Assassin of Youth

I liked this movie. I see it more as a soap opera than as an anti-marijuana film -- the plot about the battling cousins and the secret marriage is solid soap opera fare. A highlight for me was seeing Fern Emmett on a motor scooter! WOW! A lot of folks call her "that Margaret Hamilton looking lady" -- and the two women are similar in appearance, without a doubt -- but Emmett has her own odd way about her, and the repeated scenes of her scootering down main street and spreading gossip were hilarious. Also fun was Western actor Earl Dwire as Pop Hardy, playing checkers. Quite a character! Best of all, the comic bits had a plot-worthy pay-off, too, for in the end it became obvious that many of the older folks in the small town had themselves made juvenile errors of judgement -- so the fact that "today's" youth were going astray with drugs was nicely undercut by the revelations about the oldsters' own young years.

A mildly laughable anti-marijuana picture, ASSASSIN OF YOUTH has some things going for it. The cast of ASSASSIN OF YOUTH is solidly capable for a roadshow production, and several actors have opportunities to shine in comic roles (in particular, the judge, the old checker-playing codger and the Margaret Hamilton "wicked witch" look-alike). Luana Walters is an appealing heroine, and a talented actress. (Her biography at IMDb suggests that Luana might have been better off with marijuana as her drug of choice.)

Today the old drug-scare films are played for laughs, but ASSASSIN OF YOUTH is an exceptionally competent production. The irony here is that truly terrible dope-soaps like REEFER MADNESS and MARIHUANA are much more entertaining, because they don't waste time with dramatic niceties.

The most notorious anti-drug movies of the 1930s were made by private entrepreneurs like Dwain Esper and Elmer Clifton, not by the U.S. Government. These gentlemen capitalized on the Government's anti-drug publicity, but they were not bound by any political agenda of the day. Their aim was to supply the public what the Hollywood studios could not provide under the Production Code - flashes of T&A, and graphic depictions of vice.

Blonde bombshell, Fay McKenzie, steals the picture from the others as the evil, conniving, immoral Jezebel who heads a marijuana ring. Fay is a really delightful minx who doesn't try to gain any sympathy as she leads brainless bimbo, Luana Walters, down the paths of unrighteousness. Everyone seems to pick on poor Luana. She's the heiress to a small fortune, only, if she comports herself in a clean and moral way. Then there's another sub-story of a reporter who infiltrates this drug crazed group of swingers and wouldn't you know it, but he also gets Luana into deep trouble. The great fun of watching these long forgotten roadshow movies--where the movie owners would rent a theater in towns to show them--is wondering whatever happened to the cast and crew. This movie has some good location and indoor shooting. You watch the young performers doing the latest hot dance step which consists of much hip shaking and head jerking. Whatever happened to Fay McKenzie? She had an honest sparkle of talent and looked great in her l936 fashions. I'm adding this little gem to my permanent DVD library.

What a disappointment for peek-show fans. The best this exploitation flick could manage is a couple hiked up skirts and a bout of implied nudity. Big deal. I could get as much from old I Love Lucy skits. And what about the hysterical effects of the demon weed. The best they could do here is roll around the floor like a bunch of happy worms. Even the acting from the main actors is too good to be laughable. Actually the best part is gossipy old lady Henrietta zooming out of her drive-way on a gas belching putt-putt, like some Hell's Angel on training wheels. Oh sure, there's some of what you'd treasure from these goofy films—bad acting, worse dialogue, and uptight moralizing, but basically the production is too good to be good.

Assassin of Youth (1937)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Another "warning" picture tells us the horrors of marijuana. In the film various teens are losing their minds, killing others or killing themselves all because they take a hit of the evil weed. Soon a reporter goes undercover as a soda jerk to try and get to the bottom of this evil drug that is causing people to lose their minds with a single puff. Obviously this film falls into the same category as REEFER MADNESS but this here doesn't come close to the "class" of that picture. It's weird reviewing these movies because more often than not the worse they are the more entertaining they are. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH is certainly better "made" than REEFER MADNESS but sadly it's a tad bit too straight and never goes so over-the-top to the point where you can actually laugh at it. There's nothing here so crazy that you'll be rolling on the floor laughing so sadly the entertainment value isn't quite as high (no pun intended) as you'd hope for. With that said, if you're a fan of these types of movies then you'll certainly want to check it out as we're treated with all sorts of really bad information on weed and how one little puff can make you want to blow your head off or even worse....make you want to get naked. Yes, there's a sequence here where pot makes you want to go nude. God knows no one wanted to be naked before pot came along. The performances are pretty much what you'd expect from a picture like this but, then again, they are slightly better than you normally see. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH is going to appeal to a limited number of people but if you're throwing a party and looking for the laughs then REEFER MADNESS is still the way to go.