Tell Your Children
About Tell Your Children
High-school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll tells a parent meeting what marijuana does to students. Mae Coleman and Jack Perry sell it. Jack, with Ralph Wiley and Blanche, pulls in Jimmy Lane and Bill Harper. Jimmy drives while high and kills a pedestrian. Mary, Jimmy’s sister and Bill’s girlfriend, is handed a joint at Mae’s apartment. Ralph tries to rape her, and Jack’s gun kills her. Bill is framed and convicted. Ralph then beats Jack to death. Blanche jumps from a window. Bill is cleared, and Ralph is sent to an asylum.
Cast & crew
More about Tell Your Children
George Hirliman produced it in 1936 with money from a church group, as a warning for parents. Louis J. Gasnier directed. Paul Franklin wrote it. Jack Greenhalgh photographed it. Carl Pierson edited. Hugo Riesenfeld wrote the music. In 1938 Dwain Esper bought it, recut it for exploitation houses, and retitled it Reefer Madness. Other titles include The Burning Question, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, and Love Madness.
Themes
Background
The church-backed 1936 cut was meant for parent meetings. Esper’s 1938 version played the same footage to grind-house crowds.
Making
Gasnier had directed silent serials. Esper’s business was the roadshow exploitation circuit, where a moral title let him play material the studios would not.
Audiences
In the early 1970s it became an underground hit on college campuses and was used as satire by people arguing about cannabis laws.
Look
Jack Greenhalgh photographed the film.
Music
Hugo Riesenfeld wrote the music.
Preservation
An improper copyright notice left it in the public domain in the United States. Copies are on the Internet Archive and on Wikimedia Commons as Reefer Madness.webm.
Notes
- Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles, Dave O’Brien, Thelma White, and Carleton Young lead the cast.
- Bobby Burns, Edward LeSaint, and Frank O’Connor are also listed.
- Mae would rather sell to adults. Jack sells to teenagers anyway.
- The U.S. copyright notice was improper, and the film is in the public domain there.
- The Internet Archive identifier is reefer_madness1938, after Esper’s recut.
Scenes
- Dr. Carroll stands in front of the parents and starts the story.
- Jimmy, already high, drives off and hits a pedestrian.
- Jack’s gun goes off in the fight and kills Mary.
- Blanche jumps from the window after she agrees to testify.
Also available
- Internet Archive (reefer_madness1938)
- Wikimedia Commons (Reefer Madness.webm)
