Assassin of Youth (
1937The year 1937 in film involved some significant events.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US.*May 7 - Shall We Dance premieres in the US.-Top grossing films:#Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs#Maytime#Saratoga...
) is an
exploitation filmExploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. Thus, films need something to "exploit", such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
directed by Elmer Clifton. It is a pre-
WWIIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
movie about the ill effects of
cannabisCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
. The movie is often considered a clone of the much more famous
Reefer Madness (sharing cast member
Dorothy ShortDorothy Short was an American film actress mainly in low-budget westerns and serials in the 1930s and 1940s.A native of Philadelphia, she married actor Dave O'Brien in 1936, the same year they appeared together in the low-budget exploitation cheapie Reefer Madness, which in modern times has become...
). The thriller reflects perfectly the anti-drug
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
of its time.
The journalist Art Brighton goes
undercoverBeing undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
to investigate the granddaughter of a recently deceased rich woman, killed in a drug-related car crash.
Assassin of Youth (
1937The year 1937 in film involved some significant events.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US.*May 7 - Shall We Dance premieres in the US.-Top grossing films:#Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs#Maytime#Saratoga...
) is an
exploitation filmExploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. Thus, films need something to "exploit", such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
directed by Elmer Clifton. It is a pre-
WWIIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
movie about the ill effects of
cannabisCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
. The movie is often considered a clone of the much more famous
Reefer Madness (sharing cast member
Dorothy ShortDorothy Short was an American film actress mainly in low-budget westerns and serials in the 1930s and 1940s.A native of Philadelphia, she married actor Dave O'Brien in 1936, the same year they appeared together in the low-budget exploitation cheapie Reefer Madness, which in modern times has become...
). The thriller reflects perfectly the anti-drug
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
of its time.
Synopsis
The journalist Art Brighton goes
undercoverBeing undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
to investigate the granddaughter of a recently deceased rich woman, killed in a drug-related car crash. The girl, Joan Barrie, will inherit the fortune of her grandmother if she is able to fulfill a morals clause in the will. Joan's cousin Linda Clayton and her husband Jack will try to frame Joan to acquire the fortune themselves.
The journalist tries to save Joan and dismantle the criminal gang of marijuana-dealing youths to which Linda belongs. While the newspaper tries to show the horrible dangers of marijuana to the general public, violence scales in the town in the form of obscene all-night drug parties where anything can happen.
Reference to article by Harry J. Anslinger
The film's title refers to an article of the same year by U.S. "
drug czarDrug Czar is an informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in the United States, following the U.S. use of the 'czar' term. The 'drug czar' title was first published in a 1982 news story by United Press International which reported that “Senators... voted 62-34 to establish a...
"
Harry J. AnslingerHarry Jacob Anslinger held office as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930.He held office an unprecedented 32 years in his role Harry Jacob...
that appeared in
The American Magazine and was reprinted in
Reader's DigestReader's Digest is a monthly general-interest family magazine co-founded in 1922 by Lila Bell Wallace and DeWitt Wallace, and based in Chappaqua, New York, United States of America...
in 1938. That article briefly mentions several stories from his "Gore file" of tragedies allegedly caused by marijuana. The movie's tone echoes those of Anslinger's cautionary tales.
Controversy
The film contained some mild
nudityNudity is the state of wearing no clothing.It is related to the concept of modesty and is sometimes used to refer to wearing significantly less clothing than expected by the conventions of a particular culture and situation, and in particular exposing the bare skin or intimate...
scenes, which were subject to
censorshipCensorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor.-Rationale:...
in some cases. The movie is nowadays considered anti-marijuana propaganda, and often viewed in B-series marathons.
External links