Customer Reviews

Marihuana

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dick and his girl Burma were just two typical all-american 35 year old teens. That was until Tony and his henchman Nick came to town! They set up their evil pot-peddling enterprise, right under the noses of law enforcement. Soon, drawn like mosquitoes to a bloodbank, the kids hung out with Tony and company, drinking, dancing to that heathen devil-jazz, and smoking Tony's "giggle-weed"! What followed was an orgy of debauchery, as young ladies disrobed and ran naked into the nearby ocean, unashamed of their wanton activity! Of course, one of them drowned, proving the cursedness of "mary jane"! Next, Dick was caught by police, carrying a bale of "the herb from hell" under his arm. He was shot to death, leaving Burma to her newfound pot addiction! Burma went from mariHuana to heroin in short order, dealing that hideous powder and losing a child (Dick's child) over it! This all led to Burma's own grizzly end! Dwain Esper (Maniac) directed this hilarious tale of misinformation and gratuitous nudity in his usual gonzo fashion. Watch it with REEFER MADNESS and COCAINE FIENDS for a real hoot-a-thon...

Teenagers beware! It could happen to you! Mix alcohol and the evil giggle weed and you could end up dead. Or even worse, you could become a hard-core drug pushing heroin addicted drug dealer!

So is the moral of the 1936 exploitation film "Marihuana". We even get to see a little bit of 1930's T&A!

Now what more could you ask for?? :)

I enjoyed watching Burma (Harlene Wood) go from happy go lucky teenager -to pregnant misfit- to "Blondie" the drug dealer, all in less than an hour!

A fun little film and certainly a time capsule of days long past! For fans of these types of movies, this is a must see classic!

I watched this l930s exploitation flick along with two others: Assassins of Youth and Reefer Madness, but "Marihuana" was my favorite. You're given a glimpse into how Hollywood hopefuls tried desperately to prove themselves before even a Poverty Row camera. The clothes, the hairstyles and make-up are fascinating to study. Nobody had even heard of jeans back then, or casual attire. This was before the Big Band Sound and so the "in" kids did the Lindy Hop and other then hot dance numbers. The actress who portrayed Burma did a great job and you can almost believe that she was so desperate at the end that she did something that I can't say here since it would spoil your fun. Considering the ultra low budget that the movie-maker had to work with, he did a magical job of putting together this movie. The previews, by the way, are equally entertaining. Screaming warnings roll along the screen that demand "Mothers...Fathers...Discover Where Your Children Are Having Their Fun!..."

Even by Pre-Code standards this film pushes the limits. MARIHUANA is a movie along the same lines as "Reefer Madness" and "Assassin of Youth"; the story of a rich girl seduced by the 'giggle weed'.

Deeply resenting the entire family being pre-occupied by her sister's wedding to a rich and eligible young man; Burma (played by Harley Wood) gets caught up in the wrong group of kids, who spend their weekends skinny-dipping, smoking weed and having wienie roasts. It's during this party that Burma gets pregnant, but is forced to give the baby up for adoption.

Burma goes to work selling drugs to hooked and hopeless housewives (don't ask), before she comes up with a plan to kidnap her own sister's child and hold it for ransom...

MARIHUANA is a more-than-worthy companion piece to "Reefer Madness". Both feature some of the most bizarre and inane acting to ever find it's way onto the screen. Very much a Pre-Code production, MARIHUANA also features a scene of female nudity that I'm surprised even made it out of the cutting-room. Harley Wood plays the hard-boiled drug dame to the hilt, spewing out caustic lines like nobody's business!

If you enjoy your movies cheap and tawdry, you'll get a kick out of this.

Marijuana is not exactly the best film I've ever seen. It's a dated message film that drugs lead to nothing but trouble; and of course there is truth to that. Unfortunately, however, the film itself has too many problems to be good. The editing was poorly done; the acting is merely average; the casting is unconvincing (grown-ups playing teenagers?); and the cinematography leaves a lot to be desired. What's worse, the sound quality is so poor that at several times during the movie I couldn't understand what the actors were saying! There are other moments where the editing is so bad that sentences get cut off; and that's not good either. Therefore, this film is best suited for a light-hearted romp from what is now a rather campy old film, one that was meant to be serious back in the day but in retrospect looks silly and over-the top more than anything else. Some have even said that they produced this film to sneak in that scene of the nude women going out to swim in the ocean; and maybe that's true--but that moment is not enough to save the picture.

When the action starts, we meet several principle characters in the film: There's Burma Roberts aka 'Blondie' (Harley Wood); her sister Elaine (Dorothy Dehn) who is engaged to Morgan Stewart (Richard Erskine); Elaine and Burma's mother (Juanita Fletcher) and Burma's boyfriend Dick Collier (Hugh McArthur). Elaine and Morgan are leading the "straight and narrow life;" but Burma, Dick and their friends party pretty hard. Eventually Burma, Dick and their friends get mixed up with a couple of dope pushers named Tony Santello (Paul Ellis) and Nickolas 'Nicki' Romero (Pat Carlyle). The pushers succeed in getting the teenagers to buy marijuana--after all, we wouldn't have a film without that happening--and after that it's more and more trouble for Burma and Dick. Yes, it's horrible enough when one young woman dies after smoking marijuana and swimming too far out at sea; but when Burma becomes pregnant with Dick's child, Dick is in quite a jam to be able to offer financial security to Burma although he is willing to marry her.

And when Dick is killed in a shootout when a drug deal goes bad, Burma is in even more trouble. With help from Nick and Tony, she "gets away" to have her baby, Gloria--and little Gloria is adopted by Burma's own sister Elaine and her new husband Morgan! However, Burma doesn't know this; Nick and Tony keep this one under wraps.

Out on her own again, Burma must make choices. Will Nick and Tony entice her to make so much money that she can make her sister Elaine look like a charity case? Will Burma ever reconcile with her mother--and will she ever find out about Elaine and Morgan raising Gloria? Many newspaper headlines read that the dope pushers are too quick to be caught; will the cops ever find Nick and Tony? There's plenty of extra material here for you to watch; I'm not giving any spoilers.

Overall, Marijuana is far from perfect--quite far from perfect, in fact. However, if you want to watch a film that was designed to be so serious in its day that it looks positively campy today, this is for you. I personally could take it or leave it--and so I'll take an average of five stars (take it) and one star (leave it) and give it three stars. And it's a generous three stars at that. Oh, well!

Folks, this is right up (or down, depending on your point of view) with other bits of classic so-bad it's-good pop culture foolishness as GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE (aka Plan 9), REEFER MADNESS, LI'L PIMP, the Rudy Rau Moore "Dolemite" trilogy, and the song "Hollaback Girl."

Like REEFER MADNESS, this is an incredibly stupid 1930s film with the admittedly noble intention of keeping the kiddies klear of the wacky weed. But it's so ridiculous that it's hilarious! Early in the film, a drunk at the bar spills a beer bottle, and the camera shows the beer spilling between his knees, causing passerby to think....need I say it, people.

The loosey-goosey gals go gaga over the ganja at a bohemian beach bash, leading to their bucknaked romp in the ocean and...I'll let you see it to find out (try saying all this with a straight face).

Very old people who haven't gotten away from their backwoods farms since 1949 and EXTREMELY sheltered homeschooled geeks may find thid effective. But for everyone else, it's just a good belly-howl. See it and you'll understand.

A bunch of stoned girls running around naked on the beach! Black and white 1930's boobies rule.