Review #133
Motion Pictures Ventures Inc., 1938
Mov No. Unknown
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Directed by: Louis J. Gasnier
Staring: Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles, Dave O'Brien
Oscars: 0 nominations
AFI 100 years, 100 _____ tributes: None
Runtime: 65 min
Best quote: "I'm going to ask you a straightforward question: isn't it true that you have, perhaps unwillingly, acquired a certain habit through association with certain undesirable people? " - Dr. Carroll
Bill Harper has a promising career ahead of him. He is a model student, he has great grades, and is going to go to the best collage there is. that is, if he keeps his nose to the grindstone.
In short order, Bill falls in with the wrong crowd. Literally seduced by the dark side, so-to-speak, Bill is drawn into the world of sex, drugs and what kind of music they had in the 1930's.
Hooked on Marijuana, with seemingly no escape, Bill cannot control his actions. He eventually runs down a passer-by with his car and then in a violent struggle, kills an innocent girl. Can things get any worse for Bill?
A propaganda film more than anything, Tell your Children, AKA Reefer Madness, is a laughable farce of film.
The film was created by either the US Army or the US government. It is not clear who financed the film, but it was made to stop the growing problem of dope use in the US. (The film really helped...)
Most of the facts the film gives out are now known to be untrue. Heroin and morphine are MUCH more deadly drugs than marijuana (as the film suggests).
The acting is terrible, for the most part (with some exceptions). Actually, the acting is mostly laughable. Really.
Even the length of the film I found short, although it was a nice change of pace from all those 2+ hour films I had been watching recently.
I personally HATE tobbacco, drugs and booze. The first two should be eliminated from existance, but alcohol, in moderation is ok ONCE IN A WHILE. If this film, over the years, got even ONE PERSON to quite using dope, then it was successful.
Plot: 
The simple plot revolves around the propaganda of drug use. Basically, it tells the story of who these so-called "evils" can bring on the sown fall of man, person by person. In this case, they are telling the story one person who almost ruins his life by using marijuana.
Visual Effects:
There really aren't any special effects in the whole film. There are one or two, but they are very crudely performed.
Sound:
There is a soundtrack, and it is not really all that great. But it works ok.
Character Development:
Does Bill really learn a lesson? is there any real development in his character at all? No, not really.
Atmosphere:
This film is suppsoed to "camp," but is it really? I found the film easy to get into, but once part way through it, it felt hard to pay attention to it.
Realism:
This is a propaganda film, not question about it. However, there are truths to what the characters say and do, and the information about drugs given. But the film is totally slanted.
Warren’s Rating:
4.23/10Is the movie worth your time to watch?
25-10-04
