IMDb user comments for
Tell Your Children (1936)

advertisement

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 9:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Index

90 comments in total

---

43 out of 55 people found the following comment useful :-
Ahh, the days of good old fashioned American misinformation!, 11 April 2004
Author: Bothan from Birmingham, Alabama

Ahh, good old fashioned American 1930s propaganda, a world where ignorance and misinformation can live in blissful harmony and there isn't an opposing point of view to offend the eye.

There were thousands of such films in the 30s (several of which I've seen) most of which were aimed at young teens to deter them from a life that includes such scourges as alcohol and drugs but also such hedonistic crimes as jazz music and short skirts. You see how well it worked.

Realizing that prohibition didn't work, doctors and scientists of the time tried to make proof positive that young folks didn't fall into the traps of such devilish delights as jazz, liquor, sex and dancing, all of which was believed to have spun off from the briefest exposure to marijuana. There were thousands of these movies with one bizarre title after another such as Why it's Named Dope, The Dope on Dope, Pot is only for Cooking, Say Nope to Dope and the great Marihuana, the Weed with Roots to Hell! (That's the one where the girl carrying the Bible walks into a pot party, instantly gets high and jumps out a 40-story window). But the most insane of the bunch is Reefer Madness, a dated propaganda film made in 1937 that is so bad it gained a cult following.

I realize 30s culture was a little less informed about drug use then we are here in the 21st Century and with that I embarked on the odyssey of Reefer Madness with a song in my heart. What I got was one of the funniest movies ever made, a head-butt to young teens that if they make one false move then a life of hell-strung disaster awaits.

I am not, it should be said, an advocate for the legalization of marijuana. I do not believe that making it legal will solve the problem. I do however find this movie's point of view very curious. It not only sees marijuana as an epidemic but a plague, a holocaust, a vicious and vile subverted mass devil possession that once it gets it's claws into you can only lead to a violent and ugly demise for which the pits of Hell await you. And that's just for the first puff.

The movie opens with a crawl that explains that marijuana is - The Real Public Enemy Number ONE!! - it further explains that the symptoms of the drug include "sudden violent uncontrollable laughter then some dangerous hallucinations - space expands - times slows almost . . . fixed". Then we are taken to a very ugly looking school principal named Dr. Carroll who stands before the PTA and bellows about the scourge, reminding us of every conceivable hiding place from shoe heels to watch cases to the inseams of sports jackets (curiously, he fails to mention pockets).

He further goes on to explain how the federal government knows how to identify the substance and that if it is found, they dispose of it. How? "Recently in Brooklyn" he tells us "an acre of marijuana field was found the by federal agents who wrapped it up and threw it into a nearby incinerator." He fails to mention however that throwing 200 pounds of marijuana into a public furnace might not be such a hot idea.

His exhaustive example falls on the heads of Bill and Mary, two white bred teens in the 1930s that not only look impervious to a life of crime but are, in fact, so perfectly innocent that they might not be quite sure what a life of crime actually is.

Bill is a clean cut American lad. He salutes the flag, he drinks his milk, his suit is pressed and if he were any stiffer he'd have rigor mortis. He's the perfect American 30s male, white, toothy, ready for a life of patriarchal rule and inanities such as "A man is the king of his castle, and "I'm putting my foot down." Mary isn't much better in her cotton dress, her pointed brassiere, her Dorothy McGuire hairstyle and her perfectly perfect perfect face. These two wouldn't DARE leave the house without partaking of mother's big, fat greasy breakfast.

One day, on the way home from school, Bill is enticed by Mae and Jack, a couple of weed wackos to go to their apartment for a little party. He likes the stuff and keeps going back where he makes nice with Blanche and Ralph, slaves to the dope. One of the best scenes involves a girl, joint in mouth, playing the piano and a paranoid Ralph yelling, "Faster! Faster!" until finally she's playing a frenzied solo.

Bill's problems begin one day he after one puff of a very potent joint and beds down with *gasp* a girl!

Meanwhile Mary tracks him down but falls for the old cigarette switch and is suddenly giggling like a school girl while Ralph, a wide-eye lunatic with rings under he eyes, tries to make time with her. When she resists and begins screaming, Bill runs out, still under the influence of the evil weed, hallucinates and blacks out at the same time and Jack accidentally shoots Mary.

Jack pins the blame on Bill, who is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Only Ralph and Blanche know the truth, and they're stowed away in Jack's apartment for the duration of the trial, with a piano and the mother load of weed.

The best scene in the movie happens at Bill's trial where Dr. Carroll gets time for more chin music. He explains that he can tell Bill was using the dangerous drug because he seemed to exhibit symptoms of a "disassociation of ideas" (that's the first time that I've ever heard of drugs begin blamed for a person becoming creatively bankrupt).

