Marihuana (1936/I)

Director:

Dwain Esper

Writers:

Hildegarde Stadie (story)
Rex Elgin (continuity)

Release Date:

May 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Daring drug expose'

Plot:

A young girl slowly becomes a dope pusher.

Plot Keywords:

USA | Dance Club | Pacific Ocean | Los Angeles California | Propaganda

Cast

Harley Wood	...	Burma Roberts aka 'Blondie'
Hugh McArthur	...	Dick Collier
Pat Carlyle	...	Nickolas 'Nicki' Romero
Paul Ellis	...	Tony Santello
Dorothy Dehn	...	Elaine Roberts Stewart
Richard Erskine	...	Morgan Stewart
Juanita Fletcher	...	Mrs. Roberts (as Juanita Crosland)
Hal Taggart	...	Burma's Customer's Fiancée
Gloria Browne	...	Gloria, The Child (as Gloria Brown)

Also Known As:

Marihuana, the Devil's Weed (USA) (reissue title)
Marihuana, the Weed with Roots in Hell! (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

57 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Roadshow Attractions Inc.

Trivia:

The original trailer for the film included a shot of a girl's leg getting grabbed at the weenie roast, and a close-up of hands clutching for a row of needles. These shots do not appear in the final film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Sally, the oldest-looking teenager with the dark braided hair, closes the door to the undressing room twice. First when the girls enter, then as they start stripping down.

Quotes:

Tony Montello: The way your customers are hooked on the stronger stuff, like cocaine and heroin, you'll soon be ice queen of the snow peddlers.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Casting Couch (1995) (V)

Soundtrack:

Egmont

Meet the poor cousin of "Reefer Madness"

Based on the script and technical aspects of this film, I should have rated it "one star." But I'm giving it a five because it's so campy that it's worth a few laughs. And I am not a doper...I've never even inhaled! This is definitely the poor relation of "Reefer Madness," which has higher technical quality and is more entertaining overall. "Marihuana" is just jaw-droppingly awful, with weed blamed for virtually all vices, many of which are shown on screen (including...gasp...spraying a woman's backside with soda!). The budget was so low that the producers used classical music clips instead of a real soundtrack, so the dangers of dope are underscored by Strauss, Liszt, and others.

This is just a nasty little low-budget exploitation film, using the dope scare as an excuse to titillate the audience.