An Innocent young woman is seduced into pot parties,a wedlock baby, and eventually, into pushing drugs for a professional ring.Naturally, no one expects artistry from these exploitation flicks. Instead, audiences expected more titillation than usually allowed under Hollywood's restrictive Production Code. Of course, the liberties were granted under the guise of educating the public on the menace of demon weed. However, I doubt anyone went to see this epic for its hyped-up pot warning. Instead, Dwain Esper's mid-1930's production has more peek-a-boo than usual, with a lot of nude scampering and uplifted skirts.Surprisingly, however, it's a better movie than at least I expected. Except for the exaggerated pot party, it plays pretty much like a standard Hollywood cheapie of the time. Actress Wood does a good job going from innocent fun-loving teen to hardened drug pusher. At the same time, director Esper adds some nice unexpected touches, such as Burma's descent reflected in her choice of shoes, a bad guy joining the innocence of the little girl, plus the final symbolic shot of the door closing. Also, the script integrates its central twist effectively into the narrative.Of course, these are minor virtues in an otherwise shoddy production. Still, they should not be overlooked. All in all, this cheapie plays more legitimately than most of its competitors from that campy category of sex, dope, and retribution.

Notorious exploitation film producer Dwain Esper of "Sex Madness" infamy helmed this anti-marihuana propaganda epic with a modicum of finesse. The Hildegarde Stadie screenplay chronicles a clueless young girl's downward spiral into a vortex of crime and narcotics trafficking because she inhaled the wicked demon weed. Indeed, grass emerges as a gateway drug in "Marihuana," but this low-budget melodrama lacks the campy quality of "Reefer Madness." Although both films pontificate about the perils of getting high, "Marihuana" adopts a more straightforward approach, and the consequences of abusing this drug proves far more dangerous for our heroine. Furthermore, the drug dealers here are more sinister individuals. "Marihuana" boasts better than average production values, particularly in its opening bar sequence. Mind you, nothing here which was reportedly based on police files has a puff of credibility. The teenagers who succumb to the scourge of marihuana are led down a path of deception by natty, well-heeled mobsters who resemble Italians. Once these objectionable individuals latch their tentacles onto somebody like our impressionable leading lady, the end is a foregone conclusion. What sets "Marihuana" apart from other drugs-ploitation drivel is one scene where a group of delirious dames disrobe after toking, scramble down to the beach at night, and go for a swim. Esper treats us to some nudity, something almost unheard of in mainstream 1930s cinema. Predictably, our unfortunate heroine lowers her guard among other things with her boyfriend in his convertible and winds up pregnant. Just to exacerbate matters, the boyfriend dies when the authorities catch him toting a bag of marihuana. The gangsters convince our heroine to have her child and then give it up for adoption. Throughout the action, she is jealous of her other sister and eventually, she persuades the two mobsters to kidnap her sister's little girl and hold her for ransom. Our heroine receives the shock of her life when she learns more about his sister's child."Marihuana" opens with this cautionary preamble. "Foreword. For centuries the world has been aware of the narcotic menace. We have complacently watched Asiatic countries attempt to rid themselves of DRUGS CURSE, and attributed their failure to lack of education. We consider ourselves enlightened and think that never could we succumb to such a fare. But--did you know that--the use of marihuana is steadily increasing among the youth of this country? Did you know that--the youthful criminal is our greatest problem today? And that--Marihuana gives the user false courage, and destroys conscience thereby making crime alluring, smart? That is the price we are paying for our lack of interest in the narcotic situation. This story is drawn from an actual case history on file in the police records of one of our large cities. Note: MARIHUANA, Hashish of the Orient, is commonly distributed as a doped cigarette. Its most terrifying effect is that it fires the user to extreme cruelty and license."Burma Roberts (Harley Wood of "Valley of Terror") is jealous of her older sister Elaine (Dorothy Dehn of "Madame Satan") because her mother lavishes more attention on Elaine. Consequently, Burma prefers to party with her boyfriend Dick Collier (Hugh McArthur of "Panama Patrol") and sometimes they park and make out. Eventually, Burma encounters two shady but suave strangers, Tony (Paul Ellis of "Ninotchka") and Nick (Pat Carlyle of "The Irish Gringo"), in a night club. Tony invites Burma and her friends over to his place for drinks next Saturday night. After the party at the nightclub, Dick and Burma park on a hillside overlooking the city in his Ford Model A Roadster,and Dick gets fresh with Burma. She storms off on foot, but doesn't get far before Dick picks up and takes her home. She gets in at 11 PM and asks her mother why she cannot have an evening gown like all the other girls. "Everything that I have is Elaine's," Burma complains. "Why can't I have one of my very own." Her mom asks about her homework and Burma lies that she has finished it.Later, at the party, the guys guzzle alcohol while the gals fire up some marijuana cigarettes. They laugh uproariously and then go skinny-dipping in the surf. As it turns out, one of the girls who went skinny-dipping party--Joan Marsh--swims out too far and dies. When Burma informs her boyfriend about her pregnancy, she bugs him to marry her. Dick assures her everything will be okay and Tony and Nick give him a job. Unfortunately, Dick is helping unload smuggled marihuana when the authorities strike. He dies in his alacrity to escape their clutches. When Burma hears about this news, she leaves home, gives birth to the child and then puts it up for adoption. Burma plunges into harder drugs) and uses needles to inject heroin into herself. During the film's finale, Burma concocts a scheme to abduct her sister's adopted daughter for $50,000. Imagine Burma's surprise later when she finds out that the child is, in fact, her own.