I can understand a movie that is dated beyond all reason but Reefer Madness brings it to a fever pitch, especially when dolling out such nuggets of information as the idea that a young man playing tennis "missed the ball by three or four feet".

Next Wimbledon, these eyes are wide open!!

---

27 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
The Gone with the Wind of 30's Exploitation Films, 28 August 1999

Author: Cindy Collins Smith from Falls Church, VA

Because of 70's NORML propaganda falsely claiming that the FBI sponsored Reefer Madness, most viewers believe that this Exploitation classic was meant to be taken seriously. Not so! Thelma White (Mae) has noted in interviews that the producers and director Louis Gasnier asked the cast to "hoke it up." The famous "Faster, Faster" scene is, in fact, a direct parody of a similar scene in the classic musical 42nd Street (a scene in which Dave O'Brien--Ralph in Reefer Madness--played a chorus boy).

So why make a cautionary tale, but do so tongue-in-cheek? Simple. To get around the Hays Code and show more skin than the Code allowed...but also to capitalize on the public's fear of drugs. Either way, the producers made a ton of money on the Exploitation circuit--more than covering their costs for this relatively expensive sub-Poverty Row production.

Made over the course of 3 weeks (most Exploitation films were shot in a few days), using an experienced director and a couple of talented actors who went on to have respectable careers in Hollywood, Reefer Madness is quite simply the finest Exploitation film to come out of the 30's.

The film's funny, is it? Well, the folks who made it thought so too. And they laughed all the way to the bank.

---

14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
It's 10 o'clock. Do you know why your children are cackling insanely?, 15 March 2007
Author: JoshSpurling from Greenfield, IN USA

"Reefer Madness" (originally "Tell Your Children") was created to teach parents that it's never too early to scare the holy crap out of your kids. Through this film we learn that the soul-destroying effects of Marihuana (Mike Nelson explains in the commentary that this film was made before the invention of the letter J) far surpass those of cocaine or heroin. We see firsthand that even teens who can quote Shakespeare like nobody's business cannot escape its evils.

Here are some of the symptoms of casual Marihuana use:

- laughing maniacally while running people down in the street

- playing the piano too fast

- having sexual relations with people you don't really like that much

- accidentally shooting people you do like pretty well

- having no recollection of being framed for murder

If your child has experienced any of these symptoms, he or she is a Marihuana addict. The solution is simple: force them to watch "Reefer Madness" because if we don't heed its warning, "Reefer Madness 2" will be coming to a theater near you or you... OR YOU!

---

19 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
The madness...the madness!, 31 December 2003
Author: perni from Owensboro, KY

Believe it or not, but I just bought this a couple of days ago on DVD for a little over six bucks! And trust me, Reefer Madness is worth the money, since it is one of the funnier propaganda films to come out of the 1930s. While the DVD doesn't contain a lot of extras, you do get a short biography on the star of the film, along with a look at the original poster for Reefer Madness and trivia questions! If you want to check this movie out some time, I would advise waiting until the Special Edition comes out in April. Why? Because MST3k host Mike Nelson will provide audio commentary for the film! I'll definitely have to get the new DVD if Nelson himself is involved. And really, this film is rife for commentary. Right from the start we got a pre-Star Wars crawl which basically states while the film's characters and plot are entirely fictional, they are based on a true story which could happen to you...or you...or YOU! It is here where I laughed the hardest, as later on things get pretty grim in a Days of Our Lives sort of way. I especially liked how the word "marijuana" was spelled "marihuana" in the film. I have no idea when or why the spelling of this word changed, but it was still amusing. Also, the DVD's scene index lists one of the scenes as "principle's office." They couldn't even spell the word "principal" right! I mean, you can't actually go to the office of a principle, can you? Darn right ya can't! Anyway, back to the movie. As I said, it's a very enthusiastic propaganda film which lies back and forth about the effects of "marihuana" so as to scare parents into discussing the drug with their children (hence the original title, Tell Your Children...think of them, please!!!). What are some of the effects of the deadly, demonic, and just plain EVIL marihuana? Well, first you laugh (gasp!), then hallucinate (double gasp!), and then you begin committing acts of random violence (triple gasp!). The teens are all portrayed by men and women with receding hairlines and wrinkles, making me quite confused. I literally sat there wondering, "Why would adults be hanging out with these younger kids? Oh...they're all supposed to be kids? Um, okay, sure. What the heck." The principal (principle?) in the movie is equally funny, as during the murder trial of a kid who smoked dope and supposedly shot his girlfriend he lists many instances when he thought the kid was high. His testimony: Bill started laughing during a very serious discussion on Shakespeare (blasphemy!), and also missed the ball by a good 3-4 feet during a tennis match (good holy gravy!). How would this kind of testimony hold up in court? Maybe the kid just remembered a good joke during class and isn't any good at tennis? Did anyone think of that, huh? Huh? As for the murder itself, it's also completely moronic and unbelievable. First off, the gun is aimed at the floor but somehow manages to shoot the girl in the back. Then when we see the wound it's about the size of a mosquito bite with no blood whatsoever. Ah, the wonders of 1930s Hollywood makeup! Much more awaits the viewer of Reefer Madness, including a crazed piano player who's "hot" on the "dope" and about to "crack" (these kids with their drug lingo!) and an odd scene where the main character's little brother pines about his model airplane for what seems like an eternity. Seeing as how this story is supposedly being related to us by the principal, why would he have bothered to include the aforementioned scene? And how did he know about it in the first place? Did he interrogate the little brother? Hoo boy, so many questions about continuity. Oh well, I guess I'll leave them to be answered by you good folks. Enjoy! 1/4 stars

