Tell Your Children

1938 "Public enemy no. 1. Women cry for it… Men will die for it!"
3.7| 1h6m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 15 June 1938 Released
Producted By: George A. Hirliman Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

High-school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll relates to an audience of parents that marijuana can have devastating effects on teens: a drug supplier entices several restless teens, Mary and Jimmy Lane, sister and brother, and Bill, Mary's boyfriend, into frequenting a reefer house. Gradually, Bill and Jimmy are drawn into smoking dope, which affects their family lives.

Genre

Drama

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Tell Your Children (1938) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Director

Louis J. Gasnier

Production Companies

George A. Hirliman Productions

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Tell Your Children Audience Reviews

UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
zee Yes, back in the 1970s I went to the midnight showing of this and smoked a bunch of dope first, nearly a requirement of people of my class and generation. But in seeing it again, I am less amused. This is nonsense propaganda, marijuana's effects are nothing like this, and worst of all, we have spent billions of dollars combating the voluntary use of recreational drugs . And we do it because of nonsense like this. At the same time, tobacco, alcohol, the grains that produce alcohol, big Pharma medicines (98% of which are not necessary) are actually subsidized. It is beyond insane. The only difference between this, the ludicrous public-service message of a generation ago that showed an egg frying and said "this is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" (Yes, several, beginning with WTF are you trying to say, you nitwits?) and the current hysteria about whatever drugs are the subject of the current hysteria is that the fear-mongering message has gotten more sophisticated. Here's an idea: let people take whatever drugs they want. Leave them alone. If they want to kill themselves with them, that really is their business, not the government's. If they prefer pot or MDA or cocaine to whatever big Pharma is pushing, let them choose whichever they wish to choose. Get your laws off our bodies. So I'm thinking this is less funny than I used to think it was. It angers me. I want my war on drugs tax money back.And jeez, what a horrible movie. Acting, sound, everything: awful.
jngr1 I'm not entirely sure what to make of this movie even after watching it twice- which is about three more chances than I typically give movies that frequent lists of the worst. Usually, back story doesn't matter to me (just read my review of Heaven's Gate as an example), but it would help in this instance. If it was bankrolled by a church group, its wealth would likely put Joel Osteen to shame given the people involved. If it was always to be exploitation, then it has managed to transcend the genre. The acting is more wooden than the Amazon rain forest ever was, the direction (by The Perils of Pauline director Louis Gasnier) is at best static, the plot is way over the top, it distorts the facts royally, and it generally looks cheap. Then again, maybe all of the above- especially its distortion of facts- is the appeal. If it was done intentionally, I personally say, "Bravo." I'm generally not a "bad movie fan" to the degree some seem to be, but I can make an exception here. I'm only giving it a five rating because I don't know if it's supposed to be bad or supposed to be serious.
ofpsmith Ever since marijuana (aka pot, weed, grass, puff, Mary Jane, Bob Marley) was banned in the United States, the opponents to this ruling argue that marijuana really has no harmful affect on the human body other than being the equivalent of 4 Nyquil pills (or something like that). Well now you can shut those people up by showing them Reefer Madness an anti drug PSA that was made in the 30s, that actually raises more questions than it answers. With the evil maniacal story of these gangsters that gave the new evil drug to innocent teenagers that made them do horrible things like, run over old men on the streets who shouldn't have been there anyway, or laugh at things that nobody else is. These and many others are the basis that Reefer Madness uses to support it's argument. Reefer Madness is a film so exaggerated that it doesn't even feel serious. I know this was a different time but even in the 1930s this seemed over playing it. If you're a police officer looking for a good PSA to show kids then you'll have to look somewhere else. But if you're looking for a movie to make fun of, then Reefer Madness is a good choice.
Dalbert Pringle What really surprised me the most about this 1936, low-budget expose revealing the menace of marijuana was to find out how prevalent pot smoking actually was amongst the American youth of the day.I mean, it was such an issue in the mid-1930s that it had reached the point of being a nationwide concern.With marijuana being labelled as "Public Enemy #1", this film's re-enactment of "real" events (taken from FBI files on delinquency, no less) were so bad that they were, more often than not, enjoyably entertaining and, yes, even funny (especially since this picture took its subject matter so dead-seriously).From marijuana turning even good girls bad, to attempted rape while under the influence, to hit'n'run recklessness, Reefer Madness's high-flying highlight was its star pothead, Ralph Wiley, who goes totally berserk after smoking one potent marijuana cigarette after another.You really have to see Dave O'Brien's laughable performance as Wiley for yourself to believe it.All-in-all - If you can appreciate Reefer Madness from a strictly nostalgic point of view, then I'm sure you'll find it to be worthwhile entertainment.