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According to this film, Marihuana - in fact a comparatively harmless,
non-addictive drug - is America's public enemy number one, even more
dangerous than heroin & the like, & a scourge to mankind. &
the film has a story that tries to prove it:
Mae (Thelma White) & Jack (Carleton Young) run a little drug den in
Mae's own appartment, where she holds drug parties every evening, while
he, together with Ralph (Dave O'Brien), one of his best customers, try to
lure highschool kids to Mae's place, with considerable success, as it
seems.
Among those Jack & Ralph lure in is young & innocent Jimmy
(Warren McCollum), who soon enough falls for the drug, & he even
persuades Billy (Kenneth Craig), the boyfriend of his sister Mary (Dorothy
Short), to accompany him to Mae's ... where Billy soon enough falls for
the drug as well, ans for lovely Marihuana addict Blanche (Lillian Miles),
who soon enough makes him forget Mary.
Then though, Jimmy runs oer a passer-by while high on drugs, & from
then on Jack has him under his thumb.
Mary meanwhile knows nothing about her brother's & her boyfriend's
drug habits, &, wondering what he's been up to lately, goes looking
for Billy & soon enough someone gives her Mae's adress. There though
she doesn't meet Billy (he is in bed with Blanche, just in the next room),
but Ralph, who has always had the hots for her & hands her a reefer,
pretending it's a regular cigarette. Soon she starts giggling violently,
& soon too he tries to rape her ... when Billy rushes in, the 2 men
get into a fight & Billy knocks him out. Then Jack rushes in as well,
to calm down Ralph, but accidently a shot is fired that kills poor Mary.
Jack immediately makes up a plan that not only frames Billy but also
convinces him that he really is guilty ... & soon enough he is tried
& convicted to death.
Jack & Mae should be in the clear now, but they still have one
problem: Ralph & Blanche, whom they hid during the whole trial (so
neither of them can talk), & while Blanche takes this confinement
reasonably well, Ralph becomes more & more paranoid, & needs more
& more marihuana ... but still, eventually, rather out of the blue, he
kills Jack.
A neighbour calls the police, & soon enough, Jack, Mae & Blanche
are arrested, & with their testimonies the police can crack down on a
marihuana ring. & thanks to Blanche' testimony, Billy escapes the
gallows, while Jack is declared insane.
& in the end, out of remorse, Blanche throws herself out of a
window.
One of the most (in-)famous 1930's drug scare movies, full of
misinformation about marihuana, a silly, clichéd & essentuially
non-topical story about the effects of the drug, & featuring plenty of
preachy monologues. & later B-cowboy Dave O'Brien's performance as the
violently giggling drug addict is ... well, bizarre. In other words,
watch it.
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