---

13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
1930's potheads become hopelessly and incurably insane?, 10 March 1999

Author: Doug Galecawitz (dougg@evilnet.net) from Lisle, IL

This movie is funny. Not just regular funny but inexplicably funny. I wish public schools all over the country would show this movie in classes. This cult classic gives what is supposed to be a serious warning of the dangers of marijuana. Instead the over exaggeration of the side effects of weed become un-intentionally and absurdly funny. I smoked grass in my day but I sure haven't killed anyone yet. This movie is legendary. Anyone who has ever smoked should view this. Just if only to see how this whole silly "war on drugs" thing got started. Is pot ever to be legalized? Probably not so long as there are people who take this movie seriously. As for the rest of us laugh yourself into hopeless and incurible insanity for 67 minutes.

---

16 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun fun fun till daddy takes your ganja away....., 17 November 1998
Author: Josef Rosenberg (tjm@shaw.wave.ca) from Canada

Of the many scholastic films Ive seen in my time, this has to be the most hilarious piece of tripe ive ever seen. The setting is a small urban town, in the mid thirties. Everyones all happy, and everyone seems normal, that is, everyone BUT the shifty, shady, marijuana dealers who look just like *Gasp* you and me! They look so normal, lure your children into their home, and sell them exotic herbs from far away places! All whilst turning your children into sex maniacs, one puff hookers, and violent terrorists high on life (and that's not all!) Fun for the whole family (well...it all depends on your family...), this is a great flick, worth the watch! - "Two Green Thumbs Up!" Joe & Jay

---

14 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Well. it's an alternative classic, 18 December 2004

Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA

Believe the hype. This is one of the most hilariously over-the-top pieces of propaganda ever committed to celluloid. It's constantly unintentionally hilarious, especially Dave O'Brein's performance as Ralph.

So, what happens when a bunch of clean-cut teenagers (who strangely look like they're in their thirties) take one of puff of the evil vile devil's weed? They become homicidal perverted rapist dope-head fiends! There is so much useful information to be obtained from this film. For instance, did you know that marijuana is worse than cocaine? Or did you know how to hide your joints in your high heel shoes? Or that marijuana causes lifetime insanity? It's all here in this underground cult classic. (5/10)

---

8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
"Tell your children.", 26 October 2004

Author: classicsoncall from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If the producers of "Reefer Madness" had intended to produce a campy, neurotic cult film, they could not have succeeded better. Of course, the film had a different intent, to portray the "frightful toll of the new drug menace - Marihuana is that drug - a violent narcotic - the real Public Enemy Number One"!

The film does have it's seedy moments in capturing the smoky atmosphere of the local drug hangout, where dope pushers bring their unwary teenage victims to turn them on to marijuana's excesses. But it takes a huge leap to make the connection between it's casual use and the resulting consequences of hit and run driving, rape, and even murder.

There are some memorable scenes - the frenetic piano player reminiscent of Seinfeld's Kramer, the attempted seduction scene of high schooler Mary witnessed by her boyfriend Bill, the aforementioned car accident involving Mary's brother Jimmy, and the jury room scene deciding Bill's fate where the light pull resembles a hangman's noose.

The film today is an incredible period piece that makes one think about how society perceived drug use and how the government attempted to influence behavior. For that it's worth viewing, if only once to experience it's cultish appeal.

---

7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best of the Bad Films of the 1930s?, 22 September 2007

Author: theowinthrop from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Misinforming, pompous, self-righteous (in the figure of the school official played by Joseph Forte), TELL YOUR CHILDREN (better known as REEFER MADNESS) is usually pushed as one of the worst films ever made. It made the Medved Brothers FIFTY WORST FILMS book, along with such dreck as ROBOT MONSTER, but is revived and revivable more than most of the titles in that list/book. Why?

