It took Hollywood almost half a century (with some glorious exceptions) to accept the idea that a good portion of the population making up its potential market actually enjoyed cannabis. Complying with the dictates of western governments and its ideological architects, the movie mecca was infused with prejudices and endorsements of prohibition to stigmatise our beloved grass–even as it used its enticing name to lure “respectable” people to theatres to drop their cash on tickets. Here we look back on five titles from those dark years.
Marihuana (Dwain Esper, 1936)
What it´s about:
Burma is a girl who loves going out. One ill-fated night she is in a dive just hanging out with some girlfriends when some guys invite them to a big party, where they try ganja for the first time. She can't stop laughing about nothing, and ends up on a beach losing her virginity to her boyfriend. Of course, the roll on the cursed sand leaves her pregnant, spurring her to implore her boyfriend to marry her. We're talking about the 1930s, when girls had to observe certain standards, after all. Unfortunately the young man, who wasn´t exactly a genius, has the bright idea of asking for work from the dastardly mobsters who supplied him with the grass, and he ends up unloading drugs from a boat at a port. The poor chap, who suffers from some chronic bad luck, is shot by a cop during a raid on the dealers' vessel. Burma then runs off, gives her baby up for adoption, starts shooting heroin, and becomes a dealer herself. The ending is so over-the-top that it puts M. Night Shyamalan to shame. You've got to see it to believe it, but we can tell you that it rains joints.
Where you can see it: Click here.
Marijuana, Assassin of Youth (Elmer Clifton, 1937)
What it´s about: Marihuana, Assassin of Youth is another exploitation film designed to brainwash audiences regarding the supposedly pernicious effects of cannabis consumption. It begins with a female reporter looking into a wealthy woman's death in a car accident, with a view to protecting the interests of her granddaughter (the rich heiress never absent from such melodramas), jeopardised by her cousin, a dame dealer not to be messed with. Throughout the film displays the decay, heretical depravity and libertinism that marijuana unleashes on a city racked by violence and lewd nocturnal orgies.
Where you can see it:Here.
Marihuana (Leon Klimovsky, 1950)
What it´s about: The Argentine film begins in a documentary-like tone with some outlandish illustrations presenting a paranoid pseudohistory of cannabis. “Hashish, the killer drug, called marijuana in America...with each joint death rambles through streets.” Off to a great start! The rest is more of the same. A woman is killed and her husband sets out to find the culprit. The guy soon discovers, to his great dismay, that his wife was a cannabis smoker, so he decides to sink down into that shady underworld. In order to really blend in he decides to smoke a few joints, but he likes it so much that he ends up finding another gal to help him out.
Where you can see it: Via this link to YouTube.
Marihuana (Edward Ludwig, 1952)
What it´s about: Better known as The Great Jim McLain, it is a clearly fascist-leaning film, a product of its time, starring the avowed anti-Communist John Wayne, that tells the story of two members of the Un-American Activities Commission who travel to the very capitalist and touristy Hawaiiin order to investigate and arrest some Communist rebels.
So, where's the grass? In the title, and nowhere else. It was thus named to distract attention from its Communist subject matter andenable it topenetrate the most progressive European markets. For this they turned the evil reds into drug dealers through some creative script changes and redubbing. A movie miracle.
Where you can see it: Clicking on this link:
Marijuana (Max Miller, 1968)
What it´s about: A mid-length supposedly educational feature narrated by Sonny Bono (yes, the Sonny Bono), who actually appears on screen in gold silk pyjamas. It begins with a police raid on a peaceful stoner party, after which the arrestees explain on camera why they smoke cannabis. Then along comes Cher's husband to counter their arguments and tell us why young Americans should not try the Satanic substance. Meanwhile, the bloodbath in Vietnam was in full swing.
Where I can see it: The whole thing, here.
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