and "Maniac" aka "Sex Maniac", recut the film to emphasize its tawdry aspects and released and re-released it as "Reefer Madness", "Doped Youth" and "The Burning Question". The film proved to be a hit and had a long run, although Esper did not bother to protect the film's copyright. Decades later, the film was widely shown as a fundraiser for an organization promoting marijuana legalization and as a midnight movie. It eventually became regarded as one of the worst films ever made, or at least as the first or earliest film to ever have the distinction of enjoying a fan base because it was so awful.
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Transcription
[Music] i know what you want you want to kill me you're crazy take it easy kid i just want to talk to [Music] you [Music] there's a terrible fight going on yeah yeah upon [Music] is stop it give me a glass of water i was behind you no no no go hang if you don't fall no all right sorry are you ready to tell what you know [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] if we can gain some measure of leniency for my client she is prepared to enter a plea of guilty and in addition turns faith evidence in the case of william harper i regret that this court is not prepared to bargain with justice i'll tell anyway i was there i thought i know who killed mary and i'll tell you who killed mary lane it wasn't bill it was jack jack perry he shot mary and then he put the gun in bill's hands we were all at the department one afternoon and mary came in looking for her brother bill and i we've been in another room and bill came in he caught ralph was married and he started to fight but it was jack who had the gun he was gonna hit them over the head with us to make him stop and then the gun went off i thought i could say it now it was horrible and before i knew mary was dead but you see judge bill didn't know he hadn't killed mary he was so doped up they made him think he had ralph wanted to tell you too oh this is the scooter's judge i'm telling you that's true after jack saw the plane was there he put the gun in bill's hand it was jack's phone and it was my fault too i got all of them to come up to the apartment i'm just as much to bring i am do i understand you wish to plead guilty to a charge of fostering moral delinquency in the case of william harper yes yes i am a fair statement for signature and also an order setting aside the jury's verdict in the case of the people versus william harper in the interests of justice i shall direct the verdict of not guilty [Applause] sign here please you shall be brought into court on thursday the 17th when sentence will be pronounced meanwhile you will be held as a material witness in the case of the people versus ralph wiley [Music] we've come in the hearings before this court today to what i hope will be the final actions revolving about an unhappy and unfortunate case one whose horrible tragedy will forever remain with me i am happy to have been enabled before it was too late to order the verdict of the jury in the case of the people versus william harper to be set aside but young man although this court is convinced that to declare you guilty would have been a gross miscarriage of justice we cannot condone your acts and we can express only the hope that your experiences may not alone keep you but thousands of others from the vicious pitfalls of marijuana thus i am ordering you to remain in this court during the next case so that you will be obliged to witness what you yourself so narrowly escape call the case of the people versus ralph wiley phil your honor in this case the state waves trial of the defendant ralph wiley it is convinced that he is hopelessly incurably insane a condition caused by the drug marijuana to which he was addicted it is recommended your honor that the defendant be placed at an institution for the criminally insane for the rest of his natural life defendant council joins the state in this request since council for the defense as well as council for the state seem to agree on this i see no reason why the request should not be granted yes that happened right here to your neighbors it is not too much to say that in your hands lies the possibility of averting other tragedies like we must work untiringly so that our children are obliged to learn the truth because it is only through knowledge that we can safely protect them failing this the next tragedy may be that of your daughter or your son or yours or yours or yours [Music] you
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