Not badly made for a low budget film of 1936. This is not propaganda, as others have termed it, but it actually has a plot and even a bit of a twist. Somewhat "shocking" for a film of this era, it has sex, nudity, unwanted pregnancy, and alcohol/drug abuse. Interestingly, this film is not about substance abuse in the ghetto but in more affluent households.The plot follows a purported teenager (although she is the oldest looking teenager I have ever seen in film) as she progresses from drinking to marijuana use, to heroin use. The symptoms of narcotic use are either exaggerated or ignored (with marijuana use people giggle non-stop while with heroin use there is no depressant effect) but the process of progressing from alcohol and marijuana to serious drug use and even drug dealing is accurate to this day.Contrary to the title, don't expect it to be about marijuana, but about drug use in general and you will enjoy it.

This is a bad movie that purports to be an educational film designed to warn America about the menace of marijuana use. However, like almost all the so-called "educational" films of the 30s and 40s, it was really a shabby little film designed to be snuck past the censors of the Hays Office. In 1934, the major studios all agreed to abide by the dictates of a stronger Production Code--eliminating sex, nudity, cursing and "inappropriate" plots in films (these had actually been relatively common in films in the early 30s). However, in an effort to sneak in smut, small studios created films to shock adults when they learn about terrible social ills, though they were REALLY intended to titillate and slip adult themes past the censors! Such films as CHILD BRIDE, MAD YOUTH, REEFER MADNESS and SEX MADNESS were all schlocky trash that skirted past the boards because they were supposedly educational. Even though they were laughably bad, they also made money due to low production costs and because they offered nudity, violence and sordid story lines--all in the name of education! Many will no doubt watch this film because they are hoping for a similar film to REEFER MADNESS (one of the most laughably bad anti-drug films of all time). While it isn't quite as dopey and unintentionally funny, MARIJUANA is probably a worse film when it comes to being exploitational all in the name of educating our parents. While on drugs, the characters don't madly play the piano or run amok quite as much as they do in REEFER MADNESS--but they DO run amok in the most ridiculous manner. Once they begin puffing this "wacky tobacky", all the characters begin laughing non-stop and acting like total idiots. In addition, the ladies respond by taking off all their clothes and running nude along the beach at night!! And, because of this, the film is very, very explicit--showing lots of "naughty bits" (A Monty Python term for nudity). This film would probably receive an R-rating today if shown in the theaters because of the nudity--and this must have been VERY shocking to audiences of the day. However, audiences today would also be a bit shocked at how extremely unattractive and unappealing these ladies were--I kept wanting to yell at the characters to "put it back on--PLEASE!!". If you are looking for a cheap thrill, this film won't provide it! Now when they aren't showing people running amok, the film actually is much more watchable. Those who sell the drugs are indeed users, but they manage not to behave like morons, so they are more convincing. The story of one of them, Blondie, is somewhat compelling and mildly interesting--though not nearly enough to make up for the rottenness of the rest of the movie.This film is so bad that I would recommend it for a bad movie festival you can stage with your friends. You know, the ones where you laugh at just how bad and stupid films can be. They didn't even bother trying to get decent music for much of the film--using classical tunes that were completely inappropriate just because they were in the public domain.