This is a film often thought of as propaganda at its most blatant . Some comments here indicate that it might have been produced as some kind of parody . Watching it you're certainly struck by the lack of both internal continuity and internal logic of REEFER MADNESS and you often become confused as to what point the film is trying to make
Take the opening foreword that claims marijuana is destroying the youth of America in increasingly large numbers because of its effects where time slows down and becomes fixed ... the loss of all power to resist physical emotions . It's interesting that there's very little in American culture of the 1930s that suggests youth was being affected by marijuana . Apart from this one can anyone name any other (in)famous films featuring marijuana ? Even the opening tirade by Dr Carroll shoots itself in the foot by stating there's many drug traffickers bringing the substance in to the country only to have the film point out later that it's a naturally growing substance in every American state so why the need for traffickers ? Probably because the film needs villains
On the subject of villainy ask yourself this - how well regarded a movie would this be if it had been set in the 1920s and the mobsters were peddling not dope but booze ? We're treated to a laughable scene where an erstwhile bootlegger tells his boss that he has qualms about giving weed to schoolkids only for his boss to state that if he doesn't do as he's told he'll be got rid off permanently . So when alcohol was legalised again the bootleggers stood outside school gates giving kids weed ? One can't help thinking there's a certain amount of artistic license going on . Certainly the mobsters aren't too bright as one tough guy allows himself to be driven around by someone who's just had a spliff to smoke . Be honest would you get in to a car with someone who's seriously toked up ? And if it's such a menace to society why not legalise it the same with alcohol ?
The story proper revolves around sweet couple Billy and Mary who are obviously so pious and virginal it's almost sickening . I actually felt happy for them when they were introduced to the joys of jazz and marijuana and why shouldn't I ? Is quoting Romeo And Juliet and tennis practice a satisfying substitute for premarital sex ? Surely if you're buying a car you should take it for a test drive ? There does seem to be more problems with the continuity and that is everyone seems to be hyperactive on every level at the drugs den . Maybe the drugs crowd are also snorting massive amounts of cocaine in the flat ? Certainly it can't be the marijuana because everyone seems to be smoking their spliffs like cigars - without inhaling . This all eventually leads to the death of Mary who accidentally gets shot after Billy saves her from getting raped . No matter how much dope they've ingested I'm sure if anyone was able to stop a rape they'd be able to remember the events . Strangely according to this film not only does weed stop you remembering being a hero it also affects the hearing . A bunch of stoners are in a flat where a woman screams but no one hears anything ? I think the Nazis used the same excuse at Nuremberg but they didn't claim to be on anything
Being a Hollywood movie from this period where The Hays Code was strictly enforced the innocent must be saved while the guilty must be punished no matter how contrived it may be and boy does REEFER MADNESS have a contrived ending . Wiley , the man who tried to rape Mary is to be gotten rid off by the mob but apparently drugs now make him telepathic so batters a mobster to death , is arrested and his fancy woman turns stoolie thereby letting Billy off the hook
As I said if the story had revolved around bootleggers in the prohibition era then this would have been a totally forgotten B movie . But since it has a hysterical tone against marijuana it has developed a cult following for entirely ironic reasons . There is scientific evidence that marijuana is linked to mental health problems depending on how young the user started taking the drug but to bombard people with propaganda that is obviously exaggerated and risible does more harm than good
Take the opening foreword that claims marijuana is destroying the youth of America in increasingly large numbers because of its effects where time slows down and becomes fixed ... the loss of all power to resist physical emotions . It's interesting that there's very little in American culture of the 1930s that suggests youth was being affected by marijuana . Apart from this one can anyone name any other (in)famous films featuring marijuana ? Even the opening tirade by Dr Carroll shoots itself in the foot by stating there's many drug traffickers bringing the substance in to the country only to have the film point out later that it's a naturally growing substance in every American state so why the need for traffickers ? Probably because the film needs villains
On the subject of villainy ask yourself this - how well regarded a movie would this be if it had been set in the 1920s and the mobsters were peddling not dope but booze ? We're treated to a laughable scene where an erstwhile bootlegger tells his boss that he has qualms about giving weed to schoolkids only for his boss to state that if he doesn't do as he's told he'll be got rid off permanently . So when alcohol was legalised again the bootleggers stood outside school gates giving kids weed ? One can't help thinking there's a certain amount of artistic license going on . Certainly the mobsters aren't too bright as one tough guy allows himself to be driven around by someone who's just had a spliff to smoke . Be honest would you get in to a car with someone who's seriously toked up ? And if it's such a menace to society why not legalise it the same with alcohol ?
The story proper revolves around sweet couple Billy and Mary who are obviously so pious and virginal it's almost sickening . I actually felt happy for them when they were introduced to the joys of jazz and marijuana and why shouldn't I ? Is quoting Romeo And Juliet and tennis practice a satisfying substitute for premarital sex ? Surely if you're buying a car you should take it for a test drive ? There does seem to be more problems with the continuity and that is everyone seems to be hyperactive on every level at the drugs den . Maybe the drugs crowd are also snorting massive amounts of cocaine in the flat ? Certainly it can't be the marijuana because everyone seems to be smoking their spliffs like cigars - without inhaling . This all eventually leads to the death of Mary who accidentally gets shot after Billy saves her from getting raped . No matter how much dope they've ingested I'm sure if anyone was able to stop a rape they'd be able to remember the events . Strangely according to this film not only does weed stop you remembering being a hero it also affects the hearing . A bunch of stoners are in a flat where a woman screams but no one hears anything ? I think the Nazis used the same excuse at Nuremberg but they didn't claim to be on anything
Being a Hollywood movie from this period where The Hays Code was strictly enforced the innocent must be saved while the guilty must be punished no matter how contrived it may be and boy does REEFER MADNESS have a contrived ending . Wiley , the man who tried to rape Mary is to be gotten rid off by the mob but apparently drugs now make him telepathic so batters a mobster to death , is arrested and his fancy woman turns stoolie thereby letting Billy off the hook
As I said if the story had revolved around bootleggers in the prohibition era then this would have been a totally forgotten B movie . But since it has a hysterical tone against marijuana it has developed a cult following for entirely ironic reasons . There is scientific evidence that marijuana is linked to mental health problems depending on how young the user started taking the drug but to bombard people with propaganda that is obviously exaggerated and risible does more harm than good