Reefer Madness (1936)
Science Fiction Fantasy Theater presents the notorious American exploitation film Reefer Madness, originally produced under the title Tell Your Children.
Released in 1936 and directed by Louis J. Gasnier, the film portrays marijuana use as a path to addiction, insanity, violence, crime, and death. What was originally presented as a warning about the supposed dangers of cannabis eventually became one of the most famous examples of drug-prohibition propaganda in American popular culture.
Year: 1936
Original Title: Tell Your Children
Director: Louis J. Gasnier
Genre: Exploitation / Crime / Drama / Social-Issue Film
Country: United States
Language: English
Format: Black and White
Starring
Dorothy Short as Mary Lane
Kenneth Craig as Bill Harper
Lillian Miles as Blanche
Dave O'Brien as Ralph Wiley
Thelma White as Mae Coleman
Carleton Young as Jack Perry
Warren McCollum as Jimmy Lane
Joseph Forte as Dr. Alfred Carroll
Public Domain Status
Reefer Madness is in the public domain in the United States. The copyright on the original motion picture was not renewed, and public-domain archival copies of the film are preserved and distributed through repositories including Wikimedia Commons.
This presentation uses a public-domain version of the original motion picture. Later restorations, colorized editions, newly created soundtracks, commentary tracks, or other independently produced derivative material may contain separate copyrighted elements.
Public-domain status can vary between jurisdictions outside the United States.
Historical Significance
Today, Reefer Madness is remembered less as a serious educational film and more as an important historical artifact of America's early twentieth-century campaign against marijuana.
The film reflects the extreme rhetoric and sensationalism that accompanied cannabis prohibition during the 1930s. Its depiction of marijuana users rapidly descending into madness, criminal behavior, sexual impropriety, and violence bears little resemblance to modern scientific understanding of cannabis.
Decades after its original release, the film experienced an unexpected second life. It was rediscovered by counterculture audiences and became a popular midnight movie during the 1970s, when viewers began watching its exaggerated warnings ironically rather than accepting them as factual.
That transformation helped turn Reefer Madness into a cult classic.
The film is now valuable not only as entertainment but as a historical document illustrating how motion pictures, moral campaigns, fear, and public policy intersected during the early era of American drug prohibition.
Presented by Science Fiction Fantasy Theater as part of our growing collection of public-domain cinema, historical films, cultural programming, and educational media.