My guess is that it is more than the idiotic view of marijuana cigarettes and drug addiction. Or the sometimes ridiculous dialog (why would some teenager state that he never drinks that stuff, meaning he never drinks sodas?). I think it is the fascination this film brings to us because it has things working for it, and it is unique for it's time and place, and it does give us a view of what the public of the 1930s would accept or reject for discussion.

I mentioned a few days ago that the movie FLESH AND THE DEVIL (from the 1920s) had a bad script which should have built up on a theme of homosexual love between Lars Hanson and John Gilbert, the close friends competing for Greta Garbo. But, as I said, the America of Calvin Coolidge would not tolerate open discussion of homosexuality. So the two male stars had to use their all to show their friendship was deeper than a friendship.

Similarly drug addiction was not a topic of deep discussion in the 1920s or 1930s or earlier. Yet it existed. Mark Twain, in his AUTOBIOGRAPHY, mentions Charles Webster, his business partner whose mistakes caused the failure of their publishing house, as addicted to over-the-counter drugs, and states that in America (in the 1890s) it was easy to become a self-poisoner this way. That comment is the sole one I have ever found in 19th Century literature regarding drug addiction, and Twain's Autobiography was not completely published until the 1960s, edited by Charles Neider.

The movie record is tricky. I have seen only two films that mention drugs at all. One is Charlie Chaplin's EASY STREET, where the tramp (here a policeman confronting Eric Campbell and his gang in a slum) accidentally sits on a needle with some drug (cocaine, I suspect) and it gives his adrenalin a lift. The other is another Chaplin film (whose title I unfortunately can't recall) wherein somebody is shown using the "notorious nose powders". Leave it to America's greatest writer and the English-born film giant to be the only two who had the guts to discuss the matter.

But aside from them there was nothing. No film of stature was made of the trafficking in drugs until TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH...IN THE 1940s! Hard to believe isn't it? Yet we know, if studying the history of organized crime and earlier criminals, that gangs did deal in drugs. It was even then a big business. Capone had a whole section of his empire in Chicago devoted to drug sales, along with prostitution, with illegal booze, and with union racketeering. But it rarely was talked about. Can anyone recall a film with Robinson or Cagney or Raft or Bogart dealing with drugs?

The Chinese opium trade was an exception: but it was basically seen as involving Chinese addicts only, not most Americans (a very naive view, but one clung to by most Americans).

Now into this hole comes this two-bit film which tries to tackle the threat of drugs to American Youth. It would not be until Samuel Fuller's UNDERWORLD USA in the 1950s that the subject is tackled again so forcefully (Fuller, being a better director, and having Cliff Robertson and Robert Emhart in his cast, does better with the subject).

So from want of any alternative, REEFER MADNESS is in a unique position to be notable from the start. It also is lucky to have at least two notable actors. Dave O'Brien is better recalled for the many Pete Smith comedy shorts he did, but his "Ralph" driven crazy to kill another character by reefers is his best remembered performance. Actually, while we realize today that reefers don't do that kind of damage to most people as this film suggests, O'Brien shows by his skittishness and twisting precisely what drug addiction to say cocaine or morphine would do to people - particularly when he is forced into hiding and is somewhat going cold turkey at times. He had done his homework, if the screenwriters did not.

The other was Carleton Young. Young would become among the last actors adopted in the John Ford circle in the late 1950s and early 1960s, most notably in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALENCE and SERGEANT RUTLEDGE. Under that master's hands he gave wonderful performances. His performance as the drug dealer Jack Perry is a fair one, given the lesser director he has here.

So the film does have some things going for it, even if it over the top in condemning reefers over stronger drugs. I know it is no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not the worst film in the world - it's the best bad film of the 1930s.

---

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Faster!! FASTER!!!, 7 November 2005

Author: Spuzzlightyear from Vancouver

Fairly mindblowing (excuse the expression!!) expose about the EVIL SCOURGE that is marihuana! Bill is a clean cut kid, with a nice family and girlfriend and what not, but after he hangs around with the wrong crowd and smoking the devil's weed, why he's a menace 2 society!! Pretty soon he's at every doper's party causing all kinds of bedlam, unknowingly bringing his kid sister into the world as well! All of this of course, id played absolutely seriously, and this doubles the laughs on this one. The fact that marihuana is played up to be even more dangerous then Opium is rather curious, and the fact that it can make you laugh deliriously and giggle to no end is another thing I didn't know. Also, apropos of nothing, beware of courts located high in office buildings that have convenient open windows.

Nutty and crazy, this is not THE funniest worst movie you'll see, but it's still quite amazing to watch.

---

---

Page 1 of 9:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Amazon.com summary
Ratings	Newsgroup reviews	External reviews
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history